LPS – Loss and Near Loss Definition

Loss Prevention System (LPS) is a set of management techniques and behavior-based tools designed specially to avoid occurrence of losses and near losses. This health and safety training empowers employees at all levels to follow maximum possible preventive measures including making behavioral changes so no losses or near hits take place.

LPS is a profitable ways of running a business. It saves millions of dollars organizations spend annually in settling lawsuits and workers' compensation claims due to occupational injuries, accidents and illnesses. The importance of LPS can be understood from industry statistics which shows that approximately 6% of workers in the US are in construction, an occupation that boasts of an amazingly high 20% deaths occurring due to occupational hazards.

The LPS clearly identifies damaging incidents as losses and near losses.

• Losses
  

  A loss is an unwanted event leading to damages to human life as well as property. Taking care of these damages results in financial losses too. A snapped aerial lift, an electrocuted worker, erected scaffolds giving way, heavy objects falling, worker's clothing getting caught in an auger are some instances of losses.

  Common reasons underlying occurrence of losses are –

• Partial adherence to safety measures.
• Insufficient training of workers, contractors and supervisors because of which they fail to identify their actions as potential accident triggers.
• Inadequate training in using heavy equipment and machinery.
• Small budgets necessitating cost cutting.
• Continual use of faulty equipment.
• Failing to report occurrence of minor incidents.
LPS recommends a systematic approach to investigating a loss event. Its primary objective is to determine a workable solution rather than play the blame game. The identified solution should be robust enough to curb recurrence of the mishap.


• Near Losses
  

  According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) Process Safety Management Standard near loss events are incidents "which could reasonably have resulted in a catastrophic release."

  In other words, a near loss event means an incident happened under such situations that no untoward consequences followed. Given the same incident, a mishap would have certainly happened had the conditions been just a tad different. Near hits are like warning signs which if ignored eventually cause massive losses. Common reasons for occurrence of near hits are –

• Unintentional discrepancies between the documented process and actual working of the same procedure.
• Missing obvious safety guidelines.
• Being ignorant/over confident about carrying out the assigned task safely.
LPS and OSHA recommend that all near miss episodes should be investigated at length. Quite often, rebuilding the sequence of events leading to a near hit reveals significant flaws in the system which may otherwise remain hidden when following routine procedures. Near loss investigation should also be conducted systematically so as to unearth the real reason behind its occurrence.

LPS recommends consistent reporting followed by formulation of corrective actions and their implementation as the key to resolving near hits. Frequently, workers do not report minor incidents due to their triviality, fear of getting fired or concern about marring their track record. Irrespective of the reason for not reporting, supervisors and mangers remain ignorant about the small but potentially dangerous work situations.

Managers and supervisors on their part need to pay attention to all reported near hit, discuss them, seek feedback and devise appropriate safety measures.

Rice General, a leading South California based environmental construction company, totally believes in diligent health and safety training of all its employees. Not surprisingly, we follow the loss prevention system to the core. We constantly strive to enhance our systems to reach the ideal situation of zero losses and near losses.