‘Hazard Hunts’ Target Injuries from Slips, Trips and Falls

By Grant Johnson
Vice President, Health, Safety, Quality and Environment

Capt. Mike Piazza points to a set of stairs in the engine room of the Henry Foss that need to be marked with yellow tape as a tripping hazard.

Historically, nearly a third of Foss’ safety incidents were the result of slips, trips and falls. Our industry struggles with similar levels of these types of incidents, all of which are preventable.

Safety VP Grant Johnson on Slips, Trips and Falls

Grant Johnson

In an effort to prevent future incidents, Foss has developed a “Hazard Hunt” program to identify and correct these hazards. Multidisciplined teams of employees will conduct walk-throughs of all our worksites to identify potential slip, trip and fall hazards.

Hazards that can be remedied immediately — such as a raised corner of a floor mat — should be, and other larger potential hazards will be identified for action.

Regional operations managers, division heads and shipyard directors will oversee the program on their vessels and at their facilities. I’m handling the walk-throughs and mitigation efforts at our headquarters in Seattle.

Initially, this will be a stand-alone program to address immediate hazards, but it will eventually be incorporated into our Safety Management System to ensure that the walk-throughs are performed on a regular basis. Regardless, our culture and values should drive us to identify and correct these types of hazards as they arise.

We owe it to ourselves, our co-workers and our families to eliminate or mitigate these hazards in our workplaces.