WORK PLACE ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT

posted on 11 January 2012 | posted in Uncategorised

There is no work environment that is not susceptible to accidents. The corporate office with executives, administrative assistants, and secretaries are just as work accident prone as the assembly line floor. The difference is the focus from the safety enforcement agencies placed on each. It is no doubt that the assembly line floor will receive more attention for safety compliance than the corporate office. The same bodily injuries are capable of occurring in both places. Both places could have back injuries, both could have ankle injuries, both could have stress injuries on the wrist and fingers, and they both could have incidents of falling injuries.

One may ask the question how can these two different work environments have the same possibility of accidents occurring? The answer is found in a safety analysis. When both places are analyzed by a bonafide safety manager it will reveal that the potential for accidents are the same, though caused by different actions. For example, in the factory there may be materials and supplies left on the floor that could cause falling accidents, and possible ankle injuries. In the corporate office there may be cords stretched across the floor that can trip a preoccupied employee while walking across the room, thus causing an ankle injury, or falling accident. The same comparison can be made with regards to the wrist and fingers stress injuries. In the factory the wrist and fingers are used on the assembly line to put together items, while in the corporate office the wrist and fingers are used by the administrative assistant and the secretary on the computer keyboard repetitively yielding the same stress as the assembly line worker. The difference is, in the factory, the safety officer or floor supervisor will notice the unsafe situation and address it, while in the corporate office no one is looking out for such situation in that often plush environment.

The answere to a safe work environment is to have some person assigned to be responsible for enforcing safety in the work place. That person should also be tasked with training others in safety.