Why Most “Take5s” Don’t Work
A recent study* on the effectiveness of “Take5s” has arrived at some interesting conclusions as outlined below.
Planning the Safety of Work
By doing a Take5 workers are triggered to look for hazards and think about their upcoming tasks, in order to identify, or keep front of mind, hazards and make changes to manage those potential risks.
Unfortunately, its often seen that the workers complete Take5s for paperwork sake only, either done way before the work was started or after the job is completed. They are generally poorly done and don’t align to the reality of the work or trigger changes in behaviour or work practices.
Increasing Heedfulness
The habit of doing a Take5 is intended for workers to look for hazards and think about safety.
There is very little evidence to demonstrate the Take5 processes change worker behaviour, and they rarely translate the review practice outside of the form they fill in. Additionally, Take5 can only allow you to identify and remember hazards and controls you are already aware of. It is unlikely to make you more mindful of unfamiliar hazards.
Education
Completing a Take5 is said to increase the person’s general knowledge about workplace hazards.
According to the report “Take5” lacks the specific information and feedback necessary to promote learning. People only recognise things they know to be a hazard, and may have already recognised those things as a hazard without a “Take5”.
Demonstration of Due Diligence
The information on the Take5 might be considered as evidence that the worker knew about a particular hazard or that a particular control was or was not put in place.
Conclusion
Current use of Take5s aren’t really working.
However, there is anecdotal evidence that suggests taking a few minutes to discuss and think out the work before starting can assist in identifying areas of concern or potential hazards that need to be addressed, but the typical Take5 process doesn’t drive this behaviour effectively on it’s own.
We at Safety Action believe businesses should also consider supporting activities, including:
Managers taking an interest in Take5s, and even participating with the team occasionally.
Mentoring programs, with experienced workers guiding newer ones of known risks, hazards and safe practices to manage them.
Periodically do a toolbox talk on how to assess work activities.
Group discussions on task, hazards and controls.
Reviews to identify what has happened to others doing this job, and problems and potential safe practices.
“5S” or other housekeeping standards in place to assist in identifying variations.
For further information please email Dr Stephen Weber or phone Safety Action on 03 8544 4300.
*Information in article based on Should We Cut the Cards? Assessing the Influence of "Take 5" PreTask Risk Assessments on Safety (Havinga et al. 2022)
