Learn proven concepts for reducing injuries, maintaining low injury rates, and continually making your workplace safer.

Everyone knows that keeping your mind on task and eyes on task is important – whether you are operating a crane or kicking a ball or driving a car. So why would you need to train employees how to do it?

To drive your organisation’s rate of personal injury and error down, you must first understand the root causes behind mistakes and errors. Telling employees to "be careful" or "pay more attention" is not enough. Employees need tools which will teach them how to keep safety in mind – even when they are pressured by production quotas.

Talking with an estimated 40,000 workers in all types of industries and situations confirmed to SafeStart® author Larry Wilson that the injured employee’s own actions cause or contribute to the vast majority of all workplace injuries. (See Figure 1).

Figure 1

What those conversations also revealed was that the underlying causes of almost all of those injuries could be summarised in four states (rushing, frustration, fatigue and complacency) which result in four critical errors (eyes not on task, mind not on task, line-of-fire and balance/traction/grip). (See Figure 2).

Figure 2

By making people aware of the state-to-error risk pattern and providing them with skills or techniques to reduce these errors, people can reduce their risk of injury. (See Figure 3).

 

SafeStart^® is an advanced safety awareness training programme designed to help prevent injuries in any situation – at work, at home and on the road. It was introduced in 1998 following 15 years of training, consulting and research by author Larry Wilson.

 

Figure 3

The purpose of SafeStart^® is to help people prevent the errors and mistakes they never wanted to make in the first place. It's not about rules and procedures or specific workplace hazards. It's about keeping those hazards in mind and in sight.