Encore Electric Health & Safety experienced its 11th recordable injury of the year. The employee received a laceration to their hand that required six stitches. The injured employees’ hand was caught in a van door when a co-worker working with him attempted to close the van door from the inside. The co-worker communicated that they were closing the door, but the injured employee did not hear due to being distracted.
The root causes of this injury were due to a lack of situational awareness and communication. The co-worker did communicate that he was shutting the door but did not wait until he received a verbal confirmation. They should have waited to make sure their co-worker heard their intentions to shut the door. The injured employee should not have had their hand directly in the line of fire where the van door latches, and been aware of the situation.
Please make sure when you are working around others or working in a team, you make your intentions verbal, clear and wait for a response that your co-workers heard you.