Having posted this recently on Linkedin, I though it would be good to expand on the concept of safety and how this can be manipulated into many different forms. I recently visited a large distribution warehouse where they proudly announced they had “1353 accident free days”. Wow, what an achievement was my first reaction as I passed through the entrance.
As I was later viewing a particular process, I considered what would happen if I were to trip over on a piece of cargo sat on the floor, or if I were to slip on the freshly mopped surface? What about the staff themselves? Would they not be afraid to be the one responsible for the whole facility loosing such a record?
“Look…there’s the guy/girl who tripped down the stairs”.
We have to be careful what sort of message we send and ensure this does not have a negative impact. This is the same with lithium batteries. Too much attention is given to incidents involving lithium batteries (these make the headlines), without follow up and post accident analysis. It’s easy to point fingers, but more analysis is needed to ensure we do not loose focus on the real issues (which we know include counterfeit, undeclared and hidden lithium batteries in cargo and mail).
