SLAM: The Health and Safety Technique That Prioritises Employees' Concerns

Would your employees know what they should do if they felt unsafe or concerned about their health and safety at work? 

As an employee, it can sometimes feel hard to take control of your own safety, but the SLAM technique is designed to help. 

Introducing the SLAM technique 

The SLAM technique is a simple approach that can help minimise the risk and impact of accidents at work. It is made up of four simple steps -

1. Stop
2. Look
3. Assess
4. Manage

Successfully used in a variety of businesses and disciplines, the SLAM technique helps empower employees to prioritise their safety, while simultaneously making a business a safer place to work for everyone.

How does the SLAM technique work?

Step by step, we will take you through the four stages of the SLAM technique, explaining how and why to implement them. 

Step 1: Stop

As an employer, you are responsible for ensuring that your employees feel comfortable stopping their task if they believe they are at risk. They should never feel pressured to work through risk, as the consequences could be disastrous. 

It may be that they believe the environment or equipment is unsafe, or it could be an issue with experience, or training. 

By encouraging your employees to STOP if they believe their health or safety is being compromised, you directly reduce the chances of a workplace accident. 

Remember, a momentary disruption to ensure staff feel safe, and to check that appropriate health and safety procedures are in place, is  likely to be far less disruptive than if an accident were to happen. 

Step 2: Look

Risk-aware employees are key. If your employees are able to identify hazards in the workplace or out in the field, there’s a higher chance that risks will be detected and mitigated before a problem should arise. 

You should encourage your employees to LOOK for hazards before, during, and after the completion of their tasks. This includes: 

• Looking at the work area for potential hazards 
• Looking at each step of the task and identifying any risks 
• Look for variables that may change during the process, posing different risks
• Look for implications that these hazards could have, and decide how to tackle them

We always recommend training your employees on proper health and safety procedures, so they can identify all hazards. Protecting themselves, and your business. 

Step 3: Assess

All workers should ASSESS whether they, and their colleagues, are equipped to complete the task ahead of them safely. No matter their position, or seniority. 

• Do you/they have the correct training and knowledge?
• Are you/they prepared with the best tools? 
• Has sufficient PPE been provided? 
• Do you/they need assistance with completing the task? 
• Do you/they possess the correct skills?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, or if a concern has been raised, then work must stop immediately in order for risks to be properly addressed. Work should not be resumed until the appropriate controls have been put into place, even if this means postponing the tasks. 

Step 4: Manage 

Once a hazard has been identified, senior workers or management should have responsibility to appropriately MANAGE the risk(s). By properly managing risk, employers demonstrate their commitment to safety, and employees will feel more secure and confident at work. 

Once a risk has been resolved to a standard that everyone is in agreement with, you have the opportunity to review what happened, how the process was managed, and how the risks can be prevented in the future. 

This period of reflection is incredibly important as it provides an opportunity to improve your health and safety processes, building a more robust system, and further reducing the chances of workplace accidents or fatalities. 

Questions to ask once the risk has been resolved:

• How could the risk have been avoided? 
• After the risk was identified, what went well? 
• What didn’t go well?
• What actions did you take and were they sufficient? 
• How can this event help you to prepare for future tasks?

The takeaway 

Encouraging your employees to use the simple SLAM technique while in the workplace or out in the field could dramatically improve health and safety in your organisation. Employing the technique will encourage a positive culture of safety in the workplace and could even save lives. 

With 123 employees tragically killed in workplace accidents in 2021/22 (HSE), and 441,000 workers injured at work (Labour Force Survey), workplace safety must be a priority for businesses everywhere. 

For assistance in educating your employees on a variety of health and safety matters, please call CT Health and Safety on 07956 074798. We offer a range of training courses and management support, ensuring that the responsibility of prioritising health and safety is taken care of for you.