Happy New Year to all my readers and to everyone across the world. Trust all are Safe and living up your life. My resolution for this year is to make it the BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE. I do not know how to do it but will make it happen. I truly appreciate all who have read my last blog on HIRA and expressed their happiness over it. I was overwhelmed with the response I have received for the same. Continuing the conversation, Maggie and Jaggy take it a step forward by discussing about the ‘Incident, Accident and Disaster’. Let us enjoy the conversation.
Maggie: “Happy New Year Jaggy.”
Jaggy: “Wish you too the same Maggie. Trust all is well with you.”
Maggie: “Yes Jaggy, everything is just great and all the conversations with you, have been useful to me.”
Jaggy: “Thanks for the good wishes. The pleasure is always mine.”
Maggie: “One of the resolutions that my organisation has taken for this year is ZERO ACCIDENTS. I was very happy about it but did not know how we are going to achieve it.”
Jaggy: “That’s a great resolution to start the year. It can be achieved if you can minimize the incidents.”
Maggie: “Minimize incidents? Can you clarify the same?”
Jaggy: “Yes Maggie. It is quite simple. Every accident is preceded by an incident. If incidents are avoided, then accidents too can be prevented.”
Maggie: “Can you be more specific?”
Jaggy: “Sure. An incident is any occurrence, situation or happening which can result in injuries or even cause death. In an incident, a person may not necessarily be injured or hurt. In common language, it is termed as a ‘Near Miss’ or ‘Just Miss’.”
Maggie: “Examples please.”
Jaggy: “I will give them once I explain an Accident. An accident is an unexpected event or occurrence, in which a person is either hurt, or in a fatal state. The injury could even be major. For one accident to happen many incidents have to occur.”
Maggie: “You mean to say for one accident to occur we need many incidents to happen. Can you tell me the exact difference?”
Jaggy: “Slipping on a wet floor is an incident, falling is an accident. An object falling near you is an incident, falling on you is an accident. Stopping a vehicle suddenly is an incident, hitting the other vehicle is an accident. There are many examples and you are intelligent enough to understand.”
Maggie: “So how do we prevent accidents?”
Jaggy: “Every accident is preventable if all the incidents are reported. Every incident not reported can turn into an accident.”
Maggie: “You mean to say that even if I slip on a floor, I report it.”
Jaggy: “Yes, as it helps another person avoid falling. It is the old Banana skin on the floor story. There are people who on seeing the skin remove it, and put it in the trash can. Some others see it and just walk by it doing nothing. The attitude of doing nothing after seeing it can result in an accident.”
Maggie: “Now I understand. Our Safety Manager has given us formats to report the same. He calls it a Near Miss report and there are going to be rewards for people who report.”
Jaggy: “Yes exactly. He seems to know his responsibility and may there be many like him in all work places.”
Maggie: “Understood. Then what is a Disaster?”
Jaggy: “A disaster is nothing but the hardships created due to the accidents that occur. It may involve multiple loss of life, or even huge damage to property. That is why the damage caused by natural events like Earthquakes, floods are known as Natural Disasters.”
Maggie: “Oh now I understand.”
Jaggy: “As of now, look out and report the incidents so that accidents can be avoided. It is a responsibility for all.”
Jaggy and Maggie will be continuing to enlighten all of us with their conversations. Keep watching for the updates. As I had said earlier, accidents can be prevented if each one of us act responsibly to report any incidents. Let us aim for ZERO INCIDENTS so that accidents will never occur. Let us make incident or near miss reporting as one of the resolutions of the year.
Stay safe and be safe. Live Life Save Life.
Seshadri Varadarajan.