Why is safety the number one priority?

Not only does a safe and healthy work environment protect employees from injury and illness, but it can also increase productivity, raise employee morale, and reduce costs. Simply put, prioritizing workplace safety is good for business!

What does your safety is my priority mean?

Safety is our Top Priority? A look behind the phrase “safety is our top priority”, and what it reveals about the definition of “safety”. “Safety is our top priority,” says the captain of the airliner as I settle into my seat. I have considered myself a safety specialist in the oil and gas industry for over 30 years, so that’s a great way to get my attention.

1. It sets me thinking, or daydreaming rather, along the following lines.
2. What does it mean? What does it mean for safety to be the priority? For a moment, I imagine a world where safety is more important than anything else, triumphing over lesser concepts such as speed, economy or getting to our destination.

Imagine this: “Safety is our top priority, so we have cancelled the flight and ask you to wait in your seats while we figure out how to get you back to the terminal without crossing the air-bridge or using any stairs”. Of course not: safety does not mean zero risk.

1. We all know that zero risk is unattainable.
2. In reality the captain says, “Safety is our top priority, so please listen carefully to the following announcement about the action you should take in the unlikely event of an emergency”.
3. I wonder how such a grand statement of priorities can boil down to such a modest request to pay attention to a briefing? Meaningless? Perhaps it is a meaningless cliché like, “I hope you enjoy your flight”, designed to reassure the nervous passenger.

But aircraft captains are highly trained to speak accurately and succinctly. I prefer to think they have a precise meaning in mind. After all, the airline industry 1 asserts exactly the same message: “Safety is the number one priority for the aviation industry”.

The Definition of Safety What exactly does the word “safety” mean? According to the Oxford Dictionary 2, “safety” means “the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury”, Safety specialists often follow the vocabulary guide 3 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines safety as “freedom from unacceptable risk of harm”,

My pilot may be thinking of the Safety Management Manual 4 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which explains that: “Within the context of aviation, safety is the state in which the possibility of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and safety risk management.” To my mind, these definitions all leave the degree of protection slightly vague.

The first approach sees a clear boundary between “acceptable” and “unacceptable” risks. Once these criteria are met, we can say with confidence that the risk is acceptable.The second approach sees a grey area, in which risk is acceptable once it has been balanced against other priorities. For example, it may be necessary to make risks “as low as reasonably practicable”, taking account of the costs and benefits of further safety improvements.

This distinction is important because it hints at two different ways of thinking about safety, which I will spell out in a moment.Incidentally, while the ISO definition at first seems consistent with the first of these approaches, it then seems to lean towards the second approach when it adds the following explanatory note to its definition of safety quoted above: “NOTE In standardization, the safety of products, processes and services is generally considered with a view to achieving the optimum balance of a number of factors, including non-technical factors such as human behaviour, that will eliminate avoidable risks of harm to persons and goods to an acceptable degree.” This seems to say that safety inevitably involves the optimisation of relevant influences, which is much more than the simplicity implied by “freedom from unacceptable risk”.

Safety as a Priority This leads us to the point where we can ask what it means for safety to be a priority. Returning to the Oxford Dictionary, “priority” means “being regarded or treated as more important than others”. So when we say “safety is our top priority”, it begs the question: what are our other, lesser priorities? The other possible priorities are the things we might want to achieve as well as safety, such as efficiency, economy, environmental protection, productivity, equality etc.

When we do something inherently hazardous, like flying in an aeroplane, how is it then possible to say that safety is our priority? Surely, we also want the flight to be cheap, quick and get us where we want to go. It would also be nice for it to be enjoyable and accessible, with a low environmental impact.

How can safety be seen as a priority ahead of these? Two Conceptions of Safety To answer this, I think we need to distinguish two slightly different conceptions of safety, corresponding to the two definitions of unacceptable risk above. One conception is that safety is an absolute state, which one either has or does not have.

1. One can then ask, “Is the activity safe?” and expect to receive the answer yes or no.
2. This makes safety a bit like an electronic component which is either failed or working.
3. I see it as a “checklist” approach: once the essential safety measures are adopted, safety is ensured.
4. This approach suits an airline pilot, who uses a checklist to ensure all preparations for the flight are complete.

