Electrical Safety in the Workplace: Personal Control
Electrical Safety in the Workplace: Personal Control |
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Personal control is another area where workers can exert great proactive influence in avoiding and preventing accidents relating to electricity. People tend to become complacent about their work and may tend to neglect the safety rules laid down to protect them. People may fail to use the protective equipment issued to protect them because it becomes a "nuisance" to put on or to wear. Here, they have exposed themselves to a potential risk which could lead to a serious accident.
The rights and responsibilities of workers are well documented and are the content of provincial level Occupational Health and Safety Courses. However, it is impossible to talk about employee rights without also talking about employee responsibilities. One of the most important aspects of safety which will be dealt with is personal control. Personal control systems encompass the safety knowledge, safety attitudes and safety behaviours which individual workers possess and demonstrate.
Knowledge is what a person is aware of or has information about. It is what a person has learned. Safety knowledge involves taking the time to learn and think about some of the things you have been reading about in the learning unit. It is important to remember that people never stop learning. A commitment to safety means having an openness to always learning more about safety and how to stay safe on the job and at home.
Attitudes are a person’s mental views, opinions and values about things. People’s attitudes toward safety are a crucial part of a safe work environment. One of the most valuable skills you can offer any future employer is a protective safety attitude. The development of your knowledge and skills in any career that you may choose is not separate from your attitude toward safety. The worker with an informed attitude toward safety will have increased value to his or her employer because of a minimum of time lost from on-the-job injury. In addition, he or she will carry the importance of such attitudes into his or her off-the-job hours as well.
Together, knowledge and attitudes form the cognitive part of safety. These aspects of safety are in the realm of thinking and understanding. These form an important theoretical foundation for safety. The most important part of safety, however is the doing part, the action part.
Behaviour is what people actually do. It is the function of doing and functioning. Safety knowledge and attitudes are closely tied to safety behaviours. In thinking about accidents due to human error, one has to consider personal behaviors. Individuals make decisions and may choose to act certain ways in certain situations. Sometimes people make poor choices with respect to their work.
With regards to electrical safety there are a number of personal level controls that come into play in minimizing and preventing electrical hazards. One of these personal level controls are the "Lock & Tag" or "lock and pocket" procedures. These procedures are extremely important to electrical safety, even for the 'non-electrical' worker who must work on machinery connected to the electrical system. The procedures are designed to ensure that a system 'locked out' cannot be turned on inadvertently or intentionally unless the workers are informed and 'all clear'. This applies to all forms of dynamic energy, not just to electricity.
Accidents will and do happen! They happen to all people of all ages. Accidents due to human error are the most likely to occur and often difficult to avoid. As hard as it might be to believe, people tend to become complacent about their work and may tend to neglect the safety rules laid down to protect them. People may start by not following safe practices because they perceive it to be a "nuisance". All people need to become aware of the associated hazards in their chosen professions. Hopefully, this awareness will help to prevent serious injuries. Workplace accidents have serious costs that go well beyond the individual's pain, suffering and loss of work. Besides the obvious medical expenses, lost wages and productivity, there are costs associated with the investigations surrounding such workplace accidents, the cost of training replacement staff, the cost of damage to equipment and tools, as well as potential loss of business due to loss of production. Accidents are costly to everyone! For that reason, it is important to take action to prevent accidents from occurring in the first place.
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Something to think about with regards to work: "Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth." ~ Elizabeth II (born 1926) British ruler |
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