Reporting Hazards
Everyone got really good at changing flat tires. Nobody picked up the nails.
Monday · Safety Brief
Hi everyone,
This week’s safety message is about the importance of reporting hazards.
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of different work cultures. Two simple examples capture how many workplaces operate.
The first: imagine a parking lot with nails scattered across it. People see the nails, but no one picks them up, and no one points them out. Cars keep driving over the parking lot, getting flat tires. Everyone gets very good at changing tires. They become faster, more efficient, and better prepared to deal with flats, but no one stops to remove the nails. The problem was never the tires. The problem was the nails in the parking lot.
The second example is someone who constantly complains about having a headache. While they are talking, they are hitting themselves in the head with a hammer. When asked if they would consider putting down the hammer, the response is, “This is how we’ve always done it.”
Sometimes in workplaces we become very good at responding to problems instead of removing the cause. Hazard reporting is how we remove the nails from the parking lot. It is how we put down the hammer.
Seeing something and saying something is not about getting someone in trouble. It is not about pointing fingers at how things were done in the past. Usually, people were doing the best they could with the information they had at the time.
Growth means learning from what we see today and improving how we work tomorrow.
A strong safety culture is built when people feel comfortable pointing out hazards, near misses, or conditions that don’t look right. Those reports give us the opportunity to fix the problem before someone gets hurt.
If you see something that could cause an injury, damage equipment, or create an unsafe situation, report it. Every report removes another nail from the parking lot.
Stay safe,
Marc Bradburry II
Big Bearded Ginger
