E-Books:Rethinking the Way We Think About Safety

For the last half of a century, the rates of injuries in the workplace have steadily fallen, particularly in the U.S.  However, when one looks deeper at the data, a disturbing trend arises:  the rates of serious injuries and fatalities are NOT dropping as quickly as minor injuries.  In fact, the latest data is in, and it’s not comforting.

In the safety profession, we call this the serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) problem. The SIFs problem teaches us a very important lesson – not all injuries and accidents are created equal.  The SIFs problem challenges us to think differently about hazards, risks, control measures and even about our employees.

This eBook is a collection of thoughts based on this call to action.  Topics include:

• Hierarchy of Controls – Good for Safety, Good for Business
• Does Your Organization Practice Workplace Safety?
• Safety Assessment: Prevention through Design

This brief document is designed to provoke readers to question assumptions regarding safety management, and also to consider new ideas that may be brought to bear on the SIFs problem.