How can you identify and address workplace safety blind spots?

Blind spots can be identified by carrying out regular audit's of the worksite or equipment audits,by carrying out periodic campaigns, eg-a bi- weekly campaign on dropped object hazards in the worksite,by encouraging visitors or contractor's to carry out audit's of the worksite because more often than not regular workers might become accostomed to or normalize some hazards in the work area,by encouraging anomaly writing by all employees including anonymous anomalies,by mandating managers and sectional heads to participate in safety tours every week,by introducing checklists to be compulsorily completed before and after a job where the workers can comment on challenges and hazards associated with their job and work environment.

Let’s not forget the ‘unseen hazards’ that cause dis- stress and ultimately can cause harm. Yes to an audit as long as it covers ISO45003 requirements but it’s also very important to consult with staff. That ‘Bottom Up’ approach is vital to ensure that you find those ‘blind spots’ because someone will have seen them. If you want to make a rea difference you have to change behaviours so education is key. Ensuring that people feel safe to speak out and report problems is a must , hence the focus on Psychosocial Safety’ which looks at - Systems - People - Environment Look out for those ‘People Hazards’ that are often ignored.

Bling spot at worplace or during activities can be identified by active monitoring ( PTW audit, Area inspection and leadership tour,...) and regular external compliance audit.Mornalization of deviation at workplace or during activity from workparty is more likely to occur so an active monitoring from HODs, team leader or safety officier ; Also, compliance audit from client or 3rd party and senior management site visit can help to identified blinds spots at workplace or during activities. The outcome of the audit and inspection have to be communicated, record and an action tracker to be created to ensure corrective and improvement actions are raised and completed within reasonnable time.

In my experience, walking your jobsite, workplace regularly, understanding the scope of work that should be taking place in those areas and speaking with the folks that actually are in the trenches doing the work will give you the best indicators of what will put you at risk.

1. Regular safety assessments. 2. Employee feedback and involvement. 3. Learning from near misses. 4. Safety audits by experts. 5. Benchmark with industry best practices. 6. Data analysis for trends. 7. Continuous safety training. 8. Risk assessments for new processes. 9. Cross-functional safety teams. 10. Cultivate a culture of proactive reporting and improvement.

To support the above, another blind spot can be the neglect of employee well-being, including mental health. Ensuring a supportive work environment, offering resources like counseling, and promoting work-life balance can mitigate this risk. Additionally, unclear communication channels and decision-making processes can hinder productivity and employee morale. Implementing transparent communication methods and involving employees in decision-making can enhance clarity and buy-in. Finally, overlooking diversity and inclusion initiatives can result in a lack of creativity and fairness in the workforce. To prevent this, companies should actively promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and regularly assess their efforts.

We can identify the workplace safety blind spots through regular safety gemba and meetings to resolve identified gaps, along with this we can train our staff and associates about the Occupational safety , cause of accidents and their prevention plans. In our current organization we usually ask our associates to identify the possible workplace risk by using HIRA , we also invites their ideas to eliminate those risks.

Language is important here. If you ask a worker for their opinion, you will (more often than not) get a negative/critical response. If you ask for their advice, they'll feel like their input is more valued, so they're more likely to give a well considered, and therefore more useful, response.

In addition to anonymous reporting systems, suggestion boxes or worker surveys, I think it is important to review the execution in the field of the specific procedures to carry out tasks, and if differences are detected between what is written and what is real, address the employees or workers who perform the task in order to identify the causes that lead to this variation, analyze the risks and dangers within this change, and subsequently adapt the procedure or indicate and train the workers on what is the correct way to carry out the activity.

Don't just pay lip service to seeking input from employees. Actually talk and listen to experienced, intelligent employees. My previous employer, Trimac Transportation talked a lot about employee feedback, but in practice totally ignored anything we told them. The impression we got was they felt that truck drivers just weren't very intelligent, or we wouldn't be truck drivers. I pointed out several instances of serious safety issues but was without fail, ignored.

