Years ago a gentleman by the name of Bird completed a major study of in accident and injures. This study reviewed over 1.7 million reported accidents. These accidents were reported in 300 companies representing 21 different industries.
Collectively, these companies reported over 3 billion employee-hours worked during the period of the study. The studies conclusion was that events occur in certain ratios. For every serious or disabling injury there were: 10 minor injuries, 30 property damage accidents, and 600 injuries with no visible injury or damage – a near miss.
More recently a similar study was completed and guess what? Similar results. Accidents occur in certain ratios, telling us that
ACCIDENTS DO HAVE WARNINGS. The study done by Tye & Pearson expanded the relationships. They found more
links to incidents we sometimes just shrug off.
Consider the Triangle built by the Tye & Pearson study. For EVERY fatality or SERIOUS injury there are:
• 3 less serious lost time injuries
• 50 Injuries requiring first aid
• 80 Property Damage Accidents, and
• 400 Near misses.
This study clearly shows the futility of investigating only the few serious or disabling injuries when there are over 500 other accidents that, if investigated and their causes corrected, would have prevented the occurrence of the more serious ones.
With years and years of history that includes disabling injuries making workers just like you unable to provide for their family, it is difficult to say that “accidents happen without warning.”
If you see the frequency of minor injuries is increasing, this tells you that sooner or later a serious, or perhaps fatal, accident is likely to happen. Because of this, every accident, whether the result is no injury, minor injury, or property damage, must be reported, investigated, causes determined, and corrective action implemented so that it will not happen again. If the causes of a near miss are not corrected, the same condition or conditions that caused the first injury are still there waiting to cause another accident, perhaps with more serious consequences.
Near misses or property damage that occurred while doing your job is a warning. Take them seriously and make corrections, so there will not be a “next time,” when the incident is not a near miss, but results in a serious injury.