Continuous Disrespect Can Lead to Death or Serious Injury
Serious Injury Prevention
Our profession should examine how well incident investigation is done. It will reveal causal factors deriving from system shortcomings that must be corrected.
THIS paper will establish that two age-old beliefs, often applied, are barriers to inquiry into the reality of systemic design and engineering, operational, and cultural causal factors for incidents resulting in serious injury. Those beliefs are:
* reducing incident frequency will equivalently reduce the occurrence of low probability/serious consequence events, and
* unsafe acts of workers are the principal causal factors for occupational incidents.
Further, the case will be made that the data is convincing in support of special recognition being given in safety management systems to the prevention of incidents resulting in serious injury.
Defining the Problem--and the Opportunity
From 1973 to 2001, according to the National Safety Council's Injury Facts, 2003 Edition, the total occupational injury and illness rate for private industry dropped 50 percent--from 11.3 to 5.7. In the same period, the incidence rate for Total Lost Workday Cases decreased only 18 percent -- from 3.4 to 2.8 (p60).
Significant data pertaining to occupational deaths also can be found in Injury Facts, 2003 Edition. From 1992 to 2002, the death rate per 100,000 workers dropped from 4.2 to 3.6, only a 14 percent reduction; the number of deaths has remained fairly constant--4,965 in 1992 and 4,900 in 2002 (p49).
In several organizations with which I have been involved in the past few years, the incidence rate for lost work days with days away from work has leveled off or increased. Also, the number of fatalities in some of those organizations has increased. As an indication of concern over the occurrence of serious injuries and fatalities, ORC International, an entity with a membership of about 125 of the Fortune 500 companies, has formed a task group to study the causal factors for such incidents.
Comments made by James Spigener, representing Behavioral Science Technology (BST) at the 2004 Behavioral Safety Now Conference, are a further indication of serious injury trending. He said that for several of their clients, the fatality rate had flattened or increased.
This article originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.
- OSHA Recordkeeping Guide
In case you missed it, OSHA recently initiated an enforcement program to identify employers who fail to electronically submit Form 300A recordkeeping data to the agency. When it comes to OSHA recordkeeping, there are always questions regarding the requirements and ins and outs. This guide is here to help! We'll explain reporting, recording, and online reporting requirements in detail.
- Incident Investigations Guide
If your organization has experienced an incident resulting in a fatality, injury, illness, environmental exposure, property damage, or even a quality issue, it's important to perform an incident investigation to determine how this happened and learn what you can do to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps of performing an incident investigation.
- Lone Worker Guide
Lone workers exist in every industry and include individuals such as contractors, self-employed people, and those who work off-site or outside normal hours. These employees are at increased risk for unaddressed workplace accidents or emergencies, inadequate rest and breaks, physical violence, and more. To learn more about lone worker risks and solutions, download this informative guide.
- Job Hazard Analysis Guide
This guide includes details on how to conduct a thorough Job Hazard Analysis, and it's based directly on an OSHA publication for conducting JHAs. Download the guide to learn how to identify potential hazards associated with each task of a job and set controls to mitigate hazard risks.
- The Basics of Incident Investigations Webinar
Without a proper incident investigation, it becomes difficult to take preventative measures and implement corrective actions. Watch this on-demand webinar for a step-by-step process of a basic incident investigation, how to document your incident investigation findings and analyze incident data, and more.
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OH&S Digital Edition
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October 2022
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- FACILITY SAFETY
Source: https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2005/06/Serious-Injury-Prevention.aspx
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