Most of us know that only two things, unsafe acts or practices and unsafe conditions, cause accidents. Some of us even know that 9 out of 10 accidents are the result of unsafe acts, things we do when we know better. This is kind of strange if you think about it.
We have more to fear from our own actions than from any of the job hazards around us. Why do we deliberately expose ourselves to injury every day?
It Won’t Happen To Me
Basically, most of us are just thinking about getting the job done so we tend to rationalize the risk of getting injured. We think to ourselves that we have done this job many, many times this way and nothing bad has happened. Therefore, nothing bad will happen to us today. On an intellectual level, we realize there are potential dangers but decided that the risk of being injured is low. Because we have not been injured so far, we actually think of ourselves as being very safety conscious. We know the right way to do it, we realize that it is hazardous to do it this way, but what we are really thinking to ourselves is “it won’t happen to me.”
We Take Short Cuts
Some of us are fairly meticulous about following safe work practices, but, because a job “will only take a minute,” we use an unsafe method or tool. For example, not putting on our safety glasses because the job will only take a minute or not locking out a machine because an adjustment will only take a second. Usually we think about it just before we do something a little unsafe or maybe quite a bit unsafe. We know better, we know the safe way to do it, but we take that little chance. In effect we are saying, “I know that this could result in an injury, but “it can’t happen to me.” Maybe its human nature to think that accidents always happen to someone else, but they can happen to you too. What makes you different?
Why take a chance in the first place?
Only you can decide to take the time to do your job safely and correctly the first time.
Download flyer: SMOTW_Unsafe Acts.pdf (137.14 kb)
