Safety professionals rely on regular, routine training to help keep workers safe from hazards they face on the job. But training only on the normal, everyday hazards isn’t enough.
As a safety professional, how can you possibly prepare employees for hazards that may occur outside of their regular training?
The answer is actually simple: training. That’s right, you train them to be prepared for the unexpected.
For example, a Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program investigation recently found that a worker’s tragic death could have been prevented if, among other things, he’d been trained to identify unexpected situations that weren’t specifically addressed in a job hazard assessment (JHA).
Forklift was parked on power cord
On Sept. 16, 2021, a 54-year-old forklift operator and a co-worker were installing large metal storage racks in a customer’s warehouse. They were in the process of placing shims under the uprights to level the racks.
The operator was using his forklift to raise the racks so the shims could be installed. At the same time, the co-worker was drilling holes in the concrete floor to anchor the uprights.
The operator shut off the lift’s engine and set the parking brake, leaving the forks raised to about 39 inches.
However, he unknowingly parked on top of the cord for the drill his co-worker was using, so the co-worker got into the forklift to move it and free the cord. The co-worker started the engine and put the lift into forward gear, but since the co-worker wasn’t trained to operate the forklift, he didn’t know how to release the parking brake.
The co-worker asked the operator for help, so the operator reached into the cab of the forklift and released the parking brake, which caused the forklift to begin moving toward the metal racks.
In a panic, the co-worker swerved to avoid the racks and struck the operator, crushing him between the rear of the forklift and one of the metal uprights. The co-worker jumped from the forklift, which came to a stop when its forks ran into a wall.
The operator was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Some obvious causes
Safety professionals, like the FACE Program investigators, can surely identify multiple root causes for this incident. Investigators specifically found that:
- a JHA had been conducted for this task, but this situation was not an expected hazard
- the operator and co-worker hadn’t completed a required operator training program before operating the forklift, and
- the operator had received on-the-job training and was authorized by the employer to operate the forklift, but the co-worker had no training and wasn’t authorized to operate the forklift.
Workers had blinders on
Quite obviously, the lack of proper forklift training is another major red flag to add that, if addressed, may have prevented this tragic incident.
One thing that’s not so obvious – and something the FACE investigators took note of – is that one of the contributing factors was the JHA didn’t prepare the workers for the unexpected situation they found themselves in with the forklift parked on the cord.
Instead of thinking through the situation and identifying possible hazards before attempting to free the cord, the co-worker focused on one thing: moving the forklift off the cord. And the operator followed suit, blindly helping without first assessing the situation.
Train them like they’re emergency responders
In addressing unexpected situations, the FACE investigators recommended training workers to:
- identify unexpected situations not specifically addressed in a JHA
- evaluate the hazards associated with unexpected situations, and
- control the hazards safely if possible and check with a supervisor if they cannot or if they have questions.
Unexpected situations are typically addressed in training for employees who volunteer to be emergency responders, such as your HAZWOPER-trained individuals. After all, emergencies are full of unexpected situations, so it makes sense to train emergency personnel how to react to them. But the day-to-day workplace can also throw regular workers the occasional curveball too, so it’s best to prepare them for it.
