Keeping Everyone Safe: A Simple Way to Avoid Workplace Tragedies – 8/26/24

Safety E-Quick Tips

OWYN Safety Management Platform

Keeping Everyone Safe: A Simple Way to Avoid Workplace Tragedies

Receiving a call about a preventable workplace accident resulting in a fatality is truly devastating, and I’ve received more than one during my career as a safety consultant.

In fact, I’ve had a few calls where family members had passed away, hitting closer to home.

When I think about these accidents, things like people getting hit by something, cave-ins, or just taking a bad fall come to mind, with falling being the most common.

So how can we stop these kinds of accidents from happening in the first place?

We need to talk about it—plain and simple.

Have you ever seen the company spend just 10-15 minutes talking to everyone about a recent accident or near-miss? Probably not, right?

That’s because most companies think safety discussions should be saved for formal settings like safety classes or meetings.

But what about just having a casual discussion about a near-miss someone had recently?

I mean, let’s be real. Near-misses happen more often than we admit, and nobody talks about them right when they happen. I bet everyone has had a near-miss at work at some point, including me.

So, how can we start these kinds of discussions and what questions can we ask to prevent future accidents?

You can start by talking to someone you know who will be open about a near-miss they had. Then ask them these three questions:

1. “Can you tell me what happened before the near-miss?”
2. “What could have been done to stop the near-miss from happening?”
3. “What can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”

By getting everyone to talk about incidents using these questions, it helps us all realize that we’re not perfect, and it reminds us to keep an eye out for ways to stop serious accidents from happening again.

Give it a try, and you might be surprised at how many good ideas come up from your team, making sure everyone stays safe and sound at work.

You’ve got this, and we’re here to assist you along the way.

Employee Quick-Tip

Take the initiative to share your near-miss experiences with your coworkers, answering three key questions to help prevent future accidents and keep everyone safe.

Employer/Management Quick-Tip

Foster a culture of open communication by encouraging informal discussions among employees about near-miss incidents, using three specific questions to gather insights and develop effective strategies for accident prevention.

Have you received your first Safety E-QuickTip and would like to check out some QuickTips from the past? Check out our Safety E-QuickTips Archive Page on our website.

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Thanks for Reading and Please – “Stay Safe this Week”.