SST 2-Hour Pre-Task Safety Meetings

The Pre-Task Meeting is a requirement under the New York City Construction code, but it is a practical tool to use to protect workers from injury or illness. A job hazard analysis is the larger version of the Pre-Task meeting, so this meeting is shorter in nature. It is encouraged that the workers participate in the meeting to build commoradery. This course will give the student the understanding of:

  1. NYC rules on Pre-Task Meetings
  2. Nature of adult learners
  3. Roles for the competent person
  4. Understanding of a Job Hazard Analysis
  5. Understanding of hazard control techniques
  6. Effective communication tips
  7. Trainees will learn the purpose and proper presentation of pre-task meetings
  8. Trainees will become aware of administrative regulatory requirements associated pre-task meetings and record keeping standards.

A construction site often has many activities and different types of work being performed by many employees or companies in the same area. The complex and dynamic nature of these work activities present conditions that are constantly changing which by itself inherently presents new opportunities for safety issues to emerge.

A Pre-Task Meeting is a planning tool used to identify potential hazards and develop solutions to eliminate, control or minimize each hazard. The overall purpose of the Pre-Task Meeting is to ensure that employees engaged in high-risk activities are able to perform their work safely and to prevent injury.

You can think of a pre-task meeting like a huddle in football or soccer. Even though team members know their plays, know the rules of the game and know how to perform their tasks, the huddle allows them to focus on the same thing. It provides an opportunity for two‐way communication or “give and take” that is vital to the success of the next play which helps the team accomplish its goal.

Another way to look at a pre-task meeting is like a military briefing in the Armed Forces. Even though individual team members are highly trained and know how to perform their tasks, the goal of a briefing is to ensure everyone knows what it will take to accomplish the mission successfully. The personnel are also briefed on intelligence ‐ things that can kill them or lead to a failed mission.

In each of these cases the teams assess the real-time circumstances, discuss potential obstacles to performing the task and ensure all team members are working together according to plan.

"Our mission in construction is to complete the task and return home safely."