It happens to the best of us.
The line between “It won’t happen to me! I’m safe!!!” and unfortunate events are a very thin one, as we all know too well by now…
Take for example the day you locked your keys in your car, or when your cooking attempt resulted in an embarrassing injury, or that one night when you just had one drink too many and things got out of control… Our ego is the part of us that likes to think it’s smarter, more intelligent and resilient than everyone else. The problem with this mindset? Death & injury statistics tell a different story!
According to data provided on the Safe Work Australia website, by the 2nd of September , there were 81 recorded work related deaths in Australia for 2021 alone. A staggering portion of these deaths was in the transport, postal and warehousing sector (32) and in the Construction sector (11). These individuals all had families and friends who are now dealing with a harsh reality of life without their loved ones. Due to the pandemic, many close relatives and friends have not had a chance to say their last goodbyes.
And here is a simple, yet eye opening truth about these untimely deaths…
In many cases there is a person involved who thought or said “It won’t happen to me!”. It could be the fatigued and exhausted driver who only had that one final load to be delivered and was on a tight schedule, or it could be the electrical apprentice who partied hard all night and decided he was still fit enough to turn up to work the next day… or it could also be the manager who thought that he or she could get away without policies, procedures or risk controls in place. And before you know it, BAM it’s happened to you!
Hardworking workers are the backbone of any society. They do whatever it takes, and never complain about their hardships- even when things get really tough! A good worker should always be thankful for all that he or she has been given in life; but have you ever thought what happens after these hard workers go above & beyond? Sometimes they make ultimate sacrifices so others can enjoy a better quality living environment…The ones that don’t quit because their brakes failed, or when their toolkit ran out of batteries. They just keep going with what they have for as long as they can without saying a word. Why? One of the reasons they don’t bother saying anything is that they are scared to lose their income, the all important dollar for their family and commitments. We can’t continue seeing this happen, the “suck it up princess” mentality has to stop. We need a sharp change in our approach to the sacredness and fragility of life, or people will continue dying prematurely or suffer from severe injuries.
Businesses cannot continue paying fines and managing against compensation risk.
It’s critical that our owners, managers, staff, contractors and suppliers stand up against taking the “risk management” path of managing “possible prosecution” through “obvious negligence”. So why is negligence management a cop out? Because they allowed a controllable risk to become a catastrophic outcome. And so we waste our time in a court of law arguing a case where blame is pleaded under ignorance or misfortune, an accident! – You see, if the involved party knows about the risk and does not do everything that is practically possible in their powers to control and minimise it – they failed. And if they had a risk that they were not aware of, then they most likely had a gap in their hazard and risk assessment and investigation process – which means that their tools and training are lacking.
So what do we need to do to rectify this situation?
How do we join arms to do all we can to make sure these horrible outcomes never happen? This is essentially what it all boils down to. Most Health and Safety Legislations, Regulations, Codes of practice and standards boil down to how an organisation manages its risks and how serious it takes its responsibilities to ensure a deeply entrenched culture of safety.
In our new series “Things that shouldn’t be happening in 2022” we will approach workplace health, safety and compliance from a different point of view, shed a new light on the entire Safety Narrative and discuss how together we can shift operations from bad and unsafe to efficient, effective, safe and meaningful.
But before we go any further and dive any deeper into the world of Health and Safety and discover how to manage risks in the workplace, let’s agree on two things – 1 – We are all smart people, but things can still happen to all of us. And 2 – We can prevent unwanted scenarios from happening to us by understanding and controlling the risks.
Another thing to do before diving deeper into legal requirements and how to meet them, is to meet KIM – The extraordinary human resources management software that is a lot more than just a standard HR software, but is also a Workplace Communication tool, a time and attendance software, an asset management system and much much more!
It’s time to shift the scruffy gears of our culture and become the real drivers of change! It’s time to put your trust and confidence in tools that are designed to ensure the task of managing safety easier. It’s time to meet KIM, an application designed to “bake in safety” and make sure “your people” get home, it’s all of our obligations.
Speak to our team today to see how we can implement safety management into your company.
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