Fresh Start Safety Meeting for 2026: Reset Your OH&S Performance

The first weeks of January are unique. People are back, routines are restarting, and attention is higher than it will be later in the year. The Fresh Start meeting uses that moment to do three things most companies struggle to do consistently.

First, it makes the year’s safety priorities specific. Not “be careful” or “work safe.” Specific hazards, specific controls, specific expectations.

Second, it creates a shared memory of what happened last year, without turning it into a blame session. People stop arguing about opinions and start dealing with patterns.

Third, it forces follow-through. The meeting is not successful because it happened. It’s successful because it produces a small number of commitments that leaders actually resource and verify.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

Here’s the rule that separates a Fresh Start meeting from every other meeting.

You do not leave the room with “awareness.” You leave the room with decisions.

Decisions sound like this.

• We are changing how we plan this task.
• We are enforcing this control every time.
• We are stopping work when this condition exists.
• We are upgrading this tool, this training, or this supervision step.
• We are tracking this leading indicator weekly for 90 days.

If you are not willing to decide, you are not running a Fresh Start meeting. You’re running a recap.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺

This meeting goes sideways when it’s built on vague memories. It goes well when you bring real information, keep it simple, and focus on repeat patterns.

You do not need a big slide deck. You need a short “year snapshot” you can talk through in plain language.

Bring these inputs.

• The top 3 incident types from 2025, including near misses and property damage
• The top 3 recurring hazards from inspections
• The top 3 corrective actions that took too long or never closed
• Any high-risk events, even if nobody was hurt, because luck is not a control
• A short list of wins that actually reduced exposure (not just “we had meetings”)

If you’re short on data, don’t fake it. Use what you have. Even a small list of recurring problems is enough to drive decisions.

The goal of prep is simple: show the truth of last year in a way that’s hard to argue with.

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱

A Fresh Start meeting is not a “safety department meeting.” It’s an operations meeting that uses safety as the lens.

You want the people who can change how work happens, plus the people who live with the results.

A good attendance list usually includes the manager with authority to approve changes, supervisors or team leads, a few respected workers, and anyone who owns high-risk planning (maintenance, fleet, project coordination, contractors, or site leadership).

Keep the group small enough to make decisions. If you invite too many people, you get speeches instead of commitments.

If you run multiple crews or sites, run one Fresh Start meeting per operation. A single generic meeting rarely lands across different risk profiles.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟲𝟬–𝟵𝟬 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮

This is where most companies miss. They either talk too long, or they keep it so high level that nothing changes.

Here is a simple agenda you can copy and run.

• Opening reset (5 minutes)
  State what this meeting is, and what it is not. This is a reset meeting to decide how 2026 will run.
• Last year’s wins that mattered (10 minutes)
  Pick 3 wins. Explain why they reduced exposure. Name the control or behaviour that improved.
• Last year’s losses without blame (15 minutes)
  Pick 3 losses. Focus on conditions, gaps, and drift. No naming and blaming.
• The “risk truth” list for your operation (10 minutes)
  Identify 3 to 5 patterns you cannot ignore in 2026. This becomes your anchor list.
• The 2026 targets (15 minutes)
  Set 3 to 5 targets tied directly to the risk truths. Assign owners. Set a 90-day check point.
• The non-negotiables (10 minutes)
  Agree on the critical controls that will be verified, not assumed. Clarify stop-work triggers.
• Close with the two outputs (5 minutes)
  Confirm what will be done in the next 30 days and who owns it.

That’s it. The power is not in complexity. The power is in clarity.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁

People don’t go quiet because they don’t care. They go quiet when they think honesty will be punished.

So the language matters. Use system language.

When you review a loss, talk like this.

• What was the job?
• What changed?
• What control failed or wasn’t used?
• What made the unsafe way easier than the safe way?
• What do we change so it doesn’t repeat?

This keeps the conversation focused on how work is designed and managed, not who to blame.

