How to spot potential causes of workplace injuries, fatalities
Uncover four indicators of significant injuries or fatalities on worksites and some tips on mitigating these risks.
Although overall recordable worksite injuries have fallen in the U.S. during the past two decades, the rate of serious injury and fatality (SIF) has remained largely unchanged, according to contractor and supplier management platform provider ISN Software Corp.
“The primary priority for any organization that works with contractors is that all workers return home safely to their families every day. While companies have been successful at minimizing on-site incidents, they are still searching for ways to reduce serious injuries and fatalities across locations and high-risk job roles,” Brian Callahan, ISN president and COO, said in a release. “By leveraging the data collected in the SIF Insights report, companies and contractors can continue to develop actionable strategies that mitigate the risk of SIFs.”
This news comes as employers continue to grapple with the impact of COVID-19 on the workforce.
Industries with the most SIF incidents in 2019 were transportation and warehousing; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; and the wholesale trade, respectively, ISN found.
Pinpointing risk factors
Giving insights into the issue with the aim of reducing occurrences, ISN highlights the following four factors as major indicators of SIF and how much higher incident rates are for industries partaking in those activities (in parenthesis) based on the past three years’ worth of incident reports:
- Working at heights of six feet or higher (40%)
- Bringing chemical on-site (20%)
- Work involving rigging material handling (19%)
- Performing welding, cutting or “hot work” (15%)
Activities that can reduce the rates of injury and fatalities including operating a Process Safety Management facility (-27%), submitting a program for Process Safety Management/Contractor Responsibilities (-24%), and enrolling in the Fit for Duty program (-21%). Other SIF incident lowering activities including putting an environmental program in place and having a paramedic on site.
To gain further insights, ISN asked employees and contractor workers how likely SIFs are perceived to occur and the reason behind the incidents. The survey found that occurrences having a critical impact on operations or the environment were thought to be the most likely, followed by an incident resulting in an overnight hospitalization, significant injury and fatality, respectively.
When it comes to the likelihood of an incident requiring hospitalization, survey respondents said long hours leading to fatigue and lack of training were the major issues. Concerning the prospect of a fatal incident, the survey found “repeated accidents without consequences” and “large companies filling seats with unprofessional drivers” were the most commonly cited reasons an accident would happen.
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