I Didn't See it Until it Hurt Me!
By Carl Potter, CSP
Hazards are the source of personal injuries and damage to vehicles, equipment, and property. Hazards abound at home, work and play. The problem: we can’t see them until they hurt us.
When someone says, “I didn’t see it coming,” he is not kidding, nor is he a liar. Recognizing a hazard requires a trained brain that quickly analyzes the risk and the consequences posed by the situation. In my experience and research I have frequently observed that the person involved in an incident was trained to control hazards associated with his or her work, but had not been specifically trained to see the hazards. This is all a part of the gap between knowing and doing: people know what to do when they recognize the hazard, they just don’t see it.
Hazard control is the key to preventing injuries and damage, yet to control the hazard employees at all levels must be trained to recognize them. When you consider this, you’ll start to see the problem in many places. For instance, I was on a business trip to
The challenge for these workers was the distance between the parking lot and the building to be cleaned with a pressure washer. Add to this the need to raise and lower the worker operating the pressure washing wand. We often talk about human ingenuity. Well, workers can be quite innovative and get the job done yet put themselves in a precarious situation without even recognizing it.
These workers had parked a mobile scissor lift in the parking spaces parallel to the sidewalk and the building. The building was approximately twelve feet from the scissor lift. Employing a two by twelve wood board about sixteen feet long, they lashed one end to the floor of the scissor lift. This resembled a diving board, if you can imagine. Being astute innovators of equipment, they positioned three large workers as counter balances to hang on the outside of the guardrail of the lift. Being safety minded the employee with the wand in his hand was standing at the end of the “diving board” wearing fall protection that was clipped onto the basket of the lift twelve feet away (and yes, I am sure the lanyard employed a de-accelerator). Got the picture?
Being a studious safety professional, I quickly went downstairs and walked toward these hard working, creative gentlemen. As I approached, I said, “I am not with OSHA, but as a certified safety professional it is my duty to stop your operation.” They all got wide-eyed. It was obvious that they heard, “OSHA” and misinterpreted. They stopped working abruptly so I assume they knew their behavior was unsafe. When I asked who was in charge, one of the workers ran through a door and quickly produced the supervisor who was very cooperative.
The supervisor explained that it was his idea to use the innovated contraption until the rental company delivered the snorkel lift (expected to arrive on site in the next two hours). After a few minutes of discussion with the supervisor and the workers they realized the consequences of their behavior could have been serious. We all shook hands and agreed that they would wait until the rental company showed up with the proper equipment and I promised to not write them a citation (they still thought I was with OSHA). Just another day in the life of a safety professional.
Without the ability to “see” hazards, people will put themselves in a position that can lead to a personal injury, injure a co-worker, or damage equipment.
Recently I designed a workshop called Hazard Recognition and Control (HRC). HRC is a six-hour workshop that results in participants being able to “see” hazards. Participants have said that it is the best time they have spent in safety training. The six hours pass quickly as we explore different was to look for hazards and then how to control them. Through the use of pictures and group discussions, participants make the connection between recognizing hazards, analyzing the risk, and applying the correct controls to prevent personal injuries, damage to equipment and damage to property. Because I am in so many places around the country and internationally, I’ve seen a multitude of hazards in a wide variety of industrial settings. I use my experiences to increase the ability of worker to see hazards. This training is designed to raise awareness, change behavior, and result in changes.
It is my hope that you will call to discuss hosting this specially designed workshop for your organization. In my professional opinion people will control a hazard if they can “see” it. Working together I know that we can improve your employees’ ability to take personal responsibility for safety so that everyone can go home every day without injury.
