Incident statistics

Incident statistics – No day is the same, especially not in health and safety. But research done by MAKROSAFE shows that it can be predicted on which day of the week an incident might take place. When precautions are taken, the impact could be reduced or even nullified.

Saturday 21 June 2014 was the shortest day of the year. From here on, the sun will come up earlier and go down later. This will, probably not affect the duration of a shift, but it could result in companies changing the time that employees are expected to report for duty or to knock off. This change in time-keeping is not always well-received, especially by employees who find it difficult to become accustomed to new timeframes.

Once the shortest day of the year has gone by, employees tend to become more comfortable and relaxed too. From here on, temperatures will increase until they reach the summer maximum. And the knowledge that summer is around the corner will also have a positive effect on the attitude with which employees approach their jobs. That is exactly the reason why health and safety officials should be on high-alert from now onwards, as this attitude could result it make staff becoming slack, which could lead to an incident.

At MAKROSAFE we log every aspect of incidents that have occurred in the past. This has enabled us to establish a knowledge base that is of great help when we assist our clients. One of the things we have learnt from our data is that it is important to assess risks for particular days of the week. It is a common joke that employees ' especially those with general office duties – are less productive on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are less focussed. Our data shows that, with a few exceptions, Mondays and Fridays are days with limited incidents reported and that the number of incidents increases as the week goes by. Tuesdays and in particular Wednesdays are the days when most incidents occur. The (only) exception to this is in the food and drinks industry. This industry normally works according to a Tuesday to Monday pattern, with the weekend being the days when they are most productive.

If a risk assessment is carried out to establish which day of the week is 'the most dangerous' day for employees at the workplace, health and safety officials will be in a better position to decide what action should be taken to prevent a trend developing. Managers could be stimulated to be extra aware and vigilant on those particular days, so as to keep employees on their toes. And an adjustment in activity could also be considered to keep employees active and to force them to continue applying their minds.

Incidents are often caused by the continuous and monotonous repetition of duties and activities at the workplace. This explains why the number of incidents increases as the days go in the week. Don't be caught off-guard by only looking at what is clear immediately.