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What is the REAL Answer for Injury Reduction?

James E. Hurtte, CSP

• Rated PG‐13 (V,L,S)

• Politically correct (NIML)

PC=BS

Housekeeping Items

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• Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." 

Chinese Proverb

Please Participate

Hey, don’t forget me.

Participation is one of the keys in making our safety processes successful.  All employees need to be involved and feel as if they are part of the team.

SAFETY CONTACT

Man in the Kitchen

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Safety By the Numbers12 (average of 12.6) – Number of workers, just like you and me, who died from

a workplace injury every day in 2011. (4609)

89 – Number of people, just like you and me, who died in traffic accidents every day in America (one every 16 minutes) in 2011 (the safest year for auto-related deaths in 62 years) (32,367)

10,431 – Number of people - just like you and me - who suffered a work-related injury every day in the U.S. in 2011 (that is 376 injuries every hour, or 6 injuriesevery minute). (3,807,400) *

18,000 – Annual off-the-job deaths in the United States. Falls, poisonings, fire/burns account for 80% of these fatalities, with falls representing33% of all off-the-job fatalities.

7 million disabling injuries at home annually.

* 8182 in private sector – 2249 in government // RATES: 3.3 per 100 (private) & 5.7 per 100 (govt.)

Setting the Stage

Focal Points of Today’s Presentation

• Define safety

• Hazard recognition

• Effect of regulations on safety performance

• Discuss causes of injury

• Compare OSHA and MSHA agencies

• Discuss aspects of management systems

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What is Safety?

• Safety is the condition of being protected against the consequences of failures, damage, error, or accidents. (and I don’t like the term “accident”)

• Safety can also be defined as the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk.  This means being protected from something that causes injury or property damage.

• The hazard could be obvious, or not so obvious….

Hmmm…. What first; the elk or the fat guy?

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How do we recognize hazards and unsafe acts?

How the heck did he get on those 

buckets?

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Dozer falls into void created by underground feeder

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Just a little higher…….

I don’t think this will end well.

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What is Safety?

• Recognizing a hazard

• Determine the risk of injury

• Manage the risk to an acceptable level

• Sometimes, however, it seems we 

“can’t fix stupid” 

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Why do we focus on safety?

• The statistical reason could be that…

– We or our companies may be judged on safety performance

• The REAL reason should be that…

• All injured employees have a face…a name…a family… responsibilities at home and at work

• Sometimes when we focus on statistics we forget about the personal side of employee safety.

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Why is Safety Important to You?

WHY do people get injured?• WHY is the question of the day!

• Don’t we have well‐trained workforces? 

• Except for new workers, most people are probably highly skilled and experienced in their jobs; so why do still have injuries?

And of course, sometimes evidence or “witness” statements can be misleading……

I didn’t plan to get injured…..

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How Do We Improve Safety?

• What can we do to reduce or eliminate injuries?

• What is it that keeps us safe?

– Work rules?

– Regulations?

– Behaviors?

• How does law compliance affect safety?

Safety vs. Compliance 

• Safety is not the same thing as compliance.  They are two separate and distinct items.

ASSUMPTION

• Injuries occur as a  result of violating regulatory standards. 

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Safety vs. Compliance EXAMPLES

Failure to lock and tag

Removing a guard and exposing moving parts

Working from an elevated position without fall protection

The common thread in these

examples is that the failure to follow 

regulations can lead to injuries.  

LOOK  OUT!

Can we “safely” say……• Violating regulations causes injuries? 

• Every violation results in injury?

• If we are 100% compliant we will have no injuries?

• It seems obvious that compliance alone does not prevent injuries.

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Regulatory Compliance and

Its Effect on Safety

OSHA vs. MSHAI’m from the government, and I’m here to help.

Background

• MSHA regulates only the mining industry 

– This includes metal / nonmetal mines

– Coal mines

– Some conveyances at coal‐burning power plants

• OSHA covers all other industries in the United States

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OSHA Details

• Responsible for approximately 8 million worksites and 130 million workers

• About 1 inspector for every 59,000 workers

• Inspection priorities are imminent dangers, fatalities, employee complaints, and targeted inspections

• Has VPP, Compliance Assistance, and other programs to work with businesses

MSHA Details• Responsible for 14,550 worksites and 360,000 workers

– COAL• 2,100 mines employing 135,000 workers 

– M/NM• 12,450 “mines” employing over 225,000 workers

• About one inspector for every 180 workers 

• Mandated by congress to conduct 4 examinations per year at underground mines and two examinations per year at surface mines. Also respond to employee complaints, serious injuries, etc. Frequently conduct “saturation inspections”.

• MSHA does not have anything similar to VPP, Compliance Assistance, or other programs to work with mining companies for injury reduction.

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Other Comparisons

• Reactive vs. proactive

• Detailed vs. vague regulations (and subject to broad interpretation)

• Search warrants

• Focused inspections by OSHA vs. broad authority by MSHA inspectors to shut down operations

Why were regulations written?

• Hazardous conditions existed

• Injuries occurred

• Laws were written to address the hazards

• Most regulations were the result of serious injury or death

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Result of regulationsPeople were trained to do specific things to comply with specific identified hazards.  Non‐compliance results in penalties.

Similar to training a rat to push a button to get food.  

