Page 26 - Occupational Health & Safety, January/February 2019

PREVENTING ERRORS
Figure 2
had to pack for a trip when you were in a rush? Did you notice what happened to your error rate? Probably not at the time. But each error made you fall that much further behind, which only made you rush even more. On top of that, each new error ratcheted up the frustration, which only sent the error rate further up. And even- tually the rushing led to fatigue, another force to increase the error rate.
Let’s go back to Joe’s basement: If the crew falls behind because he forgot the elbow, is it likely that he will ask everyone to hurry because the big boss is coming or because there will be a problem if they don’t get done on time? Probably. Will he be rushing? Most definitely. Will that likely cause more errors? Yes. Will those errors ultimately slow things down and cause frustration? Absolutely. But Joe isn’t a bad guy. Far from it. He’s one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
This brings us to the point that seems counter-intuitive to those who have yet to understand how costly it is to undertake a task in the wrong frame of mind: Work- ing safely and following procedures really doesn’t take that much extra time. That is the reality. But when we’re behind, then any extra time taken becomes a bigger problem in our minds and thus it becomes easy to rationalize a shortcut or to start moving faster than you normally would.
And once you start moving faster, your error rate goes up. If one of those errors is moving into the line of fire or losing your balance, traction, or grip, then you have increased the risk of injury or incident in- volving damage.
Conversely, if people are not rushing, if they are less frustrated and they are less fa- tigued, they will make fewer errors. Bear in mind that not all errors get you hurt. Some simply cause quality problems or interfere with customer relations. But that kind of error certainly affects business perfor- mance: Fewer errors equals good business. And fewer errors mean fewer injuries.
Good safety, in short, equals good busi- ness. It also means that the temptation to take shortcuts is less. It’s not because the people involved are all lazy. It’s just the op- posite: They are breaking with protocol be- cause they are already behind schedule. Re- member, nobody plans for screw-ups. But mistakes happen every day, lots of them.
It’s important to note that there’s noth- ing wrong with gradually getting faster at what you’re doing. You’ll be more efficient. But if you have to go a lot faster than you’re used to going, you will be more likely to make mistakes.
The key is to get to the root cause: Prevent the first error where possible or, failing that, check yourself when tempted to rush.
Human Error Affects All Areas
So how much does human error affect your business? Is there any department where human error is unimportant? Even on an assembly line, where we have given the em- ployee just one or maybe a couple of tasks, errors can be consequential. If the employ- ee makes a simple mistake, like dropping a
tool, that employee will have to rush a bit— because otherwise the line will back up and production will slow.
The key is to get to the root cause: Pre- vent the first error where possible or, failing that, check yourself when tempted to rush. In that way, the original mistake doesn’t lead to another mistake, causing rushing and frustration. The more error-causing states you are in, the higher the likelihood of making another error . . . and another.
How do we keep from making mis- takes in the first place? To answer this, let’s first look at mistakes you make when you are learning something new or doing something that you don’t know how to do well yet. We all make mistakes when we’re learning. In fact, that’s part of the process. But how much time do you spend learning something new? How much of your day or week are you learning something new, as opposed to doing things you know how to do well? On a typical day you get up, brush your teeth, shower, get dressed, eat break- fast, drive to work, all of it without having to learn anything (it’s not like you have to ask for directions to the office). Then, once you’re at work, how much time is learning something new versus being paid for things you can do well? If you’re like most people, 90 or even 95 percent of your time is spent doing what you know how to do well. So well, in fact, that you’re likely not worried about making a mistake.
Naturally this leaves us somewhat com- placent, which can lead to a bit of “mind not on task,” which can in turn lead to a simple performance error, such as forget- ting something or not noticing something
20 Occupational Health & Safety | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
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