Why Do We Assume That Workplace Incidents Are Inevitable?
Did your organization accomplish its safety goals in 2021? What are your objectives for 2022? Assuming your goal is something north of zero incidents, how did you determine the appropriate objective? Taking last year's number and applying an incremental reduction won't suffice. New employees, new projects, new programs, new processes, new hazards, and new training all conspire to make our safety goals a moving, hard-to-predict target. And besides, it's our job as leaders to PREVENT workplace injuries and illnesses, not merely reduce them.
At their best, safety programs are the planful practice of policy, training and systems that work together to promote efficiency of operations and the avoidance of injury. As you think about organizing your efforts to prevent workplace incidents, there are four key steps you should take note of:
- Tracking
Being diligent about tracking every accident in a detailed manner can pay off. The more information you collect, the more you can analyze trends and prevent reoccurrence.
- Evaluating
After all of the information about the accident has been collected, safety personnel should evaluate the incident. Look at it from a broader view, notice what event or string of events led to the accident. Seek out connections.
- Understanding
To be useful, accident reports need to be fully understood by safety personnel and the safety management. Is there any way that the accident could happen again? Was the injured/ill worker at complete fault? Was this just a total fluke? We need to understand what types of preventive measures could be taken to avoid reoccurrence.
- Implementing
Once you have concrete preventive measures or policy changes decided upon, figure out the best way to implement them. Maybe it's fixing something, or possible it's just an education issue. Be clear and specific about what needs to be done to prevent future accidents and thoroughly implement it.
HealthRx Safety Cloud takes the difficulty out of accident tracking, evaluating, understanding, and implementing best in class safety programs. If you'd like to learn more about Health Cloud, click the "Get A Demo" button below.