Then it is reasonable to say, “Safety is our priority”, because the specified safety measures (including listening to the safety briefing) must be completed before the flight is allowed to take off. The second conception of safety is as a variable quantity, which one can have to a greater or lesser extent.

1. This makes safety a flexible concept like efficiency, economy, sustainability and productivity.
2. It can be traded off against these in the search for an optimum balance.
3. This approach is helpful in design and management, because it motivates a continual search to improve safety.
4. It implies that every decision is open to question: is it really optimal, and is it sufficient? This approach suits a safety specialist, for whom these questions are always open, but it would be impractical for an airline pilot, who does not have time for an optimisation process before every take-off.

Conclusion So finally I can relax and feel ready to fly. The pilot and I have slightly different conceptions of safety, which reflect our roles in the world of safety. The pilot sees safety as the first priority, which is achieved by following the safety checklist before focussing on an on-time take-off.

• Although I call myself a safety specialist, I see safety as only one of several objectives, which can always be increased through greater effort, but at progressively greater cost to other objectives.
• Such optimisation is the core of my daily work, but I have far fewer decisions to make each day than a pilot.

I reassure myself that another safety specialist has embodied these decisions in the aircraft’s design and operating procedures. Without my interference, the pilot manages to take off on time. : Safety is our Top Priority?

Should safety be a top priority?

Safety has a direct correlation to a company’s revenue, –

Not only is a safety priority great for your employees, it’s also great for business. Your company can reap the benefits of safety by saving on the costs of things like lawsuits and damage to equipment. Worker’s compensation and settlements can really add up over time and workplace deaths even more so.

Plus, with more safety measures and training in place, the more likely your employees are to work efficiently and productively, which is also better for your revenue. There are many reasons to make safety a priority in your facility, most importantly being the health and well-being of your employees.

It’s better for everyone in your company and it’s great for your business, too. Organizations that prioritize safety stand apart from the rest. WireCrafters is dedicated to making sure your business is as safe as possible. All of our equipment solutions are designed with OSHA regulations in mind.

We provide our customers with creative solutions for their safety, security, and storage needs. We offer materials like wire mesh panels and pallet rack enclosures for safe storage and guardrails and handrails for your space and your machinery, all in an effort to protect your employees and inventory.

Learn more about our commitment to safety here!

What should be number 1 priority?

1. Self-care – Your first and foremost priority in life should be YOU. Not in a selfish and self-centered manner, but with self-compassion and understanding. Prioritizing self-care means investing in activities and habits that nurture the body and mind.

• For instance, you could start a journal.
• Writing allows you to engage in self-discovery and have a meaningful interaction with your inner self.
• It is also a safe space where you can explore aspects of your life that you wouldn’t usually discuss with other people.
• As for the body, anything from yoga and meditation to healthy food, a relaxing massage, or a warm bath can be an excellent self-care practice.

By dedicating a portion of your time to self-care, you learn to prioritize yourself, Sometimes, it’s healthy to put your needs before others’.

What does your safety first mean?

Said to mean that it is best to avoid any unnecessary risks and to act so that you stay safe.

What is the number one safety rule?

Think of these as your nine commandments. The most complex safety topics boil down to these simple safety rules.

