There has always been a thing that can often be prevented and yet, is rarely discussed: the concept of human error. Accident prevention programs are on the rise, and for good reason; human error is responsible for up to 90% of workplace accidents. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), there are three types of active human error including slips and lapses, mistakes, and violations. Sadly, these errors often are not do to a lack of education or a disregard of regulated standards, but rather a general overworking and large amounts of stress that are placed by the companies upon the employees. Do not fear though, reducing stress levels through more regulated work expectations is one of the quickest ways to reverse the issue.
The first step to properly implementing accident prevention is setting up proper communication throughout your company. There are many types of human error, and more often than not, the issues would be resolved if only employees knew what they were doing wrong. The number one complaint employees have about their employers is a lack of communication, with over 46% of employees saying they’ve never left a workplace meeting knowing what they’re meant to do next. This goes to show that although reaching out is a great first step, it must be done in such a way that it is understandable and concise. Otherwise you are just wasting valuable company and employee time. Another issue that miscommunication has led to is the overworking of most companies’’ employees. More than 80% of employees report that their employers expect too much work from too few people. This leads to the individual feeling as though they are mistreated and undervalued, bringing down their productivity and sense of care in the workplace as time goes on. This still has not answered how to prevent human error in the workplace, which is just about all of the accident prevention that any one company will need.
Other than proper communication, there is a very if not equally important aspect of accident prevention that many people often ignore: proper training. Not only is it important to receive training on your expected duties and day to day activities, but one must also undergo error prevention training. Nearly 45% of manufacturers report there’s room for improvement regarding accident prevention in their organization, with the best place to start improving being right at the beginning.
These kinds of programs work wonders when i t comes to reducing human errors, something that most companies can not afford to ignore. Approximately 50% of employees say they’ve become more productive and motivated after their bosses shared important information and data, with accident scenarios and prevention falling under this same kind of data.
With a heightened sense of awareness and better regulated training on and off the job, the number of human error related accidents that are prevented can and will increase greatly. Although it is understandable that the task at hand may seem a little bit daunting at first, that is no excuse to not pursue a brighter future. Preventing such accidents will work both in the favor of the companies and the employees, not to mention how beneficial it could be to the environment.