Near misses is a huge challenge. Here's a story... With 4m annual visitors, 15 RIDDORs (reportable injuries) were recorded due to falls at entrances at the National Gallery here in the UK. During 12 hours of video recording (proactive work), the HSE spotted: 12,560 journeys 0 incidents reports 466 incidents seen on video 9 people who were obviously hurt In my field of slips and falls, the true picture is often masked by chronic under reporting. We need to get better at not only encouraging this, but also helping people to understand the definition of a near miss. It's not just if someone falls and doesn't hurt themselves. Without this work, we'll focus on the wrong things.

One reason employees might not be reporting near misses is due to the fear of disciplinary action for doing so. There should be zero consequences for an employee reporting a near miss and it should be actively encouraged. To encourage reports of injuries or damage incidents where disciplinary action might be required due to the nature of the incident, make the consequences for not reporting harsher than the consequences for reporting.

In order to learn from near misses, there needs to be a simple reporting system which suits the workers as much as the it suits the workplace. For example, if you expect a dyslexic worker to sit down and fill in a 3 page report every time he trips over something that's been left in a walkway, it's just not going to happen. If you create a system where that worker can simply send a photo to a supervisor (perhaps even anonymously), it is much more likely that reports will be filed, allowing for data to be acted upon.

Learning from incidents and near misses.. we are always learning. From the moment we start to walk, to when we stop walking. The question is, how do we find the golden nugget of learnings. I agree with @Christian Harris, near misses are a huge challenge. So how do we encourage people to come forth and let others know what happened? - remove stigma - make it easy - reward and celebrate learnings - share, share, share!! If I had a magic wand, I would wave it and make it a no-fault process (aka ZERO human error factors). To do that, you need a leadership team with broad shoulders that are not afraid of seeking out organisational solutions for continuous improvement.

Ambos os incidentes e quase acidentes devem ser levados a sério e investigados para identificar as causas subjacentes e implementar medidas preventivas para evitar futuras ocorrências. Tratar os quase acidentes com a mesma seriedade que os incidentes é crucial para prevenir acidentes mais graves no futuro.

In my experience, one of the ways to identify workplace safety blind spots is to conduct regular internal audit or inspection through QMS that includes audits of work environment, equipment, and processes. Internal audits or inspections can help us assess the current state of safety, identify gaps or weaknesses, and prioritize actions to improve. We can use checklists, surveys, or inspections to perform internal audits, and involve workers, managers, and experts in the process. We should also document and communicate the audit results and follow up on the recommendations.

Ahhhh the psychology of the human brain. We all have bias, schemas, prejudice, pride etc. How do you overcome that? Exposure to other peoples pain? Walk in their shoes? I like to think of this as cross pollination. If you have the resources, by all means try: - buddy systems - link an apprentice with a seasoned worker (observational bias) - reach out to like minded industries and do a walk through (attention bias) - read others learnings from incidents, because we do no wrong, its soo easy to see the even unfolding - (hindsight bias) - story telling, its memorable and stories are easier to remember than remembering what happened last time there was a negative consequence (availability heuristic)

I believe you should disagree with your peers, often, but always be open to changing your opinion. Even if you feel that another person's opinion is wrong, or their logic is flawed, it's likely that they saw or heard something which formed that belief, so their view may still have value. Remember, disagreements don't have to devolve into an arguments.

Bring someone new to the area and observe how they conduct themselves. One of the best ways to address potential security and safety concerns will be to bring someone who is totally new to the area, share with them the information of the procedures and tools and request them to start asking questions about why things are done that way and not in a different one. You may get surprised how often an area does not update their processes or mindset due to the idea that “That’s how things have always been done here!”. A fresh view could help you identify threats that otherwise would have been ignored. Give it a shoot and let me know how it worked for you.

One of the best ways to identify the blind spot or potential hidden risks are to conduct a regular leadership engagement in the field as leaders with its employees and promote a positive safety mindset. Training and coaching for identifying the risks associated with the task is very helpful for employees to spot blind spots and take corrective actions prior to commencing the task. Also, it is crucial to generate and sustain a culture of safe working, care for each other, and continuous improvement that adds values to an organization.

