A zero-incident objective, known formally as Zero-Accident Vision (ZAV), is a popular philosophy in environmental health & safety (EHS) that holds that no one should ever be injured in the workplace. It’s a way of thinking about injury-prevention strategies rather than an actual goal, thus providing a basis for continually improving EHS processes. ZAV proposes that all accidents are preventable, and a strict interpretation of this philosophy holds that accidents don’t even exist because all such incidents occur for a reason. While it acknowledges that people make mistakes, ZAV holds that these errors shouldn’t result in injuries.
EHS analysts generally agree that organizations practicing ZAV should make it a part of their overall business management rather than a discrete process. This integration is essential for fostering the culture of continuous improvement required for ZAV to positively affect EHS performance. ZAV also affects many other aspects of EHS, including learning from incidents, risk management, worker cooperation, the use of resources and implementing new practices.
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