22 May, 2025
The ‘hidden’ SIF risks in routine tasks
How to engage colleagues in managing risk: the challenge of complacency in routine tasks.
Serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) don’t always result from extraordinary events. They’re often the outcome of routine tasks that are happening across industries thousands of times a day, every day.
But this familiarity can create a false sense of security. Over time, what starts as a known hazard becomes ‘just part of the job.’ As familiarity grows, so can complacency – and that’s where the danger lies.
The problem is:
- Many employees don’t recognise the SIF risks in their work.
- Controls may exist – but are they sufficient and consistently implemented?
- Reporting systems may capture near misses and incidents – but do they identify potential SIFSs (pSIFs) and analyse them to prevent SIFs?
Without increased awareness and visibility, SIF risks often remain ‘hidden’ – until a serious injury or fatality occurs.
Make the invisible visible
Reducing SIFS starts with increasing awareness… and starts at the top.
- Engaging leaders
Do your leaders, at every level, understand the SIF risks in the business? Do they question the controls in place to ensure they’re adequate? Do they make SIFs part of the conversation when talking with their teams and in all pre-work briefings? Leaders must be committed to and accountable for reducing SIFs.
- Getting the right controls in place
Are you confident you have the most effective controls in place to mitigate the risks? Are you too reliant on administrative controls or PPE? Are controls regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure they’re effective and implemented?
- Engaging employees
Before starting any task, do employees identify if SIF activities are involved? If controls could be improved? If they understand the safe system of work? Are employees encouraged to speak up about the hazards in their work and how they can be better controlled?
- Getting to the root cause
Are people actively encouraged to report pSIF events? Are they confident to do so without fear of reprisal? Are pSIFs rigorously investigated to discover root causes? Are corrective actions always identified and implemented?
Identifying SIF risks is not enough. Everyone, from senior leaders to the people doing the work, need to be proactively engaged in recognising, reporting and reducing the risks.
How confident are you that all SIF activities are visible and adequately addressed in your business?