3 great reasons to use the SLAM technique in your health and safety
When many look into upgrading their businesses health and safety they are often faced with the challenge of not understanding the important processes or how to get employees on board with them. Obviously certain things, like safety guard rails, are a little more straightforward and self-explanatory, as no-one wants to fall and have an accident. However, some things aren’t as clear or obvious as to why they are important. This leads to many companies performing the bare minimum functions, with a risk assessment and health and safety policy drawn up never to be looked at again.
The SLAM technique seeks to change this. SLAM, standing for (Stop, Look, Assess, Manage) provides a simple to follow framework for workers and managers to follow when conducting their duties, ingraining good health and safety practices throughout the working day. In today’s article, we give you 3 compelling reasons to use the SLAM technique in your workplace, or at least some elements for better health and safety management.
1. It gives workers a ‘simple to follow’ methodology
Simplicity is often the best approach with new work processes, which is why the SLAM technique works so well in workplaces where complex methods are already adopted in the standard work practice. SLAM provides different steps that can be followed in a sequential order to work out the potential dangers of any piece or series of work.
Having a simple process to follow also reduces the amount of time it will take to implement it. More complicated new ways of working often take a while to introduce and workers will typically find a harder time picking it up. Bringing in Health & Safety advisors into the picture could also act in your advantage, as they could provide the appropriate training to employees on best practices and easy implementation of regulations.
2. It can be used outside of health and safety
The other great benefit of the SLAM technique is that it has a lot of applicability outside of health and safety. The basic principles of regular checks to review work, assessing any complications or working out if team members need additional training are all good practices that can be applied to other disciplines.
In many ways, the SLAM technique is similar to other productivity processes and methodologies. The ‘inspection of a workplace for hazards’ check, for example, could be used for wider inspection and is similar to methods used for quality management.
3. It can help employees feel safer when they are at work
One of the main aims of health and safety is to encourage workers to feel safe and cared for in addition to actual safety measures. This has benefits not only for productivity but also for the mental health of individual employees. The inclusion of good processes helps many to feel like workplaces are organised and this allows for more time to be put into other endeavours.
Incorporate the SLAM technique in a holistic health and safety approach
The benefits of adopting SLAM in your workplace in some form have been proven by many examples in the past, it gives workers a simple and safer workflow to follow and it can help improve the other areas of the business, from cleanliness to quality management.
If you want to get the most value out of your implementation of SLAM, make sure you incorporate it into a holistic approach to your overall health and safety strategy. This will produce the best benefits for your workplace.
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