Who Got Hurt - Virginia Tech



Who Got Hurt?

When a accident occurs, who gets hurt? The answer is everyone. Let’s consider all the people who suffer a loss of one kind or another when an accident occurs.

First of all, there is the employee who had the accident. Even if you are not injured, your work has been delayed, your ability to satisfactorily perform your work has been placed in doubt, and you have suffered the annoyance of having your plans suddenly changed by an undesirable event. If you’re injured, your loss will include some or all of the following: pain, discomfort, disability, loss of earnings, loss of physical ability to continue your craft, total disability or even your life. Also ask yourself how your family will be impacted by this accident? There is no doubt that you got hurt and often the people around you are effected as well.

Second, let’s consider your supervisor. He/she is expected to get a reasonable amount of work with the manpower under their supervision. Anything which injures or delays one of their employees, damages the material or equipment involved, or interrupts the orderly accomplishment of the job reflects on their ability to control and direct the work for which they’re responsible. Accidents certainly hurt your supervisor.

Let’s go up the chain of command one more step to the department head (or management). The department head is charged with completing a specific assignment by a designated date at an established cost. Each incident which delays progress, damages the material or equipment, injures an employee, or prevents the efficient supervision of the work being performed also damages their reputation as well. Management gets hurt, too.

What about the loss suffered by the employer? Every accident which occurs on the job reflects a shadow of doubt on its ability to operate a facility, to provide capable supervision, to attract a capable workforce, and to full a contract or obligation. The reputation of the employer is hurt by their failure to prevent accidents and safeguard employees. Bad publicity can be a powerful thing.

So the next time there’s an accident in the workplace and you ask “Who got hurt?”, you’ll know part of the answer, which is everyone.

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