What’s Similar about 8 Out of Every 10 Accidents?
Answer – They’re not accidents at all;
8 of 10 are caused by people and people’s mistakes …
Most workplace accidents are caused by one of two circumstances –
1. The unsafe acts or practices of employees at work, or
- Unsafe conditions that are unknown to employers or employees. Broken down even further, statistics state that at least 8 out of 10 workplace accidents are the result of unsafe acts, many of which are actions we take even though we know the safe procedure. This is kind of strange if you think about it. We have more to fear from our own actions than from any other job hazards around us. So why do we deliberately expose ourselves to injury every day? The two following “excuses” are the most popular answer to that question:1. It Won’t Happen To Me
Many of us are just thinking about getting the job done and we may not give much thought to the risk of getting injured. We know we’ve done this task or job the same way many, many times before and we’ve not gotten hurt. No matter what we hear at company safety meetings, or when mentioned by our supervisor, we think to ourselves – “it won’t happen to me.”
It will happen to you – maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But if you continue to work unsafely, you will get hurt. Don’t take chances and don’t use the “It won’t happen to me” excuse.
2. We Take Shortcuts
Another popular excuse I hear often from employees breaking a safety rule is “this job will only take a few moments, I don’t need my safety equipment” – so we take a safety “shortcut.” For example, not putting on our safety glasses because the task is short and your glasses are all the way back at your truck, or not sloping back that trench because we’ll soon finish work at the bottom of the trench and start backfilling.Just like the “It won’t happen to me” excuse, the safety “shortcut” excuse will eventually get you hurt.Why take a chance in the first place? Accidents can happen to you – and eventually they will happen if you continue to take safety shortcuts. Do the right thing and put safety first in every job or task you do and you won’t need any excuses.
