Communications company Unplugged Communications has rolled out its Snakes for Safety hazard identification campaign at shaft-sinking specialist Shaft Sinkers’ operations across South Africa.

The communications company believes that in order to shift mindsets, visual and emotive methods must be used to make the message memorable. Industrial theatre, real snakes and site-specific workshops are used to improve safety and hazard identification in the workplace. The message applies to work as well as home.

“The show crosses literacy and language barriers. The impact of snakes and relating them to hazards sticks in people’s minds,” says Unplugged Communications account manager Di Kershaw.

After the show, people are divided into teams for a workshop to identify safety hazards relating to the snakes.

The company began the roll-out at Shaft Sinkers in April this year, and have already performed 16 shows and held workshops at its operations across the country.

“After the workshop, it is up to us as leaders and managers to keep the momentum going to ensure that action is being taken at the workplace,” says Shaft Sinkers safety manager Abrie van Vuuren.

He states the company has had good feedback from its employees about the play and workshops, adding that workers are identifying more hazards, taking action and categorising them according to the three classifications, namely the Puff Adder – dangers you do not see until it is too late; the Cobra – dangers that give a warning; and the Python – those that start out small but, if left, will grow into something dangerous.

The snake concept is meant to teach people how to deal with different kinds of hazards. Each kind of snake, as with hazards, must be handled differently because it has different behaviours.

“Respect for the hazard, or snake, is important and once workers realise this, the attitude towards safety will shift. Life is full of ‘snakes’, in the form of people and hazards – we just have to learn how to manage them,” says Kershaw.

“We will only start to see real results in terms of safety incidents and statistics three to six months after the shows have taken place,” concludes Van Vuuren.