Earlier in my career I was asked to carry out an accident investigation, a case of severe chemical burns that an operator had suffered when dismantling part of a chemical cleaning plant. I was questioning one of the operations supervisors about the sequence of events leading up to the accident when he used the phrase, "accidents will happen".

I am sure that most of my fellow EHS professionals have heard this sentence, accompanied by a perfunctory shrug of the shoulders, used at some point in their careers. I am equally sure that, like me, they feel a shudder of disbelief and disappointment every time they hear it.

I always try to counter the "accidents will happen" attitude with an explanation that an accident isn't an ephemeral, disembodied entity that suddenly materialises to break a person's leg, inflict dermatitis on a plant operator or cause a catastrophic explosion. All accidents, except acts of God (lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.), have one common factor; all involve a person or persons. People cause accidents to happen by their acts or omissions; it's as simple as that. If this is the case then it follows that people can prevent accidents happening.

By being pro-active and introducing a variety of safety initiatives any company, even one with an above average accident occurrence rate, can reduce or eliminate accidents altogether. Cumulative safety interventions can enable a company to build a strong safety culture to make this happen. What do I mean by safety culture? We will talk about creating a safety culture next time.