At Axil Integrated Services we firmly believe that all accidents, certainly the more serious ones, are preventable and that everybody should go home in the same (or better) condition compared to how they arrived at work. It is a key objective to maintain zero fatalities, zero lost time injuries, zero restricted work and medical treatment, injury cases, but how?
In 1931 a study by William Heinrich resulted in the frequently cited accident triangle that relates near misses, minor, and serious accidents. The theory has been visited subsequently by others including Frank Bird, but the general theory is the same namely that a reduction in accidents in the minor category should deliver a reduction in major accidents. Heinrichs study also showed that 88% of all accidents were caused by a human decision to carry our an unsafe act.
Whilst we recognise that the accident triangle has limitations, and as with other safety management tools there are detractors, we nevertheless actively encourage all of our employees to look for and report unsafe acts / conditions, near misses etc as well as safe acts and ways to improve their working day, i.e. focussing on the leading indicators towards base of the triangle to learn lessons before hazards escalate and become lagging accident statistic indicators. Each member of staff is expected to report “safety events” and progress is regularly monitored. As we approach the halfway point in 2023 I am pleased to be able to say we are significantly ahead of our targets with over 2100 reports against the target of 1300, with no RIDDOR or LTI injuries.
This journey starts on Day 1 where employees begin their on-boarding induction that includes a discussion on health and safety. We have developed an App in house with our IT provider to make reporting easier and allowing events that have been reported at one site to be viewed by other sites even before they have been officially communicated. All reports are reviewed by a member of management to ensure appropriate action can be taken where required.
