Realize the value of doing things the right way
Iam fortunate working with National Institute of Fire and Safety Management (NIFS) as a Safety Educationalist and would like to provide some insight into the nature of behavioral safety that focuses on people’s behavior as the cause of most of the injuries and accidents. This should remind us how important behavioral safety is and how it helps in recognizing our personal responsibilities and supports a progressive improvement in all aspects of safety.
There are a lot of accidents that could actually be prevented if people were just doing the things they are supposed to do. According to the recent analysis, most of the accidents reported are fire and industrial accidents, construction accidents and road accidents, etc...
Approximately, 25,000 persons die in fires and fire related causes every year in India. A fire can occur at any time at any place. Human error is a major cause of fires either their actions, which may be accidental or their failure in taking appropriate precautions such as for example, the regular inspection, maintenance and repair of faulty equipment. The major causes for these accidents are exploding of gas cylinders, faulty electrical wiring and electrical short circuits. With the right caution and knowledge in fire safety, many of these accidents could have been avoided.
Due to rapid industrialisation with ever increasing mechanisation, electrification, chemicalization and sophistication, industrial jobs have become more and more complex and complicated. This has led to increased accidents and injuries in the industries. Unsafe behaviours alone account for more than 90 percent of accidents. When the contribution of human factors to incidents is considered, it is usually claimed that 70-80% of incidents are caused by “human error” and these were suggested to be prevented by implementing behavioural safety that aims to improve safety by changing the behaviour of the individual.
The construction industry is highly accident prone industry where accidents are likely to occur. They are mainly caused due to worker’s negligence, failure to obey safe procedures, work at high elevation, poor site management, failure to use personal protective equipments while at work, lack of adequate knowledge and poor attitude towards safety. Control of construction accidents has now become essential by means of introducing the unsafe behavi- ors of workers and changing the workers attitudes towards ensuring behaviour through training programs.
More than 1.3 lakh people die on Indian roads and the majority of traffic accidents are caused by reckless driving, driver’s disregard for traffic rules, drunken driving, over speeding, failing to use seatbelts and driving without a helmet that are significantly increasing the number of road accidents in India. We can save lives and prevent injuries by changing the mindset of riders, drivers and road users making them realize their responsibilities that can certainly bring about a change in their behaviors.
THINK. ACT. BE. SAFE.
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