Spoken and written communication can be critical in maintaining safety. This can include general communications in the form of safety information, communications between team members or between different teams during operations or maintenance work, and emergency communications. A key area of communications on major hazard sites is shift handover. 

Why is shift handover important? 

Several accidents have occurred because of failure of communication at shift handover, the majority of these involved planned maintenance work. In the 1983 Sellafield Beach Incident, highly radioactive waste liquor was accidentally discharged to sea, due to a failure of communication between shifts. The Cullen Report also concluded that one of the many factors that contributed to the Piper Alpha disaster was failure of information transmission at shift handover.

Key principles in shift handover

To ensure effective, and therefore safe, shift handover, organisations should:

1. make shift handover high priority;
2. develop staff communication skills;
3. provide procedures for shift handover;
4. plan for maintenance work to be completed within one shift;
5. place greater reliance on written communication between handover of 12-hour shifts. 

Shift handover should be:

1. conducted face-to-face;
2. two-way, with both participants taking joint responsibility;
3. done using both verbal and written communication;
4. based on an analysis of the information needs of incoming staff;
5. given as much time as necessary.

Improvements should also be made by:

1. designing support equipment, such as logs and computer displays, with consideration of the operators needs;
2. involving the end-users when implementing any changes to existing communication methods at shift handover.

 

• More Information on Safety Critical Communications