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Incident Prevention And Human Error: Prevention Relies On Context

Human error is the cause of a variety of problems in life, not to mention in the workplace. However, the repercussions of the many different types of human error are far more severe in a work environment; from attention failures that result in physical harm to memory failures that cost businesses significant amounts of money, incident prevention is the number one way to combat such risks. Before you go implementing safety procedures left and right, you must understand the context of why they’ve occurred in the first place.

People

Your workforce may be the ones committing these human errors, but there are a number of factors that contribute to such behavior. For example, in an office environment, those with stronger goals who are more dedicated to them are less likely to make mistakes that result in workplace accidents. In industrial situations, where the chance of personal injury is much higher, an individual’s health, age, strength, and fatigue can all contribute to a lapse in judgment. Accident prevention in these cases depends on reasonable work expectations and consistent breaks to allow the employees to recharge. Additionally, close monitoring can ensure that displaying signs of exhaustion or disorientation are removed from dangerous equipment immediately.

Workplace

Even if your workers are all alert, informed, and aware, incidents can still occur. If their environment is not properly organized (which includes the layout of the facility and equipment design), it can be easier to make mistakes which may harm others. Additionally, most industrial workplaces are pretty distracting; if workers are not outfitted with the proper tools to ignore such distractions (like earmuffs for loud noises, or safety equipment for chemical exposure, etc.), their surroundings are essentially creating a perfect storm waiting to happen. Since safety procedures are the most important aspects of industrial work, ensuring that warning lights and alarms are not only functional but very visible, is crucial.

Management

The number one complaint employees have regarding their managers is the easiest one to fix: lack of communication. The correct and accurate transfer of information that is not only necessary to do a job, but also to do it safely, can be a major preventative tool in safeguarding against workplace injuries.

Once you understand why incidents occur, preventing them becomes simple.