What is an accident? An accident is an unplanned event that involves an unsafe act and/or an unsafe condition. But, when are you most likely to be hurt? Are there times that are more hazardous, are there days that are more hazardous? Are there other days of the week?
When we look at the claims, we find that, contrary to popular belief no more injuries occur on Mondays and Fridays than any other day of the week. However, for some employers, this may be a larger problem. Here are some possible contributing factors leading up to an unsafe act and resulting accidents.
(1) You may not be mentally “at work.” Working safely takes a focus and attentiveness that may not be needed over the weekend. Put on your “game face” before getting to work on Monday.
(2) One third of all claims involve strains. If you have a strenuous job, you can be considered an “industrial athlete.” Strains are less likely to occur if your muscles are attuned to a particular activity.
If you have been relaxing for a few days, and then return to your normal tasks at work take the time to limber up, just as professional athletes do before a game or workout. All it takes is a few minutes of nonstrenuous stretching to help prepare your muscles for a their job.
(3) Sober up. Come prepared for work. Did you enjoy a few parties over the weekend?
You may not be intoxicated but anything you may have consumed may be having an effect on your judgment. You may know the feeling…a little off of normal, or even a hangover is going to impair your performance.
These three points are confirmed by one other statistic. The largest percentage (45%) of injuries occur between 8:00 to 9:00 AM. That’s amazing when you consider there are 24 hours in a day! Take heed. Come to work prepared to work.
Let’s look another factor – work experience. Rrecordable injuries occur to workers who have less than one year of experience with their current employer. Almost 75% of these injuries occurred during the first six months on the job. Most states have similar statistics.
Do you feel safe because you have been around 1 to 2 years? Don’t get too confident; 25% of all recordable injuries are in this group. Why is this? People in this group are in the early stages of learning the job, and they may not have developed all the necessary skills and knowledge to do the job safely. If you have done similar work in the past, you may be following different
procedures than our company does. This might have included unsafe behaviors or just working with a unsafe crewmembers.
What about those workers with only 1 to 2 year’s experience? It has been suggested that this group of people are injured because they become over-confident. They think they know all the “ins and outs”. In reality, they have not seen it all yet. Experience counts! Be aware of your limitations.