Reasons for unsafe acts are something most Health and Safety professionals fail to follow up on in depth.
It has been certain that over 90% of accidents in the workplace are caused directly or indirectly. It has also been established that accidents are caused mostly either by unsafe acts or unsafe conditions. Though we always propagate the operation zero LTI mantra, accidents still happen. Consequences of accidents could range from mild to medium to severe. The safety fight on site has always been from two fronts; to prevent an accident or reduce the consequences of the accident.
Reasons for Unsafe Acts
These are the 3 main reasons for unsafe acts:
- I didn’t know
- I didn’t see
- I didn’t think
A worker will always say either of these 3 things. Now the questions are:
- Why didn’t he know: No training
- Why didn’t he see: Poor hazard perception, poor design, poor job organization, etc?
- Why didn’t he think of poor hazard awareness, poor hazard perception, poor worker management, etc?
These 3 main reasons for unsafe acts stated above are the different variables that result in accidents. To tackle these unsafe acts, these variables should be considered.
We need to block these internal reasons captured by the “WHYs”. We need to heighten hazard awareness and hazard perception through training, adopt safe working practices, and improve workers and management relationships.
Preventing accidents in our workplaces starts with management commitment, this is why some quarters integrate management commitment into “The Health and Safety Management system“.
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