Severity - Just a Matter of Luck
Historically, safety professionals have been told that for every fatality, there will be a greater number of serious injuries, an even higher number of minor injuries, and even more near misses.
While these ratios might be true for large samples, you should not assume they are valid for small samples within one company. Do not assume that if you reduce the number of minor injuries, you will automatically reduce the number of serious injuries. It doesn't work because the severity of an injury is more a function of luck than anything else. Look at it this way, "it's not how far you fall, it's how you land."
For instance, if five painters fall off the same ladder at different times throughout the year, the severity of the injury each painter suffers will depend on their orientation when they impact the surface: and that's the result of any number of variables. Every one of the five falls might result in a serious injury. On the other hand, they might all result in no injury. It's not the number of falls that determines the nature of the injuries: it's the unique variables inherent in each fall - and that depends on just plain luck — a roll of the dice.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
6-4. More than anything else, the severity of an injury _____.
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