Understanding what your training and coaching needs are is the first stop. What are your people doing? What are the risks? What training do we have available to address or teach people about the risks? - if there is a gap, fill it, then test it, and reinforce again and again until its fixed, like making a coffee in the morning.

Run contests to encourage people to report. Give managers monitoring and detection duties.Reducing hazards is a team effort!...

SMH... Literature and theories that are solely based on Policies & Procedures, gets one nowhere. Academics, true are helpful studies, thoughts and ideas, BUT you have no clue as to what "Actual "recent" functions are driving the process" Hands-on" is the answer example; An electrician can be an Electrician for 20 years, but if he or she don't carry a tool belt, how can one perform the task. We have came a long ways with the knowledge created by many, true, but the knowledge forever changes, daily. An Arc flash will never say, "I'm about to arch" or "remember when I arc get our policy/procedures". Hands-on experience is the answer, training is only relevant when it's current. Safety is the foundation for all processes, it changes daily...

Here are the tips I gained from my experience: 1. Assign supervision to employees and managers. 2. Reward those who report near misses. 3. Talk about near misses in morning meetings. 4. Make the training drama-based so that they can recognize possible risks beforehand.

Be careful with this one. "Review and update" can very easily become "create and extend". Think about your workforce at every step of this process. I was recently tasked with reviewing a company's policies and procedures, and was presented with a file folder containing over 70 documents, some of which were up to 7 pages long. At that point, those documents become largely meaningless. It's far too easy to bury important points, that could actually prevent serious injuries, underneath a mountain of paperwork which the average worker is never going to remember.

According to my experience, - Promote the reporting of incidents and near-accidents, avoiding sanctions, only sanctioning in very serious cases when a violation of a procedure already established in the face of an Imminent Risk or Danger is evident. - Disclose and train all people about the causes and actions regarding the investigation of any event, no matter how small. - Appoint supervisors who clearly understand safety standards and procedures, and assign this supervisor work groups that are manageable; Do not assign supervisory roles to people with little or no experience in the area (they must be accompanied by someone with experience). - Never delegate activities to a single person with no or little experience at work.

Revisar e atualizar regularmente as políticas de segurança é fundamental por várias razões: Adaptação às Mudanças Legais, melhoria contínua e resposta aos incidentes.

These blind spots are the areas where safety hazards may be overlooked or underestimated. Here are some ways to identify and address them: 1. Management should be directly involved with front-line workers in workplace activities through walkthroughs, inspections, surprise visits, and assessing the beliefs of the workforce with attitudes. 2. Address proactively blind areas of the common activities that may be overlooked, just like slips, trips, and falls; the usage of ladders with 3-step contact; and poor arrangements for first aid at the site. These common activities may have a serious impact on someone's life if ignored or undesired.

The implicit or explicit comment or reference to assumptions around factors that influence safety (risk) should be explored looking at the content of an assumption as well as the context. Most assumptions take form in an absolute or dichotomous statement, ignoring the interplay of emergence and emanation - of causes and constraints. “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. “ – Mark Twain

Being associated with the chemical process industries for quite, some working in areas where there is low or limited visibility is one of the most dangerous safety blind spots. This could be in an area where there is not sufficient light, or an area where workers need to travel around corners or other similar things. It will be an effective approach to use highly visible floor marking tape to provide guidance to those in the area. Marking off which direction has the right of way, for example, can help ensure that employees from two or more directions don’t try to move forward at the same time. Glow in the dark or reflective floor marking tape can also be used to enhance visibility in low light areas.

Create impromptu safety checks! Sometimes it is during those moments that your blind spots will appear. Find a 3rd party or someone who is not involved in that day-to-day processes, so that there is a fresh and new perspective that everyone might have not identify nor consider it.

Follow Up Employee’s Concerns! One of the things that is commonly encourage when referring to safety are the mailboxes or a HR hotline when employees can address their concerns. Yet it won’t be rare if after a certain time employees stop expressing their concerns and thoughts on how to address them because they see a lack of commitment from management to really solve and tackle the issue. If you don’t want this strategy to back fire, you must commit management and employees in a mutual agreement that when the latter raises a concern the former will listen and put things in motion to address it.