Agreed Peter (and Drew), I would like to think practitioners are progressing with more of the Safety 2 ethos of making the HSW space more dynamic rather than bureaucratic.
Getting our people being the centre of the solution, rather them sitting on the periphery looking in or being talked at....

On the toolbox signing issue, based on an experience, where to one guy out of 20 at a toolbox meeting did not sign the toolbox form was the one who got injured nothing serious but enough for the old version of worksafe to take us to court, stating we could not prove he had attended as he had not signed the document (this is the short version) we ended up with a fine etc even though the person had attended.

So yes get them to sign.

Industry's addiction to pieces of paper and signatures is the symptom of underlying lack of trust and pervasive fear of legal penalties. Threats of bigger fines and jail sentences are actually only feeding this, while industry groans under the ever-increasing weight of all the additional paper (and the environment isn't doing very well out of it either!).

It seems everyone is looking for CERTAINTY in the face of the very principles of risk. Pieces of paper and signatures are a part of an anachronistic approach inherited from the old days of soldiers on a battlefield; it doesn't really fit with today's digital world, but the majority seem disinclined to experiment with the prospect of fines, jail sentences and ruined reputations if they don't get it perfect from the very start - there is no room for experimenting and learning, which keeps industry bound in this endless bureaucratic circle.

When I managed a team and had monthly toolbox talks (this was in a shift-work hospitality environment), the staff signatures on the toolbox helped me on a practical level to keep track of who had received the message - it allowed me to follow up later with those who were absent to ensure the whole team got the message.

I personally find that when asking workers to sign a piece of paper, this helps to convey the importance of what has been discussed and displays commitment to what has been agreed to.

While on the topic of paperwork... I have worked for organisations which hold both digital and hard-copies of all training records. Is there any benefit to keeping a hard-copy in this day and age?

I keep a record of who attended in the Toolbox meeting in the minutes - means further down the track a worker can't pretend that they didn't know about something that was discussed. I get the workers who didn't attend the Toolbox meeting to read the minutes and sign that they have read them. Don't like the sign off bit but it helps with accountability.

Find this a rather disturbing outcome Mike? Wondering why the other workers could not have simply testified the injured person was at the toolbox meeting. Suspect the fine was based on some other factor.