Example Accident-Prone Pete

Many years ago, I worked with a chemical manufacturing plant that happened to use a unionized workforce. This particular plant did not have a well-developed safety culture. The accident record in this manufacturing plant needed to improve. Over the course of the year, there were numerous recordable and lost-time accidents, as noted by their OSHA 200 log. Although many workers would typically be involved in work-related accidents throughout the year, one particular worker seemed to be constantly getting hurt. 

To provide a bit of history, this particular company had hired four brothers to work at one location. Although the brothers all worked in different departments, they enjoyed status within the union and had the advantage of viewpoints from four different departments. Management was upset with the performance of the youngest brother, who happened to be the most recent hire, because he appeared to be accident prone. In fact, when I was hired, I could not meet the youngest brother because he was off work due to an occupational injury. 

When Pete returned to work and recovered from his latest accident, I went to his department to meet with him. My impression was similar to his brothers thoughts about why the little brother was having accidents. Pete seemed to have a good attitude, but he was obviously younger than most workers in the plant and maybe did not carry himself with a lot of self-confidence. In fact, Pete seemed a bit uncoordinated, but appeared to be sincere. 

Pete s medical file indicated that Pete was involved in a work-related accident about every two months. Some were recordable, some were first aid, and some were lost time. Although the last accident Pete was involved in was lost time, this was not the most serious accident he had been involved with. So, as far as trends were concerned, it did not appear that the accidents Pete was having were becoming more severe. 

I studied each one of Pete s accidents in detail. Several, if not all, of the accidents Pete was involved in seemed to be from lack of focus. On two occasions, Pete walked into two different objects. On two other occasions, Pete fell while either walking on a level surface, tripping over a hazard, or just slipping and falling. Pete s accidents also included cutting himself on several different sharp objects. It seemed that if there were a hazard present, Pete would find it. And if Pete found it, he usually was injured. 

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