In prepping to teach a class in safety and risk management for Northern Illinois University’s SHRM Learning System program, I stumbled across a disturbing number. In 2009, 4340 workers died on American jobs. That, my friends, is a shame.
Granted the numbers have dropped from the previous year (5214), it is still a number to be concerned about. Those 4340 deaths in the single year is almost more than the total number of US deaths in Iraq (4429) since the start of that war in 2001. It is more than 3 times the number of US deaths in Afghanistan (1418) since the start of operations there.
In a historical perspective, it is many more than died at Pearl Harbor (2402) on December 7, 1941 by almost 2000. Compared to the bloodiest day of on the Western Hemisphere, the battle of Antietam in the Civil War (over 3500 dead), it is almost 800 more workplace deaths. A more recent comparison, deaths on 9/11 were 2977 compared to the 4340 and 5214 workplace deaths in 2009 and 2008.
My point in showing these comparisons is that for the most part, all workplace deaths are avoidable. Throughout my HR career (mostly in manufacturing), safety has been part of my job descriptions and duties. It is one I take very seriously because while all other HR duties are important, safety IS a life and death matter. If a worker’s check gets screwed up, they will still go home that night. If something drastically goes wrong in safety, someone can die. Granted many HR professionals do not handle safety, I still believe it needs to be a stronger emphasis in the profession, especially taking into consideration the increase of workplace violence and bullying over the last few years.
As I said, I believe that most (if not all) workplace deaths and injuries can be prevented. HR, especially trench HR, needs to be trained better to spot and correct safety issues and eliminate unsafe conditions and acts.
December 7, 2010 at 7:40 pm |
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bryan Jackson, John Jorgensen. John Jorgensen said: New from the HR Tailgate – A Job to Die For?: http://t.co/zaLgST0 [...]
December 8, 2010 at 12:12 am |
Great post, John. What’s this look like in practical terms?
December 8, 2010 at 1:13 am |
Chris, not sure what you mean by “practical terms”. I was just trying to point out the number of deaths that occur and that many HR professionals are not aware of the magnitude of those numbers. Also, that it may need to be a bigger priority of the profession to look at the safety practices needed to reduce those numbers. As I said in the last few paragraphs that safety does need to have a bigger emphasis in education and training of HR practitioners.
December 8, 2010 at 1:45 am |
John – Thanks for the quick reply. Since safety has been an important part of your career, I was looking for some actionable ideas on how HR pros who aren’t as versed in it might do a better job of it.
Thanks for the suggestions!
December 8, 2010 at 3:26 am |
Sorry, I should have caught that. I would recommend for HR pros who haven’t had enough training in the area of safety to reach out to a couple of sources. The first would be the National Safety Council (www.nsc.org) who has numerous training products. Another would be to indentify a local provider of the OSHA 10-hour course for training people on the various OSHA regulations and rules. They are good starting points. A third option would be to work with their workers’ compensation provider. Some are much better than others for this type of help but it is still a resource.
December 8, 2010 at 3:28 am |
So here’s another question for you – is this something that really belongs with HR, and why?
My 2-cents: Yes, but not because HR are policy police. I think HR plays a critical role as cultural agitator. We can’t control culture, but we can stir the pot and help inspire cultural shifts. And I think safety isn’t about policy – it’s about culture.
Cheers!
Chris
December 8, 2010 at 3:43 am |
No argument that culture can and does play a huge part in safety. However, it is a little different from some of the other culture “issues”. There are specific guidelines and regulations that need to be followed (especially in industries such as manufacturing, chemicals, transportation) that are absolutes. You do have to have policies (especially when it comes to OSHA regs) and police them. Whether or not it belongs in HR is a debateable point. My view in smaller companies that cannot have dedicated safety departments or managers, HR is the best place for it. Operations and maintenance sometimes have a conflict of interest in enforcing safety and sales, accounting, etc….forget it. Just a view from the trenches.
December 8, 2010 at 3:46 am |
Thanks for the insights, John. Looking forward to reading more of your stuff!
December 8, 2010 at 7:33 pm |
I’ve had safety housed in my HR function at a number of companies, and even when I’ve had a dedicated SHE function (manufacturing), still found it to be much more successful when the two are intertwined. As Chris pointed out, it truly is about culture. As an example, if an organization has a (pretty standard) safety mantra of “take your time to do your job safely; don’t rush, – be safe”, but THEN turns around and incentivizes the opposite behavior (i.e. “it’s most important to get XX widgets produced during your shift no matter what so we all get our bonus!!”), the messages may, potentially, be in conflict. Employees then rush through their tasks, disregarding safe work practices because the improper behavior/performance is rewarded.
HR can often be the function that identifies and points out these inconsistent messages. And tie it back to the culture, the message and then the behavior that is expected.
Even when in “office” cultures, I have instituted safety meetings, safety inspections, investigations for root cause analysis (post-accident) in order to find out the REAL reason for an accident (personal/people factors, system/process reasons, job factors, etc) – because – “every accident IS preventable.” (and I do believe this). Some of the most “preventable” accidents I have seen have been due to employees just not thinking or paying attention – speaks to “culture.”
Although I have yet to complete this myself (but still want to one day), I’ve always heard good things about the COSS certification (Certified Occupational Safety Specialist) which can be a good tool in the toolbox for an HR pro or manager to solidify their knowledge of/commitment to safety at work.
The old chestnut is, of course, “if you came to work with 10 fingers and 10 toes, then that’s how we want to send you home at the end of the day.”
December 8, 2010 at 8:01 pm |
Ok I am going to shoot from the hip – but here is my take. Many of the workplace deaths are homocides. In particular that group consists of taxi cab drivers, convenience store clerks and others in retail. While all of the aforementioned could do better a protecting thier employees, I am not sure that the small employers can cure all of societies ills, and stop the murder and mayhem.
Not that I am discompationate, I think this is just a fact If society is willing to pay $100 for a cab ride of two miles with a driver and an armed guard then so be it. At this point I don’t see how we can make that one work.
Now regarding industrial fatalites I agree there is absolutely no reason that these continue to happen. If the US would take an approach more along the lines of Canada or Eurpoe we might be able to reduce the number greately.
December 8, 2010 at 8:07 pm |
Actually, the number of workplace homicides may not be as high as you think. In 2009, they accounted for 521 deaths (still tragic), but it was down from the all time high of 1080 in 1994. Still with proper security features, many of those may be avoidable.
December 10, 2010 at 5:23 pm |
[...] passion shows through on his blog HR Tailgate where he talked about workplace safety recently. That subject in particular was always hard to get excited about but he offers a reality [...]
December 11, 2010 at 1:18 pm |
John-
Great post. You have inspired me to put more time into my safety blog, which is based in part on the ideas you express here. Working in manufacturing, I always had safety in my department, and when I filled a vacancy with a safety professional instead of a guy who is “just really interested” it made all the difference in the world.
Those stats are a challenge to all of us who manage safety in some way to recognize that unless we change what we are doing, we will continue to produce workplace injuries at a predictable rate. And for those who don’t have safety in their accountability, to get in on the process and help make a difference.
HR folks have the skill set, they don’t need permission to contribute ideas.