Dictionary Definition – the trait of staying aware of (paying close attention to) your responsibilities, heedfulness, attentiveness, alert to, wary, respectful, alive to, cognisant.

1. Health, Safety and Environment
Weekly Safety Review 19
SIMS awaiting First Aid Recordable
Managers Comments
No. injuries ytd 11 1
Injury rate ytd 2.51 0.36
No. days worked since 119
last OSHA recordable (30/5/11) Injury
Issue Date : 27 / 9 / 2011 Performance
No. days worked since 119
First Aid Injury – an employee was working under last RIDDOR injury (30/05/11) INJURY
THS
a vehicle when dust he disturbed entered his eye. He was using LEP WEEK
1
which did not protect him – Goggles would have provided protection.
MINDFULNESS…….
Dictionary Definition – the trait of staying aware of (paying close attention to) your
responsibilities, heedfulness, attentiveness, alert to, wary, respectful, alive to, cognisant.
That’s quite a list and one that in many ways is important in our daily and work life.
Just for a moment consider how you felt and the approach you took when you first passed
your driving test and were out (in probably) your parents car for the first time. You may
have felt :
- A little fearful
- Aware of your responsibility towards other road users
- Cautious
- An enhanced awareness of keeping to the speed limits
Compare that to how you drive today – your attitude is probably different due to your years
of driving experience, but despite this are you ‘mindful’ of the risks of driving –
The hazards haven’t gone away and are probably greater now than they have ever been.
In a work context…..how did you first approach using a 6 inch grinder for the first time as a
trained technician or making process isolations for the first time following training?
FAMILIARITY and MINDFULNESS…..
Unfamiliarity and over familiarity can both work against mindfulness – our experience can
sometimes fog our awareness of the real risks.
In our day to day jobs where’s our focus ? Are we still mindful of the risks in connection
with our work? – our experience is doubtless greater but the hazards remain the same be
they :
- Acid / caustic / ammonia - HV electricity
- Gas - Working at height
- Wood/coal dust - Etc etc
- Proximity of Vehicles & People
Look again at the hazards you are dealing with –
• What are we perhaps taking for granted ?
• Have we stopped seeing the hazards ?
• Have we perhaps lost the respect that we used to have ?
Refresh your awareness and application of the controls in place for your
work eg. Applicable Instructions, work methods, PPE.
Mindfulness is the diligent attention to these issues and staying aware of the
consequences