Every spring, World Safety Day rolls around on April 28, serving as the perfect opportunity to celebrate the on-going efforts that put safety at the core of everything we do. But this year, Monument Kallo really stepped it up with an event that tested our team’s knowledge, sparked meaningful conversations, and truly felt like a celebration.

“In the past, our plant would recognize this day with presentations and clean-up hours, and most recently, online quizzes because of the pandemic,” Gretel Sandrap, Health & Safety Manager at Kallo, explained. “This year, we wanted to do something onsite, and we wanted it to be something our teams got excited about and really wanted to participate in. I had some experience with annual safety days at previous companies, but I was determined to make our event even better.”

So a small team was put in place to start brainstorming. Since participants would range from admins and logistic teams to operators and contractors, we knew we needed to choose a location that was easy for everyone to get to, with activities that would appeal to everyone. We also wanted something that would get people discussing and engaging with one another, no matter what sector they were from.

“We decided to create three safety scenes across the site; the first involved working with hot materials, the second involved heights, and the third, ergonomics,” Gretel explained. “Our teams designed each of the scenes to fit the part, from building scaffolds, staging office desks and supplies, and featuring mannequins dressed in PPE gear. And each would then include 5-10 unsafe conditions that participants had to identify.”

The overall theme for the event was inspired by a catchy and effective mantra Gretel had heard from previous experiences: “See – Say – Stop” ( “Zie – Zeg – Stop” in Dutch).

“The idea here is that if you see something, say something!” Gretel shared. “There is a poem that goes along with the saying, which illustrates the consequences of a situation where someone saw something potentially dangerous and chose not to say something, which led to someone getting hurt. We used this concept to brand the entire event, from beach flags to posters hung all throughout the site, inviting everyone to join us on the 26th.”

This approach was certainly successful in not only boosting attendance, but also encouraging cross-functional teams to work together to identify important safety hazards — from structural issues to misused fire extinguishers and incorrect PPE applications.

“Out of the ~140 people who work at our site, we had over 100 people in attendance that day,” Gretel shared. “The scenes were set up all afternoon, so people could come when it worked best in their work day and talk with those around them to determine what was unsafe about each scene. And as they completed all three, they could drop their forms into the submission box — strategically right outside our waffle truck!”

After a full afternoon of meaningful discussion and delicious waffles, the team received over 300 forms. We chose two winners — one Monument employee and one contractor — with all the correct answers from the box to receive a gift card prize.

“It was a really wonderful day of safety knowledge sharing and collaboration; and it was very fun too!” Gretel concluded. “We are always looking for new ways to encourage learning and get everyone talking about safety. We’re excited to continue our annual World Safety Day celebrations with even more events in the future.”