Taking Safety Back to the People

There are three sources of accidents: those related to the system, the equipment or facility, and those caused by people. The latter amounts to 90% of all accidents, and Gaspar Gorocica, Director General of Puesta a Punto, points out that 80% of the resources destined to accident prevention focus on equipment, procedures, or contractual requirements, but not on human error. He says people receive up to 300 hours of security training on using equipment, yet people are seldom told that they are the key to a safe working environment. “Human prevention makes the individual the first barrier against accidents. In order to achieve this, we need to increase autonomy in a person’s security approach to operations. Puesta a Punto works on creating awareness that accident prevention is the individual’s responsibility, and we achieve this awareness by talking to people in a way that is accessible and easy to understand.”

Puesta a Punto takes existing security procedures and manuals, giving them a focus on the individual so that people can adopt safety measures and make them their responsibility. “The essence behind this approach is to re-humanize safety in projects and activities, putting these aspects back in the hands of the people. The most important factor is that we teach people that safety is useful not just at work, but also in their everyday lives,” explains Gorocica. He adds that most safety training programs in Mexico are unengaging, which needs to change in order to bring knowledge closer to workers. In consequence, the people will take what they learn and spread it in the workplace, their homes, and communities.

“The best thing a company can provide employees is knowledge and culture, and when asking people what are the main benefits they get from their job, these two aspects are not common answers. Most people do not feel their job is teaching them how to think,” Gorocica laments. In his view, the best way to change the way workers perceive the benefits they get from their employer is by making the knowledge accessible and easy to understand in a way that people can apply it in their personal lives as well. “Spreading the knowledge and culture of companies entering Mexico as a result of the Energy Reform among its workers in a way that increases their wellbeing is the challenge that Puesta a Punto wants to promote to truly transform the country, which is what the reforms intend.”