Hits and Misses At Work

Under the new health and safety regime, the organisation (or PCBU) needs to have a system for recording and reporting hazards and risks, along with notifiable events.

At times the latter will include reports of things that might have happened (see Section 24).

But why record incidents if nobody actually got hurt?

In 1931 H.W. Heinrich posited what has become known as Heinrich’s Law: “for every accident that causes a major injury, there are 29 accidents that cause minor injuries and 300 accidents that cause no injuries” (as pictured above).

By extension, data analysis can help us predict and prevent harm from occurring (as many events will be seen to share root causes).

The key point is this: employees who report incidents and events, irrespective of whether harm actually occurred or not, are our greatest ally in becoming proactive.

Here’s the kicker: it is notoriously difficult to get people to report “near misses” . They may feel stupid, or they may wish to avoid recrimination, or they may just think it’s not necessary.

Our advice is to go further than the law seems to require in this area – if you want to prevent harm, minimise the ‘blame culture’ and get those reports coming in!

Working Wise offers an easy way for staff to report near misses (or any health and safety activity) through our online GOSH system. Staff can simply report from their computer, tablet or mobile phone.

Talk to the team at Working Wise by filling out our online form or give us a call on 04 499 0710 to learn more about GOSH!


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