When I visit new client companies, I often have the
opportunity of touring the facility or work site with one of the
company's management employees. They are usually interested in any
physical hazards or safety violations I may observe during my tour. I,
however, am equally interested in observing the work behavior of the
employees. In the vast majority of cases, it does not take me long to
observe an employee or several employees doing something unsafe. When
this occurs, I stop and wait to see if the individual I am with observes
the same things that I do. I will usually wait about five minutes as I
talk to my host. Amazingly, in many cases, the individual I am with does
not recognize or see the unsafe behavior until I point it out.
I understand that as a Safety Consultant, I am focusing
more on safety behavioral issues. Yet, it is these often unnoticed and
uncorrected unsafe behaviors that lead to many employee accidents. In
fact, the vast majority of accidents are not caused by serious unsafe
situations. Most of us recognize these situations and take the
appropriate steps to avoid the dangers. It is the everyday little things
we do that cause most accidents. These are called Occurrence Events. An
occurrence event is anything that happens for any reason that would
allegedly lead to an accident.
Can you think of one or more occurrence events that may
take place at your facility? They can be as simple as water on the
floor, employees lifting improperly, employees not using their seat
belts, employees working too quickly, improper use of tools or
equipment, failure to follow through with safety tasks, lack of adequate
safety training, unsafe conditions that are not corrected, lack of
written operating procedures to provide guidelines, or taking short cuts
or unnecessary chances to get the job done. You can probably name many
others.
The problem is that we do not see many of the above
activities as dangerous and most of the time neither do supervisors. If
we can successfully get away with any of these, we are likely to repeat
the behavior in the future. If the behavior is easier or quicker, we
will repeat it more often. Eventually, it becomes so common that we do
it without thinking. It becomes so common that supervisors will walk
right by without even noticing it as a concern. Therefore, this is the
reason so many of the management employees I tour with do not see the
things I see. It happens so often that it is common place.
Unfortunately, no accident ever takes place unless one
or more occurrence events take place first. In many cases, these have
been repeated numerous times without accident. Once an occurrence event
takes place however, the results are left to chance. Nothing may happen,
which is the case most of the time, but every once in a while something
goes wrong and we have an employee injury. In almost every case, it is a
preventable employee injury.
The good news is that occurrence events can be seen
before an accident takes place. Simply by watching, observing and asking
employees how they perform their duties, many occurrence events can be
identified. Once identified, we can educate employees to the dangers and
hazards. We can develop safe alternative procedures and alert our
supervisors to be on the watch for the little things. Correct these as
they happen and follow up to ensure they are not being repeated. All too
often we do not, and the cycle begins again. Remember — Accidents do not
happen by accident; they are caused. These causes are called occurrence
events. We can identify these in advance and save the vast majority of
accidents that take place as a result.
If you need any assistance with your Safety Programs or
have any safety-related questions, please call American Safety and
Health Management Consultants, Inc. at 1-800-356-1274.
