by Omar Fercha, MA, LAT, ATC

Hazards are here, hazards are there,
Hazards are lurking everywhere!
Some are blonky, some are spry,
Some will sneak right past your eye!

A drizzity drop, a sneaky slipzick,
A tumble, a fumble—it happens so quick!
That wobblicous widget? That tangle-y thing?
Could send you a-falling—ker-splat!—with a zing!

So open your peepers, stay wide and aware,
Look for the tripzops that lurk over there!
For hazards are tricky, they hide and they creep,
Spot them, outthink them. Your health you’ll keep!

There are an infinite number of ways one can get hurt at work. The Liberty Mutual Safety Index lists slips, trips, and falls (on the same level) as the number 2 cause of injuries onsite. Falls to a lower level comes in at number 3. So, more people fall on a flat surface than from a height? How can this be!?

Hazards Everywhere

A simple explanation to this question could be complacency. We don’t expect to fall on a flat surface, so we’re less aware of the possible hazards that potentially take us down. Things like a piece of saran wrap from a pallet, a broken chunk of wood, or a small puddle on the ground may seem insignificant but can easily be the item that sends us to the doctor—which would put a damper on a war wound story.

“How did you hurt your knee, grandpa?”

“I slipped on an invoice sheet on my way to the bathroom.”

This isn’t exactly the epic injury tale we’d want to tell. But, it’s the point that it can be the smallest, mundane hazards rather than the big, bold, in-your-face hazards that are often the ones to take us down.

Prevention Favors The Prepared

So how do we combat these potential pitfalls? By being PREPARED and recognizing our hazards, of course! Taking the time to review the hazards in our area is a simple way to avoid injury.

Look around your workspace, what do you see that could potentially harm you? Go ahead. Take 15 seconds to look around your workstation for those potential threats. I’ll wait. I have nowhere to be.

Asking and answering this question is a process called visualization. Most often it’s used for imagining yourself throwing a game-winning touchdown, or practicing your Academy Award acceptance speech.

It can also be a useful concept in conceptualizing what could happen. I could step over this bench, catch my toe, and fall forward hitting my head on the ground. We see it happen in our mind, so maybe we walk around the bench. Or, if we do decide to step over it, we’re more aware of the process and ensure our foot clears the bench.

Work already comes with its fair share of hazards. We don’t need “optimism bias” convincing us that nothing will go wrong. Instead, take a small dose of Murphy’s Law: Anything that can happen, will happen. By taking a look around our surroundings and visualizing risks before they become reality, we give ourselves the chance to sidestep trouble—literally and figuratively.

Omar Fercha, MA, LAT, ATC || Omar is a Certified Athletic Trainer with 14 years of experience. He currently serves as a Senior Account manager for Work Right, providing support and hospitality to clients in the Pacific Northwest. Omar is a product of Washington State University, and has spent his time exploring different settings in the athletic training field. In 2012, he went on to earn his master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from New Mexico State University. When he is off the clock, you can find Omar on adventures with his wife Megan, his little girls Waverly and Wrenley, and 2 dogs, Dax & Khali

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Be sure to check out our other blogs for further injury prevention education and tips for the industrial athlete from Work Right NW!