Each and every workday the employees at one automotive warehouse are cited the following safety mantra by their immediate senior shift supervisor before the start of their shift: "Safety is our overriding priority. All incidents are preventable". This work site has now been incident free for almost fifteen hundred continuous days. Notice the use of the term "incident" and not the more negative term "accident".
The super holds a placard over his head. He slowly turns from left to right and lets his sleepy audience try to absorb the words permanently embedded on an oversized piece of laminated paper. The first shift of the day starts at six a.m.
Many of the folks gathered for the day's carefully delivered safety spiel and previous day's business briefing have over time grown accustomed to the early morning shift start. Many tune out the meeting altogether. There is a second afternoon shift that from time to time is a bit more attentive to the safety message. But not much more attentive. That's the way of the world I guess.
This is a warehouse that is cluttered with safety signs and placards. The number of safety cards, placards and posters has increased over the past few months. It will probably continue to increase in the months ahead.
The company has recently adopted this overwhelmingly "visual approach" to safety. Many employees feel that this laid back and non confrontational approach to inspire employee safety awareness through exposure is useless and demeaning.
A number of other employees feel this arm's length approach to the issue of safety and other employee issues is a cop out by the company The increased outcropping of signs is in their opinion a mere corporate formality designed to meet recommended national safety laws and advisements.
Last year the phrase "All accidents are preventable" was delivered to the work crew. Then magically and mysteriously the accident term was dropped and the incident expression used. I guess that an incident can be investigated a bit more rigorously than a mere accident. Less culpability exists if an incident did occur. Never mind the collateral damage that may have been inflicted upon an employee as a result of the accident/incident.
Earlier this year an employee working on the afternoon shift was indirectly hit by a passing motorized vehicle. The incident had all the earmarkings of one billiard ball grazing another. The forklift's outrigger projection grazed the employee's picking buggy and the resulting impact knocked him off his feet and into a nearby bin. He ended up on his back. His legs contorted into an uncomfortable position. His breath had been knocked out of him. He was able to stand up and complete his shift.
The "accident" was thoroughly investigated the next few days. Witnesses were asked for their testimony and a number of "accident" reports were filled in and filed. The company seemed to be interested into the root cause(s) of the "incident".
One week later it was decided that a reportable incident had indeed occurred. The employee had a bruise on his leg and upper thigh. Everyone had acted responsibly and no one was responsible for the event. The accident was minimized. The term "incident" ...a near miss was entered on the compensation report. The employee had only lost one day of work. Not a major issue.
The employee felt this decision was a sham. The downplay of the "incident" did not tarnish the warehouse's unblemished record of 1,395 accident free days. The company's "definition of the situation" provided a loophole for the warehouse to save face and doctor the numbers to their overall advantage. The employee ended up with a bruised thigh and slight limp.
