Safety Planning – Preparing to do the Job
The “What _ How _ What _ How _ What” Process.

What am I about to do?

How do I plan to do it?

What do I need?

How could I get hurt?

What Am I going to do about it?

Let’s break this down and look at each question:

What am I about to do? — This is the big picture question, this task – this person – this place – this time, what am I asked to do and what will I accomplish?

How do I plan to do it? — This is where detailed job steps are developed. You already do this, you think about the job steps when you’re walking down a job or reading the scope, you’re thinking of the steps involved and what order they should be done to make the job as solid and professional as possible while making it as easy and efficient for you. The trick is to capture those job steps (ON THE TSTI).

What do I need? — This works hand-in-hand with the question above. While you’re thinking about how and the steps involved, you’re also thinking about materials, tools, equipment and PPE you will need. Again, capturing this, in the right order and right place on the TSTI is how we prove that we thought this job through and planned every step.

How could I get hurt? — This is the biggie. We already know, if someone gets hurt all the things we did in the first three steps are a failure. Our plan for timing, efficiency, and professional results go out the window. We have to look beyond the obvious, we have to look for things that “might” cause us a problem, We have to look for distractions, obstructions, and those obvious hazards as well. Look for things that might cause us to change direction or our work pattern, those are things that possible cause us to hurt ourselves- think muscle pulls, strains, etc.

What am I going to do about it? — We can never think “it won’t happen to me” or “that’s the way we’ve always done it”. These are very dangerous thoughts, and they will always lead to a bad situation, it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but if we keep on doing what we’ve always done and if we ignore the hazards they will eventually get us. Take extra steps, be proactive, get help – what could hurt me will hurt me if I don’t take action. Mitigation can be as simple as a secured hole cover or as complex as a rescue plan and one is just as important as the other, but it’s up to us, each one of us to make sure we’ve done everything possible to eliminate and/or control all hazards.

REMEMBER: WE CAN ALWAYS RESTART THE JOB, BUT WE CAN NEVER UNHURT SOMEONE!

Keep’em safe – Nobody gets hurt!

Thanks for the share, BS!