Wins should be treated the same way. Don’t just celebrate. Extract the lesson.

If a win happened because a supervisor verified controls every time, say that. If a win happened because planning improved, say that. Then commit to repeating the driver of the win.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲

Fresh Start targets fail when they are vague. “Work safely” is not a target. “Zero incidents” is not a plan.

A Fresh Start target must do three things.

• It must connect to a known exposure.
• It must be measurable.
• It must produce a change in how work is done.

Here are examples of targets that fit the Fresh Start purpose, without turning into paperwork.

• Increase hazard and near-miss reporting, with a simple rule that every report gets a response and closure timeline
• Verify critical controls on your highest-risk tasks a set number of times per week, with quick documentation of what was checked
• Reduce repeat hazards by tracking corrective action completion and quality, not just assigning actions
• Run competency checks on the few tasks that create the most serious risk, instead of assuming training equals competence
• Improve pre-job planning on the jobs that tend to change conditions, especially when contractors are involved

Keep targets to 3 to 5. If you set 12 targets, you set zero targets. People won’t remember, and leaders won’t follow through.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵

This is what makes the Fresh Start meeting different. The outputs are not optional.

• Output one is your 2026 Safety Reset Statement.
  This is a short, plain-language statement that tells the workforce what is changing and what will be verified. It should fit on one page.
• Output two is your 30-60-90 day action plan.
  This is not a giant strategy document. It is a short list of actions, owners, and dates tied to the targets you chose.

If you do not leave the room with these two outputs, you will drift back to normal by February.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹

A Fresh Start meeting becomes “just another meeting” if nobody checks the commitments.

You need one simple follow-through loop: a 30-day check, a 60-day check, and a 90-day check.

• At 30 days, you ask: did we start the actions and remove obvious barriers?
• At 60 days, you ask: are supervisors verifying the controls, or are we assuming again?
• At 90 days, you ask: did any trend improve, and did we close the actions properly?

This is not “safety meeting in general.” This is the verification cycle that proves your Fresh Start was real.

𝗔 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝘀𝗲

If you want to set the tone fast, use something like this in the opening.

“We’re here for a Fresh Start safety reset. This is not a recap, and it’s not a blame session. We’re going to be honest about last year, pull out the lessons, and decide what changes in 2026. We’re leaving this room with three things: the risk truths we can’t ignore, the targets we will track, and the actions we will complete in the next 90 days. If we can’t decide it, we won’t pretend we did.”

That opening tells people this is different. It also makes it clear that follow-through is expected.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁

One mistake is making it a lecture. If people sit and listen for an hour, you didn’t run a reset meeting. You ran a presentation.

Another mistake is turning it into discipline. If people fear the review, they will hide information. Then you go blind.

Another mistake is choosing too many targets. The Fresh Start meeting is about focus.

The biggest mistake is leaving without owners and dates. If actions aren’t owned, they won’t happen. If they aren’t dated, they will drift until they disappear.

This is one of the best ways to start the year because it respects reality. It doesn’t pretend you can fix everything, and it doesn’t hide behind slogans. It forces focus and it forces decisions.

Most workplaces don’t need more meetings. They need one meeting that resets expectations, makes priorities plain, and creates follow-through early enough that it changes how the year unfolds.

If you run a real Fresh Start meeting in January and you follow it with a simple 30-60-90 day verification loop, you’ll see it. Fewer repeat issues. Better reporting. More consistent controls. Less drift. More credibility.

That’s not hype. That’s what happens when you treat the beginning of the year as a deliberate reset, not just a calendar change.

Connect with us here and let us help you improve your OH&S practices. 

References

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/health_safety_meetings.html

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/safety-talks-how-to.html

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/leading-and-lagging-indicators.html

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/incident_investigation.html

https://www.alberta.ca/work-site-health-safety-committees

https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-act/part-2-health-and-safety-committees-representatives-and-programs/

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/health-safety/reports/committees.html

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-135.html

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