No matter what we are doing, at work, behind the wheel, at home, to avoid accidents, we must be alert and aware of any hazards.

The challenge is to make hazard recognitions second nature and everything we do to make it a sixth sense as a work. The main thing of course is to spot a hazard before it causes an injury or accident. One way to do this is to know what causes us to miss hazards. These are called hazard blind spots.

Most hazard blind spots are caused by distractions. Anything that causes you to lose your concentration is a distraction and distractions cause hazard blind spots.

Here are the top ten hazard blind spots:

1 cell phone calls or text messages. These take your eyes and thoughts off what you’re doing.

2 Other drivers. There’s a long list of things that other drivers do that can drive us to distraction.  Always be aware of other drivers but don’t let them annoy you to the point where you lose control.

3 coworkers. Our fellow workers can do a lot of things to distract us or to create hazards.

4 Impending shift change or lunch breaks, worrying about what or where we’re going to eat can make us lose concentration on the task at hand.

5 Preoccupations. When you need to concentrate on your work, leave your worries at the door.

6 Noise. A noisy work place can easily cause us to lose focus and become distracted.

7 Headphones. These can severely limit our awareness of our surroundings.

8 Music. Nothing can be more distracting than a loud radio or a stereo, turn it down.

9 Malfunctioning tools or other equipment for maintenance equals distractions.

10 Daydreaming. Anything that cause you to lose focus on the work is a hazard.

An accident occurs when you mind focus on something other than the task at hand and you fail to avoid a hazard.

Concentrate and stay focused and you will eliminate your hazard blind spots.