Risk Management – Part 4 of 4

In previous articles - http://safetyrich.blogspot.com/2011/05/four-levels-of-protection-from-hazards.html and http://safetyrich.blogspot.com/2011/05/making-workers-want-to-be-safe.html - we have mentioned the fourth level of Risk Management. Although we consider it to be the most important, this fourth level is seldom acknowledged in Risk Management discussions or training.

All training sessions offered by our company emphasize the importance of worker involvement in the safety process right from the very first. We encourage workers to pause just a moment to ask themselves: “What can happen to cause me harm here, today?”

United States Steel has a video story about a maintenance worker – Robert – who worked at a USS mill for 35 years without a single injury! Robert did not even have a First Aid level injury his entire career. The key to Robert’s success was primarily in his willingness to pause at the very start of any project to assess the hazards. Did it slow down his production just a bit? Of course, but not near as much as a serious injury would have taken him away from work and cost the company money. See http://safetyrich.blogspot.com/2011/05/cost-of-injuries.html for an idea of how much he very likely saved his employer.

We will cover Robert’s story and what kept him safe in a future post.

When we show workers how to be safe, we tell them about the earlier levels of Risk Management – mostly out of their control. Then we explain the fourth level, the one where the worker has total control: YOU!  Everyone is able to see the hazards, understand what can hurt them and then avoid those dangers.

In our two parts on Training posted in this blog on the 7^th and the 14^th of June, we explain that the main purpose of training is to show workers the hazards and how to avoid them. No worker should have to be sick, hurt or die for a paycheck!

The worker’s brain is the most powerful tool in their kit. They should use their awareness and knowledge to avoid hazards with the full support of management. They want to be safe – let them.

See our Web site: SafetyRich