Safety Test 1 August 26

Question 1

what is one of the most dangerous things about confined spaces?

Answer 1

Atmospheric dangers b/c you can’t see them - over 50% of fatalities in confined spaces are would-be rescuers

Question 2

Accident Losses

• decision to provide safety is a tradeoff of what?
• corporations old/new views/acts on safety
• safe workers = ?

Answer 2

• providing safeguards to reduce accidents is a tradeoff between costs and moral responsibility for human life and well-being
• Corporations used to pressure government/lawmakers not to pass safety laws to avoid costs - this pressure has been somewhat moderated as corporations find safety to be economically beneficial
• safe workers = more productive and motivated

Question 3

improving attitudes towards safety

Answer 3

• safety pays
• legislation is inevitable (not always costly)
• safety “evens out” - cheaper to pay for safety now then pay later
• increased recognition of an individuals right to a safe work place

Question 4

Physical Effects of Accidents

Answer 4

• accidents are the leading cause of deaths from persons aging from teenage to age 45
• up to age 24, more deaths are due to accidents than from all other causes combined
• fatalities from industrial accidents far exceed those from wars
• many injuries and even fatalities may not be reported (long-term exposure deaths, recordkeeping “games”, or no government requirement to report them)

Question 5

Gender Differences in workplace fatalities

Answer 5

• greater than 90% of deaths are male
• males are around 52% of workforce
• workplace homicide account for 10% of male work-related fatalities (40% of female work-related fatalities)

Question 6

Accidents and Costs

Answer 6

• monetary losses have become the measure for accidents
• environmental costs are also a measure
• fines for violating OSHA safety laws can be substantial - accidents are NOT a prerequisite for citations and fines

Question 7

Total Safety Costs

Answer 7

= the sum of :

• immediate losses due to accident
• rehabilitation and restoration
• accident prevention costs
• immeasurable costs (what is your hand worth?)

Question 8

increasing magnitude of Accident Losses

Answer 8

• accidents usually cost much more than what is reimbursed by insurance companies
• total costs of accidents are 3-20 times the workers compensation alone
• multi-million dollar awards for lawsuits are no longer unusual
• treatment of employees after injuries (re-assignment to lower paying jobs, etc) has also resulted in larger settlements against employers

Question 9

Accident (incident)

Answer 9

an unintentional, single or multiple event sequence, resulting from unsafe acts and/or unsafe conditions and resulting in unwanted consequences to people, property, and/or the environment

Question 10

Losses (definition)

Answer 10

• injury, illness, and death are the most striking

- must account for damage to equipment, materials, property/environment, expenses, repair and/or replacement

Question 11

Direct vs. Indirect costs

Answer 11

• direct: obvious and directly attribute to the accident/incident
• indirect: those tangentially (slightly) associated with an event

Question 12

Indirect:Direct ratio

Answer 12

• Heinrich suggests a 4:1 ratio
• Liberty Mutual suggests 5:1
• National Safety Council: 3-5:1

Question 13

Safety Professional

Answer 13

an individual who, by virtue of his specialized knowledge and skill and/or educational accomplishments, has achieved professional status in the safety field

Question 14

Unsafe Acts vs. Unsafe conditions study by Heinrich

Answer 14

• studied 75,000 accidents and found that 88% attributable to unsafe acts, 10% to unsafe conditions, 2% unpreventable

Question 15

Incident-Injury Relationships (heinrich)

Answer 15

• he wanted to take emphasis off the results (injuries/illnesses) and put it on the unsafe acts/conditions
• 300:29:1 ratio (no injuries, minor injuries, serious lost-time injury)
• how do you estimate near misses?
• many more minor things than major things - if we eliminate these unsafe behaviors, we attack the bottom of the pyramid and we never work our way to the top - you cant eliminate unsafe acts if you have unsafe conditions

Question 16

When you work with safety, you…

Answer 16

you work with management, but you’re an advocate for the worker

Question 17

Accident-Proneness Theory (old view)

Answer 17

• the theory states that there are inherent characteristics of some individuals that predispose them to a greater probability of being involved in accidents
• Sesek believes that there are inherent characteristics in some individuals, not that make them more likely to be hurt, but that make them a risky person
• many studies support this theory - they show injuries are not randomly distributed

Question 18

Accident-Proneness Theory (new view)

Answer 18

• recent researchers view accident proneness as being associated with the propensity of individuals to take risks/chances
• this presents a more positive view for safety, as behavior can be altered even though the propensity to take risks may not

Question 19

Goals-Freedom-Alertness theory

Answer 19

• fundamental concept that accidents are the result of low quality (unsafe) behavior resulting from an unrewarding psychological climate that does not contribute to mental alertness
• workers should have the ability to set attainable goals
• workers should have the freedom to pursue their goals
• this will result in a “rich” work climate with alertness and fewer accidents

Question 20

Adjustments to Stress Theory

Answer 20

• a negative work environment contributes to accident causation
• negative work environment often caused by stress
• excessive stress prevents individual from focusing on work

Question 21

Chain of Events

Answer 21

• not really a theory of accident causation, but often referred to as one
• there is not a single cause of an accident but there are any causes of an accident
• in general, every accident is preceded by a series of events/accidents
• if any one event/activity had been done differently, the accident wouldn’t have happened (“break the chain to avoid an accident”)

Question 22

Domino theory

Answer 22

• associated with chain of events
• there are many links in the chain and only ONE link needs to be broken
• Heinrich - first scientific approach to accident/prevention

Question 23

Heinrich’s theorums

Answer 23

• injury - caused by accidents
• accidents - caused by unsafe act (injured person) or unsafe condition (work place)
• unsafe acts/conditions - caused by careless persons or poorly designed or improperly maintained equipment
  fault of persons - created by social environment or acquired by ancestry
• social environment/ancestry - where and how a person was related and educated

Question 24

Distractions Theory

Answer 24

• states that accidents are caused when workers are distracted when performing their tasks
• 2 types of distractions: focus on hazards, focus on task completion
• dilemma: focus on hazards vs. focus on task

Question 25

Fletcher’s no injury : minor injury : serious lost-time injury ration

Answer 25

179:19:1