MA’ADEN PROJECTS – RAS AL KHAIR

Weekly Mass Toolbox Meeting #14

THE TARGET ZERO INCIDETN AND INJURY

To put it simply, the goal of a Target Zero initiative is to create an incident and injury free work environment. Arguably, all workplace
safety training programs strive to achieve this in one way or another, but when Target Zero is taken too literally, it can become problematic.

3 Challenges with Target Zero

If the Target Zero safety program is enforced as a metric that your EHS team must achieve, you can run into the following issues which
can be counterproductive to improving safety concerns at your company:

Creates a Culture of Fear – One of the most effective ways to improve safety is by building a positive safety culture, so the last thing you
want to do is create a culture that breeds fear and makes your workforce uncomfortable. Target zero incidents can inadvertently send the
message to employees that mistakes aren’t tolerated which isn’t good for morale or for continuous improvement.

Fuels Underreporting – Reaching a zero accidents or zero injuries target can be stressful. When too much pressure is put on employees
to hit zero harm rates, underreporting of incidents and near misses tends to rise. Consequently, your employees may be painting a false
picture of safety performance and workplace risk.

Promotes Complacency – Achieving target zero is totally attainable – until the next incident happens. No workplace can ever be truly risk
free, and when a zero recordable workplace injury rate is achieved, employees can fall into the trap of resting on their laurels and can be
less motivated to continuously improve processes and safety outcomes. Bottom line, this can be highly detrimental to employee engagement
and employee involvement. Lives.

Moving Target Zero from a Metric to a Mindset

To continuously improve safety performance at your organization, it’s time to re-think your approach to Target Zero safety as part of
your organization’s mission. It’s imperative we strive to make our workplaces safer and lower risk every day, but we need to be mindful of
how we are positioning risk mitigation in our organizations.
To avoid the challenges mentioned above of approaching it as a metric, EHS professionals should think of Target Zero as a continuous
process that needs the constant commitment and dedication of senior leadership and the workforce. Improvements to this approach and
process can also be seen with the help of utilizing the latest technology.

Three Tips on How to Prevent & Reduce Workplace Injuries

Our latest whitepaper, Target Zero: Helping You Work Your Way to Zero Incidents, Zero Injuries, Zero Fatalities, discusses tips to help
safety leaders effectively move towards proactive injury prevention and accident prevention.

1. Ensure Contractor Compliance and Implement Contractor Management Systems

Reducing workplace injuries and incidents starts with who you have on-site. Both internal and external contractors need to be fully
accredited and compliant with all industry and regulatory requirements, to conduct their job tasks safely. In addition to competence and
compliance, organizations must also effectively manage contractors once they’re on-site to gain insight into safety activities and
performance.
2. Conduct Safety Audits, Assessments, and Observations
Regularly staying aware of risks and hazards which may be preset on-site can help you reach target zero. This involves conducting different
types of audits such as hazard assessments, behavior-based safety observations, and job hazard analyses. Information gathered from these
actions, can help provide opportunities for EHS professionals to identify possible risks and mitigate them quickly.
Learn more about how to conduct a job hazard analysis or how to identify workplace hazards.

3. Track Key Safety Metrics

Creating a safer work environment can also be accomplished with the help of effective leading and lagging indicators, as well as key safety
metrics. With a concrete look into safety performance utilizing real-time data, safety leaders can identify gaps which may be present in a
safety program. This can help pinpoint trends and patterns, helping leaders to make data-driven decisions to protect the workforce.

The above elements and more are discussed in our latest whitepaper, Target Zero: Helping You Work Your Way to Zero Incidents. Zero
Injuries. Zero Fatalities. to help you learn more about how to prevent workplace injuries.
Be Accountable: Choose safety - work safe - and go home safely!