Harald Mæhlum, Research Engineer at SINTEF Petroleum and Energy

Harald Mæhlum is responsible for four laboratories in which people are working on problems related to indoor climate, gas technology, hydrogen and freeze-drying of foodstuffs. The laboratories contain heavy machinery, test rigs and equipment that is moved around by fork-lift trucks. Several times a year, they deliver hazardous waste to treatment plants. Such waste may include fluids from various machining processes, as well as chemicals and biological materials such as vaccines. All in all, this is an environment in which a certain amount of risk is always present.

In the course of the past few years there have been a number of ‘near-accidents’ in the laboratories. “For example, we had a one-and-a-half tonne load that was being moved by fork-lift truck when one of its tyres suddenly burst,” says Mæhlum. “Luckily, the load was only five centimetres off the floor, but it could just as easily have been a metre high, which would have meant a very dangerous situation if it had tipped over. The technician who was driving the truck did not regard this as a near-miss that needed to be reported. But when we went back and looked at the cause we found that the truck had been poorly maintained, so we tightened up our routines.”

Last autumn there was another near-miss. Late one evening, when three or four men were at work, a steam hose suddenly jumped off one of the rigs. At a temperature of 150 degrees Celsius, the steam could have caused serious injuries if someone had been too close. Luckily, all went well that time.

“Some people try to make little of such occurrences, and say “but nothing actually happened”. But as far as I am concerned, it is just as important to collect information about accidents that do not lead to injury,” says Mæhlum. “If we are to get rid of sloppiness and inadequate equipment, everything must be put on the table.”

Encouraging staff to report near-accidents is essential if HSE efforts are to succeed.

”I try to motivate my colleagues to feel that they are responsible for safety, and to report near-misses. Getting people to look out for each other is another important task,” says Mæhlum. “Reporting near-misses should not be regarded as talebearing, but as an essential aspect of our safety programme.”