Every year there are incidents due to complacency at the workplace. You probably conduct the same monotonous work each day throughout the year. When something gets monotonous you tend to give less attention to what you are actually doing at the workplace which is a natural habit even if there is a high risk towards your health and safety.
The best practice for an employer is to
have competent supervisors/managers and employees to remind each other each day
of the risks involved in their day to day activities and to mitigate and
control these risks. This can be done through mini-risk assessments each day
before work commences and to ensure the supervisor/manager enforces the
controls and monitor the work. Toolbox talks are another form of training in
the workplace and construction industry and are a best practice that has mitigated countless
incidents. It is imperative to strengthen refresher training with the 2M rule,
stop what you are doing for 2 minutes and step back 2 meters away from your
current activity and observe the work being done. This 2M rule will force your
mind to relook at the way you are currently doing the task and have an overview
of the activities around you at the same time.
By implementing mini risk assessments, toolbox talks and the 2M rule you can
mitigate most of your accidents throughout your work and ensure you go home
safe every day.