Always wear your seatbelt when in a vehicle or heavy equipment. Seatbelts are critical to preventing serious injuries and death while driving or operating. Motor vehicle crashes are still the number one cause of fatalities on the job in the United States. Always inspect equipment and tools. Take the necessary time to inspect the tools and equipment you are using for work tasks. Properly repair broken tools or replace them. Make sure equipment is in good working order and all safety devices such as kill switches or equipment guards are in place and properly functioning. Always use fall protection when working at heights. OSHA reports that excluding highway motor collisions, falls are the leading cause of injuries and fatalities. Ladder training and communicating proper use of ladders is crucial. Guardrails or utilizing a full body harness with a self-retracting lanyard are two common safeguards to prevent fall hazards. Stay of out the blind spots of heavy equipment. Struck-by incidents, caught-in between incidents, and run over incidents occur when heavy equipment is operating near ground personnel. Wear high-visibility vests and hard hats. Always keep your distance, communicate, and use eye contact to ensure an operator sees you when around their equipment. Never put yourself in the line of fire. Just like being in the blind spot of heavy equipment, there are many other ways you can find yourself in harm’s way at a construction site. Being underneath lifted loads, next to a pipe being cut that has stored energy or working underneath equipment that is not properly cribbed up are three other examples of being in the line of fire. Utilize proper housekeeping measures to keep work areas clean. Housekeeping is critical in preventing injuries and property loss. Injuries such as slips, trips, falls, lacerations, sprains, strains, etc. can be reduced from keeping work areas organized and clean. Property damage and loss like tools or materials being crushed due to improper storage is another common result of poor housekeeping. Make sure chemicals are properly labeled and stored. Many citations are issued regarding the hazard communication standard every year. Improper labeling and storage can lead to injuries or illnesses such as respiratory problems or poisoning. Communicate hazards to others. Never just assume someone knows the hazards of a work task, especially if they are new on the job. Complete a new job hazard analysis (JHA) if conditions and hazards change. Stop work when needed to address hazards. Always stop work to get hazards mitigated and make it safe to continue. Whether you need to involve other personnel such as a supervisor or you need to take time to get the right tool for the job, always take the time to do so.

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What is a safety rule?

A principle or regulation governing actions, procedures or devices intended to lower the occurrence or risk of injury, loss and danger to persons, property or the environment.

What means first priority?

When a group or a person cares about one thing over all others, that’s the top priority. ‘After the flood, finding a place to live became their first priority.’ Priority comes from the word prior, which means to come before something else.

Why should I be my first priority?

Making Mental Health a Priority – You may say or think your mental health is a priority, but is it? Take a week to journal your daily habits. After the week is over, review your week and see how often you incorporate self-care into your daily routines. Whether your self-care is routine, sporadic, or non-existent, there are ways to make your mental health a priority. Some suggestions include:

Spend time in nature: Getting out of the house or office and spending time in nature can help you relax. Find meaning in your life: Spend time having fun, helping others, or trying new activities. Whether you volunteer, hike, or go on adventures, discover activities that mean something to you. Sleep: Emotions like depression, stress, or anxiety can disrupt your sleep patterns. Activities like yoga or can help decrease negative thoughts or feelings because they require you to focus on the connection between your mind and body. Physical activity: Exercise is an essential part of taking care of yourself. Not only can it bring you joy, but it’s time when your mind can wander, process, or heal. Hang out with your pet: Pets give unconditional love and have therapeutic benefits. Take time to pet, play, or exercise with your pet.

Whatever you decide will help you prioritize maintaining good mental health, make sure you include it in your daily routine. The amount of time you spend isn’t what matters. What matters is that you make yourself a priority. Prioritizing your mental health is essential to your overall well-being.

1. Your body, mind, and spirit rely on your mental health.
2. If you can’t take care of yourself, it affects your relationships and physical health.
3. Sometimes knowing how to make yourself a priority is challenging.
4. If you feel overwhelmed or lost, you can seek help.
5. The Guest House, located in Florida, provides deep understanding and expertise.

We’re tucked away from busy cities so you can rest and heal in the privacy of our quiet 52-acre estate. We look forward to helping you. Call, : Why Your Mental Health Should Be Your First Priority

Why is safety in numbers important?

In road traffic safety – Amsterdam, 1982 In 1949 R.J. Smeed reported that per capita road fatality rates tended to be lower in countries with higher rates of motor vehicle ownership. This observation led to Smeed’s Law, In 2003 P.L. Jacobsen compared rates of walking and cycling, in a range of countries, with rates of collisions between motorists and cyclists or walkers.

He found an inverse relationship that was hypothesised to be explained by a concept described as ‘behavioural adaptation’, whereby drivers who are exposed to greater numbers of cyclists on the road begin to drive more safely around them. Though an attractive concept for cycling advocates, it has not been empirically validated.

Other combined modelling and empirical evidence suggests that while changes in driver behaviour might still be one way that collision risk per cyclist declines with greater numbers, the effect can be easily produced through simple spatial processes akin to the biological herding processes described above.

