Hi Jerome

A VERY old question and not one likely to be solved by promoting ZERO tolerance (as you have done on anotther post) nor ZERO anything else.

In a few words the answer lies in:

1. Getting ownership of H&S as an integral part of the line management function at every level from Board room to front line.

2. Fixing the unsafe CONDITIONS before worrying so much about the unsafe ACTS.

IJT, that's one of those sayings that doesn't actually mean much unless you choose to ignore where the costs will fall.

It is entirely possible for an organisation to plan for accidents, knowing that a very small fraction of the costs will fall to them. This is made fairly clear if you read HSE's HSG101 even though it is somewhat dated in teerms of actual numbers in £££.

MOST of the costs fall on people other than those who create the risks. The injured and their families etc take on a significant proportion of the cost, society e.g. via the NHS a larger proportion. 

The risk creator may get statistically unlucky and something really bad happens. Multiple fatalities and serious injuries and/or e.g. massive environmental damage and THEN an incident will hit an organisation's bottom line, but for the gamblers the risk is very small.

It used to be a rule of thumb that 10 people in the UK would die whilst doing "roofwork" each year. (Actually the number would have been MUCH higher as it didn't include those who had died prematurely in each year as a result of past exposure to occupational health risks, including asbestos containing materials).

But if we look at those 10 fatalities happening immediately or within a year of an accident, then when you compare it to the total number of hours carried out by people doing "roofwork" the STATISTICAL probability of death is VERY, VERY low.

Christineer Reported for hijacking a post to embed a hyperlink

Anducce

Your first contribution to these Forums so perhaps you haven't read the Forum Rules and I suggest you look at Nos 8 and 11.

Giving a link to your website is frowned upon.

Were you really born in 1903? It would probably help you to be wise, though that date of birth on these Forums is often a clue that a bot has invaded our space.

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