agement system with a list of tasks into that app for the crew to look at, and it’ ll be designated high, medium or low risk,” Nichols explained.“ That includes things that workers might have overlooked or just not had a conversation about.”
Nichols also pointed out that turnover in recent years has driven the need for technology. New hires into the industry are often inexperienced with leading job safety briefings, and technology offers a way to make them more consistent and effective.
“ With the app, there will be things that the crew leader can pull from— short videos, lessons learned from another jobsite incident— that help trigger the conversation,” Nichols said.
Ultimately, job safety briefings don’ t serve as a separate task. Good ones stand as a way that a company’ s safety culture shows itself.“ When safety is part of the business, you’ ve won,” Nichols said.
CHECKLIST: BEST PRACTICES FOR TAILGATE SAFETY BRIEFINGS
Before the Briefing Confirm the specific work tasks for today Review yesterday’ s incidents or near misses Assign roles( facilitator, recorder)
During the Briefing State clear job objectives Identify known and potential hazards Discuss controls and mitigation measures Solicit questions and input from the crew End with a verbal affirmation of understanding
After the Briefing Document topic, attendees and key actions Update hazard logs and corrective actions Follow up on items before job completion Review outcomes with supervisors at shift change
February 2026 • www. thepartsconnection. org • 11