Without considering hypotheses 1 or 3, Jacobsen concluded that “A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle.” He described this theory as “safety in numbers.” Safety in numbers is also used to describe the evidence that the number of pedestrians or cyclists correlates inversely with the risk of a motorist colliding with a pedestrian or cyclist,

This non-linear relationship was first shown at intersections. It has been confirmed by ecologic data from cities in California and Denmark, and European countries, and time-series data for the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The number of pedestrians or bicyclists injured increases at a slower rate than would be expected based on their numbers.

1. That is, more people walk or cycle where the risk to the individual pedestrian or bicyclist is lower.
2. A 2002 study into whether pedestrian risk decreased with pedestrian flow, using 1983-86 data from signalized intersections in a town in Canada, found that in some circumstances pedestrian flow increased where the risk per pedestrian decreased.

After cycling was promoted in Finland, there was a 75% drop in cyclists deaths and the number of trips increased by 72%. In England, between 2000 and 2008, serious bicycle injuries declined by 12%. Over the same period, the number of bicycle trips made in London doubled.

Motor vehicle traffic decreased by 16%, bicycle use increased by 28% and cyclist injuries had decreased by 20% in the first year of operation of the London Congestion Charge, In January 2008, the number of cyclists in London being treated in hospitals for serious injuries had increased by 100% in six years.

Over the same time, they report, the number of cyclists had increased by 84%. In York, comparing the periods 1991-93 and 1996–98, the number of bicyclists killed and seriously injured fell by 59%. The share of trips made by bicycle rose from 15% to 18%.

• In Germany, between 1975 and 2001, the total number of bicycle trips made in Berlin almost quadrupled.
• Between 1990 and 2007, the share of trips made by bicycle increased from 5% to 10%.
• Between 1992 and 2006, the number of serious bicycle injuries declined by 38%.
• In Germany as a whole, between 1975 and 1998, cyclist fatalities fell by 66% and the percent of trips made by bicycle rose from 8% to 12%.

In America, during the period 1999-2007, the absolute number of cyclists killed or seriously injured decreased by 29% and the amount of cycling in New York city increased by 98%. In Portland, Oregon, between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of workers who commuted to work by bicycle rose from 1.1% to 1.8%.

• By 2008, the proportion has risen to 6.0%; while the number of workers increased by only 36% between 1990 and 2008, the number of workers commuting by bicycle increased 608%.
• Between 1992 and 2008, the number of bicyclists crossing four bridges into downtown was measured to have increased 369% between 1992 and 2008.

During that same period, the number of reported crashes increased by only 14%. In Copenhagen, Denmark, between 1995 and 2006, the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell by 60%. During the same period, cycling increased by 44% and the percent of people cycling to work increased from 31% to 36%.

Why is safety a priority in fitness activities?

Overview – Practicing exercise safety helps optimize the health benefits of a fitness routine. When planning an exercise program, it’s important to consider factors such as age and health history as well as personal strength and stamina. Before starting an exercise routine, especially a potentially strenuous one, be sure to consult a health care professional for approval and safety guidelines.

What are the top 3 priority?

Making the time for your top three priorities in life. – The problem isn’t that we aren’t aware of these priorities. I think deep down inside, we realize the importance of health, relationships, and purpose. It’s that we often complain that we don’t have time for them.

That’s baloney. The reason why you make this proclamation is that prioritizing means sacrificing something else. To improve your health, for example, you may have to put yourself on a strict diet. That means you can’t hit up that new burger joint or lay on the couch streaming movies after work and into the night.

It’s about learning how to say “no” more often, Instead of overburdening yourself by overcommitting at work, you don’t take on a new project or put in a 60-hour workweek. On the flip side, when you’re at work, that means you can’t play hooky and have a Ferris Bueller day off.

Moreover, it’s maximizing the time that you do have. That involves mastering time management skills like batching and focusing on your most challenging tasks when you have the most energy. It’s also getting creative. For example, you could prioritize your health and relationships by going for a daily walk with your spouse or visiting the gym three times per week with a friend.

In conclusion, you know what your main priorities are in life. Now it’s time to stop making excuses and go after them.

Jack Gloop