Push the right button and it gets food; push the wrong button and it gets shocked.

Effects of Regulations on Safety

• Enforcement activities change and increase when regulations change

• Do increased enforcement activities make workplaces safer?

You aren’t reallygoing to write me a ticket, are you?

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Citations & Orders

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Citations

171% increase from 2003‐2011

Dollars Assessed (in Millions)

0

50

100

150

200

250

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Dollars

Over 883% increase from 2004‐2011

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Citations vs. Fatalities

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

55 58

7367

53

34

71

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Citations (in thousands)

Total Fatalities

Avg. = 49 / yr.

Avg. = 63 / yr.

MSHA Fatalities

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fatalities

Fatalities

Linear (Fatalities)

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OSHA Fatalities

*2012 data not available yet

* Information from Bureau of Labor Statistics website

2011 Fatality Rates per 100,000 workers*

Mining Fatality Rate = 10.3

Yo…taxi!   Uh, never mind, I think I’ll just walk.

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Compliance Conclusions

• Based on these statistics, it can be said with a fair amount of certainty that compliance alone is NOT the answer for reducing injuries.

• In my experience, very few people were injured solely because of violations. However, fatalities and major disasters have occurred as a result of violating regulations.  Even these, for the most part, have been the result of human failures.

BEHAVIORAL SAFETY

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What is Behavioral Safetyand How Does it Work?

BBS is the process of observing employees at work and analyzing their activities to correct at-risk behaviors. Salaried and hourly employees are actively engaged in

this process

Data is collected through employee observations and feedback

Data is placed in a database and analyzed

Action plans, safety talks, etc. are used to implement corrective action

Our process doesn’tlook very good.

Why were behavioral safety processes developed?

•Hazardous conditions existed•Injuries occurred•Processes were designed to alter human behaviors in efforts to prevent injuries

RESULT

People are trained to think pro‐actively to identify hazards and react in a safe manner.

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Why is Behavioral Safety Important?

Behavioral safety is an important element in most successful safety processes

Statistically, Employee Behaviors are a key element in approximately 96% of all incidents, whether they involve injury, property damage, or a near miss

Behaviors that improve safety also lead to improved production, quality, and regulatory compliance

These behaviors reflect the culture of an organization

What is culture?

HEY!  If you’re not gonna eat that, 

throw it over here.

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Culture• A culture includes all activities and 

behaviors of people.

• Workplace cultures can be described simply as "the way we do things around here." 

Results of BBS Processes

Behavioral safety processes help employees to better identify hazards and behaviors that could lead to injuries.

The big question is:

DOES BEHAVIORAL SAFETY WORK?

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Company “A”Recordable Incident Rate

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8

Inci

den

ce R

ate

Behavioral Safety process introduced mid-year

Change in Company “A” Severity Rate Using Behavioral Safety

0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

250.00

300.00

350.00

400.00

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Se

veri

ty R

ate

Company "A"Severity Rate

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

5.00

0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

250.00

300.00

350.00

400.00

450.00

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Company "A"Severity vs Incidence Rates

SeverityIncidence Rate

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Company “B” Recordable Incident Rate

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

XXXX Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Behavioral Safety process introduced mid-year

Company “B” Savings in Work Comp Costs Using BBS

$0.00

$1,000,000.00

$2,000,000.00

$3,000,000.00

$4,000,000.00

$5,000,000.00

$6,000,000.00

$7,000,000.00

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

$6,000,000

$326,000

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Effects of Safety on Productivity

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Inci

den

ce R

ate

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Pro

du

ctiv

ity

Production increases as Incidence Rate improves.  This is a proven fact.

(Tons per M

an shift)

• Statistics show that behavioral safety processes are effective when properly administered, but there are other elements necessary to create an effective safety culture.

BBS Fact

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“Balancing Your Safety Process”

Cultural / Behavioral Elements

Operational / Technical Elements

Administrative / Management Elements

Leadership

Procedures / Guidelines

Regulatory Compliance

Engineering

Equipment

Conditions

Employee involvement

Motivation / Attitude

Safety Management 

System

Creating an Effective Safety Culture

Leadership&

Administration

InternalAccountability

Systems

IncidentReview &Analysis

EmergencyPreparedness

EmployeeParticipation

PPE

RegulatoryCompliance

Contractor Standards

Focus on Behavioral Safety

Good CommunicationEducation &

Training

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What is the REAL Answer to Injury Reduction?

Unfortunately, there is no magic wand or silver bullet to stop injuries from occurring.

It’s up to you to use your knowledge & skills to influence others in your organization to work together to put the puzzle pieces in place to create the safety culture necessary to reduce injuries.  

YOU ARE!!!

So What Do You Need to Do?

• Make Safety a Core Value, not a priority.

• Follow Regulations

• Identify and correct potential hazards

• Provide Leadership and Commitment

– Set high standards & work to reach them

– “Walk the walk” don’t just “Talk the talk”

• Prepare for Possible Failures (emergency response)

• Put systems in place for an effective safety culture

• Get everyone involved

• Make Safety Personal !!!

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Remember……..we work for what is really important!

Jim Hurtte, CSP

Manager – Safety Operations

Peabody Energy – Midwest Group

Thumbs Up for SAFETY!

THANK   YOU!