People as the number one workplace risk: the debate comes to a head at The Safety Conference

The sensitive topic of human error in workplace injuries and deaths is set to be hotly debated at The Safety Conference, which will be presented by the Safety Institute of Australia (NSW Division) in Sydney later this month.

On one hand, Canadian author and keynote speaker Larry Wilson says human error is to blame for 99 per cent of acute injuries and fatalities – something he describes as "not an easy pill to swallow". Similarly, Hans Kopruch of Kahler Communications Oceania will tell conference delegates that "Although investigators strive for continuous improvement on all fronts, again and again the result is another mishap, incident or accident. A closer look reveals that in the majority of all cases it is the well-known 'human element' that plays a crucial role."

On the other, Australia's Roger Kahler of the InterSafe Group says such "myths" are delaying the progress of safety and, ahead of his October 30 address to The Safety Conference, said it was "not uncommon to find people in supervisory and management positions projecting onto a person who appears to be close to, or at the centre of, and incident."

"People involved in serious incidents are often associated with labels like 'human error', 'the cause', 'unsafe', 'foolish' and 'non-compliant behaviour'."

Roger Kahler singles out four myths and projections associated with common workplace incidents:

1 Back damage from lifting task
"You weren't lifting correctly"

2 Fall while descending fixed or mobile plant
"Were you using three points of contact?"

3 Fall involving a slip
"Why don't you watch where you are walking?"

4 Spinal damage from jolting while driving
"You weren't driving to the conditions"

Kahler says the prevailing safety culture of Australian workplaces tends to reinforce the myths. Describing a poster with a toddler squatting beside a box and the headline Kids do it, Kahler says the message is one of "Kids are somehow smarter than us 'silly' adults – they lift correctly."

Larry Wilson is expected to present quite a different approach to conference delegates. He says a "core group of critical behaviors--or critical errors, if they aren't performed safely" are common to incidents in every industry. These are:
- Eyes not on task
- Mind not on task
- (Moving into or being in) the line-of-fire
- Somehow losing their balance, traction or grip

"Before an error occurs, there is almost always at least one state (human factor) that predicates the error," Wilson says. "Rushing, frustration, fatigue or complacency could actually cause them (workers) to make a critical error."

The psychological state of a worker in distress, agrees Kopruch, is key to the advancement of safety.

"In the complex man-machine-environment interface, the machine improves constantly — significant amounts of money are constantly invested," Kopruch says.

"Often the environment has to be accepted as a random variable in the mix to be managed. 'Man' is among the most complex of the components involved. And this component is added time and time again and again. And it constantly shows up as a major causal factor in incidents and accidents in any area concerned."

"Do we really adequately take into consideration the ability of the 'man' component to deal with his or her built-in own variability? Process improvements and safety enhancements should be achieved by focusing more on the functionality of the man component under distress.

"The ability to decode, identify and defuse onset of behaviour under stress will help to avoid the escalation fr om miscommunication to mismanagement and eventually to damage."

A three-day workshop run by Kahler Communications Oceania after The Safety Conference will teach stress management of self and others and improved communication abilities.

Kahler, Wilson and Kopruch will discuss the role of people in workplace injuries during their October 30 addresses on day three of The Safety Conference. Sponsored by WorkCover NSW and Getex, The Safety Conference will run from October 28 to 30 at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park concurrently with The Safety Show Sydney. For more information, visit www.thesafetyshow.com, email safetyconference@aec.net.au or phone Australian Exhibitions & Conference on 03 9654 7773.

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Media: Marian Macdonald, Firefly Marketing, (03) 9736 4334, (0421) 530 944 or marianm@fireflymarketing.com.au