Citation

Parker JG. Safety Health 2006; 173(6): 46.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, U.S. National Safety Council)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The knowledge about the difference between random and caused variation can help safety professionals manage their programs more effectively and efficiently. A variation is something that requires corrective action and did not go according to plan. The variation that safety professionals are most concerned with are occupational injuries and illness. Employers can prevent future injuries that occurs as a result of systematic problems or recurring behaviors, by finding and correcting the root cause of such injuries. These types of injuries are caused variations and differ from random variations, which are isolated incidents that do not represent larger organizational problems. Tracking incidents and illness and determining how, when and why they occurred can help in determining the difference between two variations, and Safety professionals can allocate resources more efficiently by focusing on caused variations.

Language: en