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Be careful, pay attention, watch what you’re doing, follow the rules... and you won’t get hurt!” Not exactly the most positive form of communication, is it?

While arc flash is an increasingly well-known phenomena, workers are still suffering injuries on a regular basis. In June 2019, OSHA cited a metal smelting company for electrical hazards after an arc flash caused three workers to suffer severe burns at the ASARCO facility in Hayden, Arizona.

What is a High Reliability Organization? The work is highly technical and complex, operators require a high level of technical training and certification, and the consequences of error can be catastrophic. Hence, “it has to be done right every time.”

Since 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has set a goal, or more specifically a “vision,” that traffic deaths and injuries on city streets is, in his words, “not acceptable and… serious crashes will no longer (be regarded) as inevitable. We won’t accept this any longer.”

Telling employees to watch their step isn’t enough to eliminate slip, trip and fall injuries in production areas. Like other safety hazards, slip, trip and fall hazards can be identified and in many cases eliminated.

Imagine a work setting with all the latest and greatest eye washes and safety showers installed in every area that poses an exposure risk with easy and unobstructed access.

Our safety programs, if they exist at all, tend to focus on participation and completion, rather than transformation. To be fair, the chief obstacle stems from a preponderance of wrong assumptions and dangerous misconceptions. Identifying some of these (see below) may help us as safety professionals become more effective in our mission.