It's the way it has always been done!
Sometimes you’ve done something for so many years that complacency sets in, and you forget that there are risks with that task. You have never had any problems, so you keep doing it the way it has always been done. Sometimes the way it has always been done is not enough to prevent tragedy!
Unfortunately, many of us see the places where we work as familiar places that can easily be taken for granted. We do the same sort of jobs day after day, year after year without a problem. From statistics collated by WorkSafe New Zealand, the reality is that 55 fatalities occurred from Jul 2020 to Jun 2021. Additionally, for the November 2019 – October 2020 period, there were 30,924 injuries resulting in more than a week away from work. The sad fact is that most of these fatalities and injuries could have been avoided if safety had been properly managed. Make no mistake, people’s health and safety should be the highest priority for every business!
So where to start? Identify all the things in the work environment that have the potential to hurt people. These are the hazards. Then work out the best way to manage these hazards to avoid people being hurt or killed. These are the hazard controls. Then implement the hazard controls into everyday work.
The implementation and monitoring of the hazard controls is where it counts. Allocating the appropriate resources is where many businesses fail. They find it too daunting and quite often only focus on the simple things. A factor in their decision-making is usually cost. There is a cost in doing nothing and equally, there is a cost in doing something. However, most often the cost of doing nothing is far greater than doing something.
No system is perfect so carry out audits on a regular basis to gauge their ongoing effectiveness to keep everyone safe. There is never a perfect system so there are always opportunities for improvement!
Contact us to see how we can help you.
Date Posted: 27 September 2021