Occupational keynote speakers Larry Wilson and Tim Page-Bottorff discussed the future of workplace safety on Tuesday morning.  They said it’s moving towards investing in the people in your organization and our experience with human factors will put you on the right path.

Positive interaction with employees requires real engagement, a focus on human performance, human error and embracing an integrated safety culture, Wilson said.

Wilson and Page-Bottorff stressed the fact that many injuries can occur at home rather than in the workplace, so they said professionals should always be on, even after hours. Both safety professionals are experts at SafeStart and are headlining multiple sessions at the National Safety Council Congress & Expo in Indianapolis this week.

The pair said there are usually three sources of unexpected incidents: you, other workers and equipment. Wilson said statistics show that 97 percent of injuries are caused by your own human error.

Wilson and Page-Bottorff said to reduce human error, a person should recognize your potentially dangerous actions or inactions and correct them; analyze close class and small errors to prevent repeating; see mistakes and good practices in others; and work on your own safety habits.