As a Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) consultant and a father, I have a heightened awareness of safety in industrial settings and at home. The possibility of serious injuries, especially to my children, is a constant concern that guides my approach to safety.
In the professional realm, safety measures are often focused primarily on workplace risks. However, the principles of safety should extend beyond the confines of our jobs. When safety knowledge is made portable, it can be applied in various aspects of life. Statistics support this broader need for safety awareness.
This information is alarming, considering that in North America, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for those aged 1 to 44, with slips, trips, and falls being among the top causes at home. These types of accidents are also prevalent in workplaces, yet there's a surprising gap in awareness about how to prevent them at home. Many people intend to avoid injuries but lack a clear understanding of essential safety precautions.
Behaviourally-Defined Prevention Strategies
The importance of behaviorally-defined strategies is paramount. For instance, when teaching our children to drive, we don’t just wish them luck; we equip them with specific, observable behaviors to ensure safety. These include buckling up, maintaining safe following distances, hand positioning on the steering wheel, signaling intentions, and avoiding phone use while driving.
Similarly, we need to adopt and reinforce specific strategies to prevent slips, trips, and fall-related injuries at home. Success in this area benefits the individual and extends to the whole family, creating a safety culture at home.
Climbing the New Stairs
A personal experience highlighting the importance of these strategies involved my family moving to a new home with tiled and larger depth stairs, different from the narrower carpeted ones in our old house. Observing my son navigate these stairs was a moment of realization for me. I began to reinforce the use of handrails every time he used the stairs, to look carefully where his foot placement was, a habit that he soon began to remind me of. This is a prime example of how safety norms, like in an occupational environment, can be established and reinforced at home.
Eliminating Risk Exposure
To mitigate the risk of slips, trips, and falls, several preventive measures can be employed:
Eyes on Path/Task: This involves scanning the area for hazards, keeping eyes focused on the direction of travel, and maintaining awareness of surroundings and body position.
Footing: Strategies here include staying on designated walkways, using handrails, maintaining 3-point contact on ladders and raised surfaces, and constantly assessing the safety of the walking or standing surface
Maintain Good Housekeeping: This encompasses organizing tools and equipment, identifying hazards for others, keeping areas clean, and storing equipment safely.
By investing time in helping employees and their families internalize these behaviors, we extend the reach of safety practices beyond the workplace. This creates a safety mindset and reinforces safe habits, increasing the likelihood of these precautions becoming second nature at home and work.
As safety professionals, our critical goal is to enable people to identify and internalize strategies that keep them safe in all environments. It’s about nurturing a culture where safety is a universal concern, transcending the boundaries of our professional and personal lives.