Lost Time Due to Accidents Not a Good Goal

I hope that title got your attention. Lost time due to accidents and recordable incidents are not good goals. At least for first-line managers and supervisors.

An effective goal always involves something a person can directly control. And first-line managers have very little control over the fact that some people will do very stupid things. For example: I know a lot of licensed electricians. To a person, they all tell me never to work on a 110v (household) circuit without shutting off the electricity at the panel. But it is a very rare electrician who would actually do that themselves. I've challenged them on that. Their response: "Well, I'm a licensed electrician. I know what I'm doing." Oh right. Now ask them if they ever get zapped and see what you get for an answer.

Over the years I've also seen, and I'm sure you've seen people do things they're not supposed to do. Operating equipment without guards in place. Not watching where they're going. Not paying attention. Showing off. Not wearing safety glasses. Or hard hats. Or seat belts. Or dust masks. Not cleaning spills in the cafeteria. Leaving boxes of paper in the aisle in the office. And on and on and on.

Yes, it is the job of any manager to make sure these things aren't happening. And if the manager pays attention to these things we might see a reduction in recordable incidents. But it is very difficult to measure the effectiveness of the manager paying attention as a direct correlation to recordable incidents.

Its far better for first line managers to set safety goals that can be directly measured as having been accomplished. For example, a supervisor might set a goal to install eight safety guards. Or a supervisor might set a goal to conduct 12 training sessions, one a month, on 12 specific safety topics. Or a supervisor might set a goal of conducting a monthly safety audit in the office based on a checklist with numerical scores. These kinds of safety goals are more direct, more tangible, and easier to control than recordable incidents.

On a different note, it seems companies use lost time due to accidents to measure the severity of an injury. But the fact is that the amount of time lost is generally set by a doctor, and possibly may bear no resemblance to the extent of injury. I once went to a doctor for a tetanus shot because I stepped on a nail. I couldn't believe it when the doctor recommended that I take two weeks off from work because of it.

I believe recordable incidents and lost time due to accidents are acceptable as strategic or tactical goals for a company, as long as we understand that some elements of those goals are out of the direct control of the management team. I also believe that all managers should be charged with direct responsibility for being on the lookout for safety issues and violations, and for taking immediate action on those issues and violations, as part of their daily operating routine. But I also believe that first-line managers are better advised to set more specific and tangible safety goals than lost time or recordable incidents.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
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