“An unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance” or “an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance” is how merriam-webster.com defines an accident. No one plans an accident. You don’t leave your house in anticipation of a fender bender; nor do jobsite and workplace accidents schedule a time — they happen. Unfortunately, you can be doing all the right things and wearing the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), and still the unmentionable happens.
Recently, our parent company asked each of the divisions to conduct a safety stand-down. What made this event different was that it was being tailored to the individual divisions and areas that affected them on a day-to-day basis. While there was still focus on bentonite plant and office safety, our division focused more on jobsites and travel issues. While some precautions overlapped, our field team had some very group-specific issues to address.