REDUCING THE NUMBER OF UNSAFE ACTS

BY : MAGENDREN. R                                                                                                                                             ISSUE : MAY, 2013

       GSHE MANAGER 

Reducing the number of Unsafe Act findings is GSHE Department’s Safety KAIZEN activity for the month of May 2013.  Using the PDCA method the branches are required to come up with  possible solutions to reduce these unsafe acts at their locations.  Statistics gathered over the years indicate that more than 80% of all accidents are caused by unsafe acts of workers.  An unsafe act is any personal characteristic or condition that influences a worker to act unsafely.  The conditions could be physical, mental or emotional.  Unsafe Acts can occur due to :

• ·         Lack of awareness of the hazards in the job

• ·         Inadequate training for the jobs assigned

• ·         Inattention to the job at hand

Safety counselling is a good way to let a worker know that they have done an unsafe act.  You must tell them what was done wrong,  and explain how to correct that unsafe act or behaviour.  They have to know why and how they must avoid repeating the unsafe act.   The slogan ‘ THINK  SAFETY ‘ means just that.  Failure to plan before doing a job is also an Unsafe Act itself !

We find that many workers still do not realise the importance of using the appropriate PPEs.  Some who have been briefed about hazards seem to ignore the warnings.  Even some  experienced or skilled workers seem to forget what they have learned before.  Above all, they forget that  NOTHING IS AS IMPORTANT AS SAFETY !