Within the past year, a number of workplace catastrophes have grabbed the headlines.  As a result many have called for more worker safety regulations and more enforcement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  While these are all worthy of consideration, one must wonder if even the highest level of regulatory oversight and enforcement could have prevented these catastrophes from occurring.  It is likely there were other factors present that allowed such devastating events to occur.

Workplace accidents are complex.  Contrary to popular belief, accidents don’t just happen.  In fact, there are often many variables that contribute to the root cause and sometimes the root cause is never truly understood.

In studying workplace accidents, some interesting questions arise:
1. What statistics (metrics) are workplaces using to determine the effectiveness of their safety programs? 
2. How do they assess their risk of a serious accident or catastrophe?  
3. Do the current metrics used by OSHA (compiled from employers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) really measure your organizations’ accident risk?  Or, an even more basic question is, does it measure the effectiveness of your safety effort?

These questions are important because, as it has been widely reported, some of the recent workplace catastrophes have happened to companies that have had very good safety records and very few reported accidents.   

While none of us can predict when an accident or catastrophe will occur, the current metrics in use (lost work day incident rates, loss ratios, etc.) are only one piece of the puzzle.  A low OSHA lost time incident rate or loss ratio does not in and of itself mean that you automatically have a lower accident risk. 

There are, perhaps, more important markers such as at risk behaviors, worker perceptions, certain policies and procedures as well as other factors that serve as evidence of a potential accident.  These markers should not be disregarded just because they may be difficult to quantify rather, there should be efforts made to control them. 

 Some of these key markers include but are not limited to:
• Management commitment to safety versus management action to safety
• Management incentives for production in the absence of stronger disincentives for poor safety practices and performance
• Not identifying the major risks that are likely to result in injury, death and property damage and then preventing them from occurring
• Poor communication between employee and management on safety (i.e. fear of reporting unsafe situation and close calls) as well as the mindset that accidents happen
• Inability of workers to be able to stop work if there is strong evidence of a serious safety hazard or issue

None of the above factors are used to calculate the OSHA incident rate, insurance loss ratio or other commonly used measures of a good safety record.
Finding and addressing these markers may be the missing link towards identifying and preventing the “hidden catastrophe” within your organization!
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This article is written by Milton Jacobs, President of Safety Solution Consultants, Inc.    He is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and holds a Masters Degree of Public Health (MPH).  He can be reached at mjacobs@safety-solution.com.

Over the past couple of weeks I have received numerous phone calls asking for regulatory guidance on a wide range of safety issues.  I typically get these calls, but the volume has increased because of some recent high profile accidents (crane incidents, explosions, etc.).

Many of the questions surround the issue of whether or not there is a specific safety/ OSHA, city, or state regulation, which applies to a particular task or operation.

After some thought, it comes to mind that most of the questions are centered on complying with a certain law or requirement versus preventing an accident.  This may prove to be a major flaw in their thought pattern and may increase the risk for an accident!

Most people think that complying with all OSHA regulations will result in no accidents.  This mind-set keeps them from seeing the bigger picture, the Accident Prevention Picture. Keep in mind that OSHA regulations are a minimal level of compliance -  I call it the bare minimum that an organization is required to adhere to.   Health and safety hazards such as  violent acts committed against workers and exposure to some dangerous chemicals for example are not even addressed in OSHA regulations or have not been updated in many years.  Does this mean you can ignore these hazards?  No!  You must find ways to address these hazards to avoid liability and there is another reason….because its the right thing to do! 

What types of questions should we be asking?  Take a look at the ones below:

1. What are the accident hazards affecting my organization?

2. What is the risk of these accidents occurring (High Medium or Low) and how can we prioritize them to reduce the risk of them occurring?

3.  Ask the WHAT IF question.  What if someone puts their hand into that unguarded moving blade?  What will happen?

After these questions are answered consider taking the following  steps:

a) Speak to or survey workers to find out what hazards they believe exist in their areas- you may be very surprised by what they tell you!

b) Review your past accident history and look for trends (i.e. those incidents that occur most frequently). 

c) Speak to your insurer and ask them for a list of major risks/ hazards that affect your industry.  Then begin to prioritize them starting with those occurring most frequently.  These are what I refer to as the ”the slow leak incidents” (small insignificant events such as eye injuries that eventually turn into large costly issues).

d) Take action by involving employees and management in the corrective actions.  This helps to create a better culture of safety.

e) Follow up to ensure the fixes are in place and working.

 Asking the right questions can help you to change your perspective on accident prevention and help to save lives as well as save you money!

Milton Jacobs, Certified Safety Professional(CSP)

Holistic Safety Professional