The National Safety Council has been gathering some very interesting data on the most common events that put people at risk of dying.
Did you know that your odds of dying by a lightning strike are one in 138,849? Or that the odds of dying in a motorcycle accident are one in 899? Significantly, NSC also found that of the various causes of death one in 24 were PREVENTABLE. According to NSC, all unintentional injury-related deaths are preventable and we haven’t done a very good job at making progress on reducing these. While the overall fatality rate has decreased by 67% since 1900, the preventable death rate has only decreased by about 34%
Workplace injuries and deaths are typically considered preventable. While there was a sharp drop in workplace fatalities between 1948 and 1992, from 2010 to 2019 workplace deaths increased by 3.5%. (COVID upended these trends with much of the workforce staying home and deaths increasing substantially in all sectors except for work.)
The data tells us that there are opportunities to save lives. In the workplace, this starts by learning about safety and following the protocols listed in the workplace safety program. As a certified occupational safety specialist, I am always looking for ways to engage employers and employees in the sometimes burdensome-seeming task of learning and implementing safety policies. For example, I try to make safety meetings interesting and fun, while maintaining the seriousness of the topics. I frequently stress to business owners that safety must be top down, the organization’s leadership must practice what they preach and abide by the rules.
We can help you get your team on board with safety. TSS’s Safety Toolbox provides resources and tips for safety meetings that keep them energized and interesting to garner the attention of your team. Choose an entire year of meeting content from our selection of more than 50 topics during February at the sales price of $995 (regularly $1,599). This includes one hour of consultation with a TSS safety specialist each month or the option of having a TSS safety specialist lead one meeting per month, plus discounted access to TSS’s top-rated safety webinars. Purchase the Safety Toolbox on the TSS website or by contacting us at info@tss-safety.com
If you don’t see a topic that is important for your workplace, let us know and we can develop a package customized for you.