Safety and the Law of Diminishing Returns; Can you help with a study?

According to a recent article, Canada's transport ministry is considering ordering auto makers to equip all cars with special suicide-resistant tailpipes, after reporting that in the past 20 years, between 260 and 385 people have died each year by attaching a hose to a vehicle's tail pipe and breathing the fumes. It is not known what the cost would be to implement this idea.

Is this type of effort an example of the Law of Diminishing Returns? Could some of what we do now actually be just as absurd? We are frequently discussing training with people who know that they have good training but have an imagined idea that they need to do even more as a legal requirement. Often these people do not know the details of the legal requirements. A copy of the CFR is a good start. It is available from the Wyoming Montana Safety Council at a cost of only $27 and is actually better than the ones costing $80 because it is the same material but with colors and better indexing. The Wyoming Montana Safety Council is always pleased to be invited to do training but does not want to provide something that is not needed.

The Wyoming Montana Safety Council has started a study of the hypothesis that percentage reductions in accidents are smaller when OSHA recordables are lower. The safety training and consulting industry at present works on the basis that what is known as a "Matthew effect" , an exemption from the Law of Diminishing Returns if you will, takes place with safety training and that more is better. There is some evidence that not only is that not true but that some safety training may in fact offset gains achieved by process and product improvements. If this hypothesis can be proven then there may be savings possible by performing only the minimum training to meet legal requirements and then to allocate resources into some other related activities.

Already there is plenty of low cost or no cost material for providing superior training. The Wyoming Montana Safety Council can right now work with you to find a way to meet your needs (in Montana to comply with the Montana Safety Culture Act) and to reduce your costs. One offering is to provide training and to simultaneously train an in house trainer and to provide you with materials for the future. In addition the Wyoming Montana Safety Council can keep records for you of refresher training needs in a way that meets all legal requirements.

As for the research study, ideally there is someone who needs to write a Master's thesis who could work with the Safety Council and then to do other research. If you or someone you know might want to work with us please call the Safety Council at 307-635-4592.

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