How Many is Too Many?
When it comes to accidents in the work place, how many is too many? If your company incurred only 25 injuries this year, would that be okay? How about 10 injuries? How about 5? Or, how about 1? How many is too many?
CBR’s Risk Team advocates “Injury Free Environments,” but is it truly possible? Is it necessary to strive for Zero Tolerance? Why isn’t 99.9% good enough?
If 99.9% was “good enough,” we would have:
- 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions filled every year.
- 500 incorrect surgical procedures each week.
- 50 newborn babies dropped every day.
- 22,000 checks/withdraws deducted from wrong bank accounts every hour.
We don’t tolerate such nonsense in other critical areas of life, so why do we tolerate it in the workplace where we spend over half of our waking hours?
The good news is: we don’t have to! An Injury Free Environment is possible, but there are 3 foundational elements:
- Supportive Leadership
- Personal Commitment to Safety
- Free and Open Lines of Communication
Supportive Leadership
It is a well-documented fact that the attitude of owners and executives toward safety will dictate the attitude of the entire company. If owners and executives are not committed to an Injury Free Environment, neither will managers, supervisors and line workers. Strong safety cultures filter from the top down. Thus, owners and executives must be supportive. Here are signs that owners and executives are committed:
- They genuinely care about each employee and their quality of life.
- They are positive roll models. (For example, they wear appropriate safety gear and adhere to safety procedures.)
- They provide resources – time, dollars, manpower – to create an Injury Free Environment. (This includes providing appropriate training for managers and supervisors, and for line workers.)
- They invite communication from all employees regarding safety issues.
- They take action when a safety need arises.
- They are willing to halt or slow down production if safety is compromised.
Likewise, managers and supervisors (including foremen) must be trained and given the authority to enforce an Injury Free Environment. If proper training is not conducted or if supervisory personnel are not given the authority to enforce safety procedures, an Injury Free Environment will not be possible.
Personal Commitment to Safety
Every employee must be personally committed to safety – their own and that of their co-workers! Again, this is triggered from the top, and is enforced by supervisory personnel. A worker who puts himself or his co-workers in danger should not be tolerated. A strong Disciplinary Action Plan is absolutely necessary. Strong leadership and good hiring practices may eliminate the need to use disciplinary actions regularly, but it should be a known part of any safety program. Workers need to know that there are consequences for improper behavior, including failure to follow safety procedures.
These are characteristics of employees who are personally committed to safety:
- They accept responsibility and are accountable for their own safety and that of their co-workers.
- They don’t pass blame.
- There is a sense of teamwork.
- They embrace the idea of an Injury Free Environment
- They are positive roll models for co-workers.
- They know how to work safely. (They have been adequately trained, and they adhere to the training they have received.)
Free and Open Lines of Communication
About 98% of accidents occur due to unsafe actions or conditions. Every worker should have the freedom to report unsafe actions or conditions before an accident occurs. No one understands the risk of a job better than the one performing it! If it is not safe, it should not be done…and there should be no retaliation toward the worker who refuses to work in an unsafe condition or in an unsafe manner.
Free and open lines of communication are identified by:
- Every employee’s ability to identify and communicate a known hazard to supervisory and/or executive personnel.
- Immediate correction of known hazards, whether reported by supervisors or line workers.
- Feedback regarding correction of hazards. All affected workers should be notified of what the hazard was and how it was corrected.
- Lack of fear in reporting all injuries and near misses.
Zero injuries – is it a realistic goal? It certainly requires a paradigm shift for many people. But we must overcome the attitude that “Accidents happen…that’s what insurance is for.” Accidents don’t “just happen!” Accidents always have a cause, and they are preventable.
Take the time to view the 4-part webinar series, “Creating an Injury Free Environment,” found on CBR’s Safety Webinar page. Then, enhance your safety program by implementing strong Safety Procedures. But remember these 3 foundational elements for creating an Injury Free Environment:
- Supportive Leadership
- Personal Commitment to Safety
- Free and Open Lines of Communication
