The medical technology advancements that have occurred in the past few decades are nothing short of astounding. Many surgeries and treatments that used to require extensive hospital stays are now performed in a doctor’s office, and the patient is back at home within hours. A few of the amazing medical applications include: scar removal through plastic surgery, titanium bone replacements, tape replacing sutures, and stents taking the place of vein removal and relocation.
Recently, a manager in one of our service organizations asked some questions about recurring injury trends. The trends revealed a higher incident rate among newer employees and also an injury pattern around time of day. The manager understood how newer employees can have a higher injury frequency rate; however, he was intrigued by the other data.
It seems that workplace injuries are directly influenced by economic situations. As the price of raw materials increases, there is a natural tendency to take additional risks to produce more volume. As the end of the calendar quarter approaches, there is added pressure to meet goals or deadlines.
Repetitive tasks exist in most workplaces and wherever they’re present, so too is a frustrating safety risk. It seems like the more we perform a particular task, the better we should be at it. I guess that is true for the first few times we do a task, but then our human minds have a tendency to wander.
Our personal risk tolerance is directly influenced by the severity of the outcome. If there is a high cost associated with a risk, we are more prone to comply with the rules set in place. While writing this post, I am reminded of today’s airline industry.
A number of companies have made significant improvements to their safety cultures. Their progress is so dramatic, they often come to the realization that it is highly probable that their next fatality will come from a contractor they hire. To safety leaders, this is not an acceptable risk.