OPALS - Other Peoples Accident Lessons
Enabling Accident Prevention
Improving productivity, efficiency and well being by attacking accidents and the sources of harm in the construction industry.
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Helping workers to learn from accidents, not just about them, provides knowledge and skills that will prevent harm. Learning from your own experience can be very expensive, so learn from other peoples accident lessons
The OPALS Programme
The OPALS Programme consists of 3 steps
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STEP 1 A targeted discussion on site with 6-12 workers, using OPALS Cases - real stories of other peoples accidents
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STEP 2 Using the OPALS data structure, OPALS trainers Feed back to managers on the learning and insights raised by the worksite discussions. This feedback generates further discussion and actions
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STEP 3 OPALS trainers provide a final report to the employers, and data is captured to provide generalised insights for the OPALS website to create publicly available insights for the whole industry.​​
STEP 1 - The Site Discussion - Education
A key benefit to workers participating is an eduactaion in using an energy based hierarchy of precautions to analyse and think deeply about how accidents arise when a vulnerable target is impacted by a flow of energy in the absence of suitable barriers or controls.
This empowers workers workers with the knowledge and skills to understand how to prioritize safety and prevent accidents in the workplace.
STEP 2 - Feedback to Managers -
Discsuss and create action list
The results of one or many site discussions are integrated by the OPALS team using a data structure which creates a matrix combining the pecautions and insights raised by workers, witha set of 6 management action levels which care necessaary to make the precautions work on the front line.
This feedback session results in managers creating an action list to improve safety management in their own organisation
STEP 3 - Industry Improvement
The OPALS Team captures data from STEP 1 and STEP 2 in a generalised format to capture lessons which can be transferred between employers, and which can be fed forwards and upwards to industry bodies to help them understand syatemic weaknesses in the industry, and to identify any future hreats which may need proactive consderation.
Driving positive changes that benefit the construction sector as a whole.
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