People often ask me if I would ever share my experience in responding to a workplace fatality. Initially it was something I didn’t want to write about, nor did I think it was appropriate to.
Noticing not many have shared their learnings from responding to a fatality, and in light of World Safety Day when we honour those who have lost their lives at work or through a workplace injury or illness, I feel the time is right to share some insights drawing on my direct experience. Out of respect for the deceased and their family I will not discuss specifics of the fatality.
Uncertainty
In times of crisis, people need clarity, direction and certainty. In immediate response to the fatality and in the following weeks, I spent most of my time leading with very little certainty of what would happen next, or what would be the next step. In the initial phases I knew how important it was to surround myself with people who could help me plan to control the current situation and plan ahead at the same time. With this group of people we could talk openly about what we were uncertain about and what information we needed. These planning meetings enabled us to communicate openly with our people and provide them with some certainty of what the next step was to be.
People search for closure and create their own conclusions
Human beings crave closure and look for answers. Fatalities are complex situations that need to thoroughly investigated and handled correctly, and hence, it sometimes means we don’t have the answer right away. As a safety professional, I know the importance of conducting a proper incident investigation to identify the root causes. Given the legalities and time associated with the investigation, people immediately start to draw their own conclusion as to why and how the incident occurred. It was important for people to have these conversations with one another as mates, as a cathartic way to deal with the fatality and to find their own closure.
Doubt
Ever fallen off a bike or been in a car accident? For days and week following, how nervously do you ride your bike or how anxiously do you sit as a passenger in the car, fearing that the accident might reoccur? Returning to work was definitely like getting back on the bike. We were grief stricken and for months following people were anxious and second guessing their daily routine tasks. It’s a natural human response to act this way, it’s a protection and self-preservation measure. This was something that I had not prepared myself or my team for. As leaders we would spend extra time at the site discussing tasks and using known safety risk management principles to look at the risks and controls - bringing in familiar process was the reassurance people needed.
Attrition
Impactful events lead some people to reflect on their current situation. Following this fatality some people elected to relocate to other sites and some people pursued opportunities at other organisations. Our HR team did an amazing job of looking after every single person on the site, putting their wellbeing first. A tip: if you ever end up in the unfortunate situation of responding to a serious incident or fatality, reach out to every single person (within your organsiation) and ask them if they would like to remain where they are and have a specific plan for them.
Employee Assistance Programs
At the time I was working for a large organisation, who had, and still have, a great Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) provider. Some of the organisations working on the site at the time did not have an EAP which came as a shock to me, as it is something I have taken for granted my entire career. Fortunately, our emergency response team made the executive decision to make our EAP available to everyone on the site, something that many people took up.
Attending the funeral
Attending a workplace funeral is not something you can prepare for, and honestly, is not something I ever thought I would have to do. While it was the most challenging thing I have had to do in my professional career it was also the most important thing that I could do. Paying my respects to the deceased, their family and friends and to see the impact this had on his network and community is something that will never be erased from my mind.
Support, Love and Care
The world is small, and when a fatality occurs within your industry, people are talking about it immediately. I was very fortunate to have a lot of people within and external to my organisation reach out to support me, my team and my organisation. While it felt overwhelming at first, it was so necessary. Responding to a workplace fatality is a marathon, and is emotionally taxing. Take help from those who offer and know when to take time to care for yourself.
Fatalities can surface memories of other unfortunate events, which occurred in our situation. Please consider this when responding to any crisis. Lifeline provides compassionate support for people in crisis - call 131114.