Written In Blood
Most people are aware of the term “written in blood”, usually referring to a practice or policy being put in place due to some kind of tragedy or negative outcome. Sadly when it comes to safety policy, the majority of this implementation only occurs after an incident or following lagging indicating factors.
They say hindsight is twenty twenty, and that is precisely why these policies come into effect the way that they do. Reactive, instead of proactive response, is a major factor. It is much easier to simply ignore dangerous practice if nothing bad has happened up until that point. Things have been working that way with seemingly no problems, so why should any action be taken? Why should we take precaution for something that might not ever happen?
Chances are taken because the benefit of saving time and effort is immediately tangible and somewhat certain.
This unfortunate mindset is partly due to the human learning mechanism of experience. Humans learn by what they are exposed to and experience. It is difficult for most people to imagine the gain of putting in the work now for something they may never experience or be affected by, E.g. following extra checklists in order to improve safety. This is also why most people give up on things like gym, the results and benefits are not visible right away. Of course the impact of human factors on safety is a complex effect, but the simple truth is that human behavior's increase the risk of incidents occurring.
It is important to remember that the government and legislation also have a huge impact, as they determine the standards and legal requirements that must be followed. If the government has not picked up on a potentially dangerous legislation, the average person or business will trust that they are doing the right thing by following government guidelines.
There have multiple instances of government issuing changes in required standard practice due to incidents occurring that their policies and planning did not account for. The good news is that the efficiency of measuring leading safety indicators mostly improves after every revision, meaning better avoidance of incidents in the future.
The solution is constant monitoring, patience and foresight. Have the patience to expend a little bit more time and effort on completing that checklist or inspection, or attending that extra safety training, and the foresight to see why it is necessary. Think of safety implementations as an investment in human wellbeing and not a nuisance designed to waste your time.
As with most undertakings, it is often easier said than done, and ultimately it is the company's and management's responsibility to foster a good safety culture and utilize proactive instead of reactive response in providing a safe workplace, as well as guiding their employees. However, every individual has an influence and by working together we can avoid a lot of unnecessary tragedy.
Acknowledging and learning from those who have suffered in the past is the least we can do in the present.
