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With one simple mishap at work, your ability to work, family, and entire life can change, in a heartbeat.
Quite simply, an accident at work can alter your life forever.
Shockingly, an estimated 13.3 million workplace accidents happen in the United States alone every single year. What is perhaps even more shocking is the number of deaths related to accidents in U.S. workplaces each year. An estimated 6,731 people lose their lives due to accidents while at work or on the job.
There are several common types of workplace accidents that a majority of workers fall victim to. To begin with, many workplace accidents occur simply because an employee is looking for the quickest way to get a job done; the notorious shortcut. These shortcuts, though, can lead to dangerous outcomes. Overconfidence is another leading factor in regards to accidents happening at work. This overconfidence may lead to a worker believing he is “invincible, and thus impervious to an accident befalling him.
Many workers may simply overlook safety procedures, believing they can work around those procedures set in place by others. Another factor to workplace accidents are those mental distractions that may come when one is not focused on the task set in front of him at that very moment. Whether it is an outside source, or an internal one, such as emotions, thoughts, and feelings, distractions can quickly lead to an accident on the job.
There are those times when the workplace area itself is not safe. Whether it is due to neglect, or sloppiness, those workplace environments that are not in order may lead to disaster. Along with this, a lack of preparation by the employee is also a leading cause of an accident. Finally, there are those workers who purely rush into a job without gathering all the information required. As a result, accidents are likely to occur.
If an accident should occur while on the workplace, it is essential that it is not only reported, but also recorded. Not only will this help with properly documenting an incident or accident, it can also help in examining what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
I have worked for a chemical plant for more than 15 years so far. I agree with Dr John. What I have been doing so far to make employee aware about safety is to communicate it in regular time. This may be familiar with safety talk or safety briefing. We do it everyday. One employee is appointed to talk about safety and the other are hearing. After that each employee reports what he will do at that day. Each employee must do site patrol at least once per two hour surround his working area and report immediately if he finds… Read more »
OK doctor John, first question, have you actually ever worked in a manual labor job? Most ‘Safety Experts’ I’ve met haven’t. But they’ve gone to a lot of ‘Training Seminars’ and read a lot of books, unfourtunitaly they were also written by people who never worked in a manual labor field!