UC Davis

Occupational Health

What is SafeStart?

SafeStart is advanced safety awareness training teaching employees how to recognize and avoid behaviors causing unintentional mistakes and errors.

How Does SafeStart training work?

Telling employees to “be careful” is not enough. They need to know what behaviors to recognize and how to respond

SafeStart training & awareness takes the mystery out of “being careful” by helping people recognize these critical state-to-error patterns which significantly increasing the risk of what they are doing.

Error states/conditions When employees make mistakes

increasing the risk of injury it is usually because they were in one of four states or conditions (rushing, frustration, fatigue, complacency) which significantly contribute to making an error.

States Errors

Rushing Frustration Fatigue Complacency

Eyes not on task Mind not on task Line-of-fire Balance, traction,

grip

* Over 90% of all injuries at home, at work or on the road are caused by these error patterns.

Rushing:

When you exceed the pace at which you normally perform the task, whether it is working, driving, walking or running, lifting or moving.

Frustration:

Caused by relationships inside and outside of the workplace, malfunctioning equipment, inadequate tools, conflicting objectives and pressures, etc.

Fatigue:

Too tired to do the job safely, either physically or mentally. Includes being too tired to react quickly, prolonged concentration is difficult.

Complacency

Familiar enough with the hazards to become considerably less concerned over time. Contributes significantly to not watching or thinking about what you are doing.

Critical errors Anyone can get hurt if they are not

looking at what they are doing/paying attention

While this may appear to sound like “common sense”, unfortunately common sense is not always common practice.

Eyes not on Task

Not looking where you are going or what is coming your way. Includes not moving your eyes before moving your body or not being able to see where you are stepping, where your hands are reaching into, etc.

Mind not on Task

Not concentrating on the job. Being unaware of dangers. Forgetting things, making more errors than usual, going on “auto-pilot”, “drifting away”.

Line-of-Fire

Being conscious of where you are or where you are going in relation to the direction of the hazard.

Balance/Traction/Grip

Doing something that could cause you to lose your balance, traction, or grip. This can include not wearing good footwear/gloves, not having a good grip in the first place, or not seeing or thinking about the hazard.

Once you recognize these patterns, SafeStart training/awareness helps employees use the condition or the “state” they are in, as a self-trigger to refocus their attention on the job at hand.

Safe Start Principles

Risk Management

Behavior

SituationalRisk

Daily Home & Work Activities

“Accident”

Ris

k M

anag

emen

t

29

1

29

1

300

Benefits

OSHA states >90% of injuries are caused by human error; we can effectively achieve a 60-90% decrease in injuries.

Employees need to have an improved sense of awareness for critical behaviors at work, at home and while driving.

Employees need to understand the daily situational risk and tehir corresponding behavior

Injuries will be prevented with people taking more responsibility for their own safety, on and off the job.