1. High Potential Incidents
Safety for Life 2019
High Potential Incidents

2. The Intelligence of the crowd
Introduction
The Intelligence of the crowd

3. The Intelligence of the Crowd
It was Statistician Francis Galton, while visiting a rural exhibition, became interested in the results of a competition to guess the weight of an ox that was on display.

4. The Intelligence of the Crowd
Galton didn’t have a lot of confidence in the average person’s ability to make accurate estimates.
In an attempt to demonstrate how inaccurate the contestant’s guesses were, he graphed the results of the contest and ran statistical tests on them. What he learned not only changed his mind, it completely changed the course of data science.

5. The Intelligence of the Crowd
What did Galton learn? The 800 guesses collected during the contest, from a diverse mix of people including those who had no agricultural experience at all, those who were lifelong farmers, and everyone in between, averaged within just one pound / 0.45 kilograms of the actual weight of the ox.
Average – 1197 lbs / 543 kg
Actual – 1198 lbs / 543 kg

6. The Intelligence of the Crowd
Not even the most experienced farmers were able to estimate the weight of the ox as accurately as the collective crowd did.

7. The Intelligence of the Crowd
Thus began a data science revolution that still shapes our lives today. Everything from internet search results to traffic control systems are informed by the power of the collective intelligence Dalton discovered.

8. The Intelligence of the Crowd
The approach has its limits, but time and time again we have seen that if you collect enough data from a group that is…
Large
Diverse
Independent
…the results are often much more accurate than those produced by even the best qualified experts.

9. The Intelligence of the Crowd
Over the next few minutes you will learn how AECOM is using collective intelligence to shape our approach to preventing high potential incidents, the kinds of incidents that have the potential to rob people of their health and even their lives.

10. High Potential Incidents
Section 1
High Potential Incidents

11. High Potential Incidents
Look at the three images below. What do they have in common?
Concrete forms collapsed while staff inspecting underneath.
Bridge inspection vehicle (snooper truck) tipped while staff in basket under bridge.
Live electric line ripped out by excavator.

12. High Potential Incidents
What do the images have in common?
Play the Andy Peters video now to hear the answer from our Chief Safety Officer, Andy Peters.
Hi. I’m Andy Peters, Chief Safety Officer at AECOM.
The images on your screen have at least three things in common. First, they happened at AECOM. Second, they had the potential to cause serious injury or death. Third, they did not result in a regulatory citation. You heard that right – although these incidents could have killed someone, we were in full compliance with regulatory requirements on the worksites where they happened.
AECOM is “Best in Class” when it comes to safety. Our metrics and performance are among the strongest in the field. Yet in the last year, over 100 serious injuries changed the lives of AECOM employees and their families. Some of these incidents happened at the office and while employees were traveling or driving. High risk, or high potential incidents, can happen anywhere and to anyone.  
Our safety is too important to be satisfied with just meeting the minimum requirements, especially when there is a possibility for serious injury or death. I have directed my team to focus on this area throughout 2019 and into the future. In this course, we will introduce some innovations in our approach to preventing the most serious incidents. These innovations are the result of data shared by you and people like you all around the world.
I hope you will join us in a commitment to preventing high potential incidents from impacting you and your colleagues this year. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for improving our processes, please reach out to your local SH&E resource or write me at
Thank you.

13. High Potential Incidents
Traditional approaches to improving safety have been based on research from the 1930s, suggesting that:
.3% of incidents result in major injury.
8.8% of incidents result in minor injury.
90.9% of incidents do not result in injury.

14. High Potential Incidents
Do these approaches work? Let’s look at the data to see the industry-wide safety performance for organizations like AECOM*.
*Data are typical of developed countries. This chart depicts safety performance according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US.

15. High Potential Incidents
We’ve seen declining incident and injury rates year over year for decades! This suggests that our approaches have worked well so far… however…

16. High Potential Incidents
…the last segment of that bottom line doesn’t follow the same trend. Serious incidents are no longer declining at the same rate.
All Incidents
Serious Incidents

17. High Potential Incidents
Why is this happening, and what can we do about it?

18. High Potential Incidents
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Thanks to data entered into systems like IndustrySafe and Lifeguard, we can begin to answer this critical question.

19. High Potential Incidents
What is different about serious incidents? About 21% of incidents in the data share two characteristics. They occur when:
Serious Incidents / Fatalities (SIF)
21% Potentially SIF

20. High Potential Incidents
If we invest our resources into preventing this subset of incidents by correcting one or both of the high risk characteristics, we should be able to make that trend line continue on its downward trajectory.
Conditions or behaviors that could lead to serious injury…
All incidents
and no action is taken to control the risks, or the actions taken are ineffective

21. Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Section 2
Risk Assessment and Mitigation

22. High Potential Incidents
Susan Auriemma became an advocate for preventing serious incidents involving cars and children when she experienced a life-changing incident with her daughter, Kate.
Play the Susan Auriemma video now to hear her tell her story.

