I recently joined a new gym! I went there for the second time and was working on a machine. As I sat down in the machine and started my set, I noticed a spring on the floor. Now, this may not seem like a huge deal anywhere else, but off a piece of gym equipment that is supporting weight?! That’s a different story!
What if that spring made the difference between the weight falling on me or not?!
In safety, the details really matter. Knowing how big the cut was on the first aid record, how many feet the equipment fell, or how long the worker was exposed to a chemical can make all the difference.
Figuring out what happened starts with asking the basic questions- who, what, when, where, how, why- and then diving deeper.
Asking questions like a 2 year old may seem annoying, but that is where the gold is! Keep digging and you will find the root cause, the details you are looking for and the information you need to make good changes to prevent further incidents.
Here's an example of what that could look like during an accident investigation:
Safety: So what happened today?
Worker: I was walking and suddenly I fell to the ground!
Safety: Were you with anyone?
Worker: Yeah, Jimmy and I were talking on the way to the lunchroom.
Safety: Gotcha, so you were talking to Jimmy and walking to the breakroom. Did you slip and fall?
Worker: Yeah, I think I need new boots- mine are wearing out...
By asking questions and looking into the details, you can uncover all types of interesting information that may lead to you finding out what really happened. Alot of times we will get surface information. It's not until we ask why again and again that we uncover it all. When you find out what really happened, you can discover what actionable steps you can make to prevent the incident or injury from happening again. This is the reason we do investigations when an incident or injury happens.
Ask questions- lots of questions. Be curious! Prepare to learn.
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