It is a common misconception that the safety staff has the responsibility for removing any hazards or hazardous conditions in the workplace. There true challenge is to get these employees to help identify the hazards in their area so they can be reduced or eliminated. The most successful example helps prevent injury from falling debris at construction sites; hard hats.
Although people can readily identify hazards in a new place as they enter for the first time, they seldom bring it up as they are trying to get the job. After they are hired, they walk past the hazard again and again, and soon it no longer registers as a problem. This is how blatant deficiencies and dangerous conditions persist for long periods of time, until someone gets hurt.
It is not possible to relegate the identification and removal of hazards to a single individual in a large organization. Combined with employees reluctance to point out problems and hazards, the process of finding and eliminating these them is made even more difficult and the solution becomes a generic, be careful approach. Removing or reducing the dangers then only happen after an accident.
The notion that rules, regulations and personal protective gear requirements follow mishaps which resulted in damage, injury or death is known to professional safety personnel as the concept of blood priority. Until someone gets hurt or something is broken, actions aimed at preventing such an event carry little weight. Even for preventive mechanisms adopted because of such an event must be accompanied by continuous reminders to be accepted by workers.
Something inside people makes it difficult to accept the idea that an accident or injury on the job could easily happen to them. In many ways they blame individuals who are victims of such mishaps, believing they must have been doing something terribly wrong, or were not knowledgeable enough to avoid the problem. The conclusion is that had they applied some common sense to their behavior, they would not have been injured.
History has shown that that is not a safe bet, as very few people who suffer injury at work were doing something blatantly incorrect as a result of inexperience. The usual victim of an injury is an average worker, one with adequate experience and knowledge and not engaging in horseplay or other activity outside the norm. Accidents usually result from an individual losing focus on the job.
Sadly anyone can fall victim to distraction or complacency, and that interruption in vigilance can have severe consequences. There are some positions, like being an airline pilot, wherein any mistake can have unacceptable consequences. The approach to prevention for them is multiple pilots and extreme checklist discipline, and even this does not prevent all mishaps.
Over time most occupations have been analyzed and appropriate procedures put in place, and in addition personal protective gear has been developed for extra protection. But many employees find this equipment tedious and unnecessary and do not use it. The gold standard for such personal protective equipment overcame all forms of resistance and became a symbol of respected work on construction sites; hard hats.
Although people can readily identify hazards in a new place as they enter for the first time, they seldom bring it up as they are trying to get the job. After they are hired, they walk past the hazard again and again, and soon it no longer registers as a problem. This is how blatant deficiencies and dangerous conditions persist for long periods of time, until someone gets hurt.
It is not possible to relegate the identification and removal of hazards to a single individual in a large organization. Combined with employees reluctance to point out problems and hazards, the process of finding and eliminating these them is made even more difficult and the solution becomes a generic, be careful approach. Removing or reducing the dangers then only happen after an accident.
The notion that rules, regulations and personal protective gear requirements follow mishaps which resulted in damage, injury or death is known to professional safety personnel as the concept of blood priority. Until someone gets hurt or something is broken, actions aimed at preventing such an event carry little weight. Even for preventive mechanisms adopted because of such an event must be accompanied by continuous reminders to be accepted by workers.
Something inside people makes it difficult to accept the idea that an accident or injury on the job could easily happen to them. In many ways they blame individuals who are victims of such mishaps, believing they must have been doing something terribly wrong, or were not knowledgeable enough to avoid the problem. The conclusion is that had they applied some common sense to their behavior, they would not have been injured.
History has shown that that is not a safe bet, as very few people who suffer injury at work were doing something blatantly incorrect as a result of inexperience. The usual victim of an injury is an average worker, one with adequate experience and knowledge and not engaging in horseplay or other activity outside the norm. Accidents usually result from an individual losing focus on the job.
Sadly anyone can fall victim to distraction or complacency, and that interruption in vigilance can have severe consequences. There are some positions, like being an airline pilot, wherein any mistake can have unacceptable consequences. The approach to prevention for them is multiple pilots and extreme checklist discipline, and even this does not prevent all mishaps.
Over time most occupations have been analyzed and appropriate procedures put in place, and in addition personal protective gear has been developed for extra protection. But many employees find this equipment tedious and unnecessary and do not use it. The gold standard for such personal protective equipment overcame all forms of resistance and became a symbol of respected work on construction sites; hard hats.
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