23. High Potential Incidents
Susan has used the lessons she learned as an opportunity to prevent future injuries to children. You can find out more about her effort at

24. High Potential Incidents
Can you think of some situations in which you or a family member, teammate, or friend have nearly been seriously injured?
Slipped on the stairs?
Have a close call while enjoying recreational activity?
Nearly fall from a ladder?
Have an auto collision?
Get distracted while using a power tool?
What happened? Is someone likely to get hurt under the same circumstances in the future?

25. High Potential Incidents
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When we experience an incident without serious consequences, we’ve been given a free gift. Each incident is an opportunity to find the factors that could lead to a serious outcome in the future and do something about them.
However, if we do nothing, the circumstances are likely to occur again and again until they cause a serious outcome.

26. High Potential Incidents
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How do we prevent future injuries at AECOM? When an incident or near miss occurs, regardless of the outcome you should:
Immediately contact your supervisor
Enter the incident into:

27. Important!
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It is absolutely critical that you IndustrySafe entry reflects accurate information for the:
Potential severity and
Potential probability !
…of the worst outcome that could have reasonably occurred in the circumstances leading up to the incident

28. High Potential Incidents
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Play the Sheema Shameli video now to watch Sheema describe an incident that could have cost the lives of AECOM employees.

29. Ranking Risks Step 1
Practice: What is the worst consequence that could have reasonably occurred in the situation described by Sheema?
The key here is to be reasonable. Not every situation could have reasonably been catastrophic.

30. Ranking Risks Step 2
Based on the hazard controls in place at the time of the incident, how likely is the worst case scenario?

31. How did you do? Graphics -
Let’s see how you did! Here’s how your risk ranking scores compare to Sheema’s.
Sheema ranked the potential severity of this incident as catastrophic and the probability as occasional.
You ranked the potential severity of the incident as _________ and the probability as _________.

32. Ranking Risks Step 3
Don’t forget! Every incident must be entered into IndustrySafe. Without this critical step, incidents cannot be used to prevent future injuries. 01 02 03

33. Let’s try again!
Remember Kate’s story? Try to rank the potential severity of the worst reasonable outcome, should the same circumstances recur.

34. Let’s try again!
Now try to rank the probability of the worst reasonable outcome, should the same circumstances recur.

35. How did you do? Comparison Here’s how your ranking compared to ours.
We ranked the potential severity of this incident as catastrophic and the likelihood as probable.
You ranked the potential severity of the incident as _________ and the probability as _________.

36. Lessons Learned Comparison
The next step in the process involves implementing lessons learned identified during the incident review process.
Failure to maintain awareness of hazards while preparing to move and backing the vehicle, resulting in hitting a child who had moved into the blind spot behind the vehicle.
Root Cause
Maintain situational awareness.
Where possible, back into parking spots to avoid backing out. Blind spots in front of a vehicle are smaller and easier to monitor.
Equip vehicles with backing cameras and bumper sensors. This technology saves hundreds of lives.
Use a ground-spotter any time you have to back a vehicle without a camera.
Corrective Actions

37. Section 3
Summary

38. Process Summary Graphics
When a high potential incidents occurs, we can save lives in the future by:
Ranking the potential severity and probability of the outcome if the circumstances were to happen again.
Documenting the incident and risk ranking in IndustrySafe.
Implementing the lessons learned to prevent future incidents.

39. Summary
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We can all recall a “close call or situation that could have resulted in much more serious outcomes. Each high potential incident or near miss represents an opportunity to address the hazards that threaten lives.

40. Summary
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We hope you will approach your tasks, whether at work, at home, or on the road with this in mind, and:
When you are discussing hazards at a morning tailgate or during a Task Hazard Assessment, go a step further and ask “What’s the worst thing that could happen and how are we preventing it?”
Report all incidents including near misses in IndustrySafe so that they can be used to protect lives and prevent incidents.
Stop work if the potential for an incident is imminent; if the situation has high potential consequences, get upper management involved in the solution.
Hold each other accountable to implement strong control measures where appropriate and apply lessons learned.

41. AECOM is proud to announce…
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The SH&E Microsite, Roadmap, and Training Vault will be available to all in early Watch this short video to see how these tools will help AECOM employees, consultants, and clients complete work safely and effectively.
Watch now!

42. PSAP
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If you haven’t completed a Personal Safety Action Plan (PSAP) already this year, now is the time. We encourage you to direct this year’s safety commitments toward resolving the high potential hazards present in your workplace, at home, or on the road.
Click here to begin completing the form.

43. Section 4
Quiz