Heads Up for Safety
Did you know that, according to NIOSH, in 2020 there were 1,176,340 recorded nonfatal occupational injuries that resulted in days away from work? Of those, 18% or roughly 211,740 were attributed to slips, trips, and falls. The three leading causes of work-related injuries treated in an emergency department were contact with objects and equipment, overexertion and bodily reaction, and falls, slips and trips without a fall. Just the physical action of slipping, tripping, and falling caused an emergency department visit. Click here to see more related statistics.
In the past decade or two, we have seen the advent of apps, software tools, and other artificial intelligence (AI) that help us do our jobs better. NIOSH has an app for measuring how noisy it is in the workplace. There’s an app that can judge how well you are performing CPR. And those are just a few; there are many others that help us work better, more safely.
How many ads have you gotten by text lately? According to Small Business Trends (smallbiztrends.com) many businesses are moving towards texting clients. Many businesses communicate to employees by texts. Texting while driving a vehicle is another issue, too, and you see it all the time while on the road. How ironic is it that in many companies where management forbids employees to use their phones while driving, that the employees receives texts with the address to where they are going or a message that possibly could have waited until later.
There seems to be a lot of encouragement for you to have your head down, looking at a screen of some sort, whether using a useful app or texting. We see it everywhere. And we see the injuries that result from not watching where you are going. Seven years ago, a New Jersey lawmaker proposed a law that would make it illegal in that state to text while walking. It didn’t pass, but how many injuries could that law have prevented?
Texting, and/or use of a screen of some sort is just one cause of slips, trips, and falls. But it is a preventable cause. Your first safety tip challenge this week is to talk with your coworkers about what accidents, near-misses, and other incidents are caused by having your head down while working and walking. Maybe even initiate a day of “Heads Up for Safety.”
Your second safety challenge this week is to talk with family and friends about the hazards of screen use while walking. If you find it a challenge to discuss this with your older children, this link to the National Safety Council has some ideas for talking to them about putting their phone down.
