Friday the 13th, Bad Luck?
July 23, 2018Personal Safety
August 13, 2018Good Morning Team!
Here’s hoping that you all had a great weekend and are now ready to face the challenges this coming week might bring.
I thought you might be interested in some statistics relating to safety in the work place. The National Safety Council (NSC) has found that 2016 marked the 3rd straight year that preventable workplace deaths increased. A total of 4398 workers in various industries throughout the US were killed. Also in 2016, preventable work-related injuries – those requiring medical consultation – neared 4.5 million. The costs associated with these injuries are estimated to be $151 billion in lost wages and productivity, administrative expenses, medical expenses, motor vehicle, and property damage.
Why do we care about past statistics and how can they help promote safety for us moving forward? Patrick Henry – a founding father of our country – was quoted as saying; “I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.” Those past statistics then are indicators of where we are headed. They can help show us what needs to be changed to get where we really want to be. In this case, we want to be 100% free of work related death and injury. And while you may find this hard to believe, all workplace accidents are preventable! Need some help understanding how this could be true? Check out this short article written by Arthur Davidson with ISHN (Industrial Safety and Hygiene News) In it you’ll see the best argument I have found promoting this statement thus far.
https://www.ishn.com/articles/101536-why-every-accident-is-preventable
I found the article compelling for a number of reasons, but mostly for the surety that there will always be those with a different viewpoint or argument against something so definitively stated. I can appreciate the fact that we do have diverse views and sharing those should never be prohibited, but whether you agree with the statement or not, I am sure that you would readily admit that we should be trying to get there. After all, no one working here should ever suffer a work related injury or worse. Let’s all do our part by following our written and verbal safety programs and maintaining and wearing the appropriate PPE. Let’s monitor our co-workers and bring any concerns we might have immediately to their attention. And let’s always be alert to and mitigate, any safety hazards we may come across ourselves.
As Mr. Davidson indicates toward the articles end, we may never achieve a totally accident free work environment, but the most important thing that we can do to get close is by instilling into our own company culture that “all accidents are preventable” at the very least as a goal. Imagine what would happen if every individual in this company was thinking about and acting on safety in our workplace? Wouldn’t that, statistically speaking, keep us all safer?
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Ray Moore
Director of Facilities Services