Ｈiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) –Japan’s All- Industry Risk Management Concept

When I used to work with automotives companies as an interpreter, this word would pop up. It always had this “Chill Down the Spine and Startle” feeling.

What is Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット)? It is a kind of risk management concept and let’s read about it today.

This I write under Business Japanese and hope you will identify with it and try knowing it if you are dreaming of working in a Japanese company. If you show you know it, it may make you more trusted and accepted. Impress and flourish!!

What is Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット)?

Simply put it is the “chill down the spine” you experience when something dangerous was about to happen but did not happen.?

The phrase has two words Hiyari (ヒヤリ)and Hatto （ハット）

Hiyari (ヒヤリ)means that chill down the spine or the sudden sense of dread which grips you something serious was about to happen but did not.? For example, a heavy crane suddenly come hurtling down and a person on its path moved away before it fell on him.

Hatto （ハット） is the sense of surprise or shock you experience if you had a near miss. (はっ。。。the startle reaction)

?Why Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット)?

Just one instance of a near miss is a warning that dangers all kinds lurk in all places and anything can lead to regret if attention is not paid to it. Rather, trying to imagine what dangers they may be and how they may occur is the key to make a place risk -free.

Therefore, people brainstorm the possibility of serious life-threatening accidents happening and take measures to prevent them from happening.

One nice example which I simply cannot forget and use even outside work. In a certain automotive company I worked, they used to have strict dress codes for women employees. They used to emphasize that women should not walk around the shop floor with hair unpinned or not folded into a bun. Another point was sarees or dupattas of other flowy dresses are a 100 percent NG. Women had to wear pants and shirts and tie hair into a bun. Yet another was no nail polishes or lipsticks. This was a headache for many but I loved these rules till the end. It gave a feel of safety.

Understanding Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット)

A serious accident which occurs has in its background 29 minor accidents and 300 Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット). In other words, one major accident which occurred has pointers to 300 near misses which must be found out and prevented. This is called the Heinrich’s Law which shortens it as 1:29:300.

Heinrich, who worked in a Damage Insurance company in the US created the Heinrich’s Law by analyzing huge amount of data.? The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (厚生労働省?こうせいろうどうしょう）explained this as “If the same person commits 300 accidents, and if one among those is assumed to be a major accident (resulting in death or amputation), it means that for 300 times, he is committing 29 minor accidents (which require just the first aid, just scratches) and accidents with no injuries (injuries to body or property damages). At the background of the 300 non injury accidents committed, there are thousands of unsafe activities or unsafe conditions. (Translated from Japanese)

To prevent a major accident from happening, we use Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) to anticipate the accidents and take measures to prevent them completely.

?Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) strengthens Danger Sensitivity.

Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) not only prevents a major accident but also makes a place completely risk free.

If this concept is not understood, people will not anticipate or imagine a problem or risk of accidents even in places which has the potential for accidents.

Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) is mostly used in the road transport and factory contexts. Some of the Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) examples are mentioned in Japan’s Central Labour Relations Committee. The in the intersections which have signals for pedestrians and vehicles, starting a car when the pedestrians walk could cause an accident. Another example would be of a truck driver backing the vehicle without realizing a worker is unloading goods from the truck.

How Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) is used to prevent accidents?

4 points are followed to ensure no accidents take place.

1.?????? Give Examples of Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) with respect to the place. (roads or factory or hospitals etc)

2.?????? Carry out a KYT session (KYT きけんよちくんれん?危険予知訓練)

3.?????? Safe driving guidance as per the industry.

4.?????? Have an AI powered Accident Prevention System in place.

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1.?????? Give Examples of Hiyari HATTO with respect to the place. (roads or factory or hospitals etc)

If a Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) happens, share its details like the type of work that was being done, situation of Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット), cause and measures to all including the person who caused it .

If suppose your office car was on the verge of hitting a pedestrian, make a detailed report about after speaking about to your superior or the team leader and informing them of the near miss. This is essential to make everyone aware of the danger lurking and what kind of work to be done to prevent it always.

2.?????? Carry out a KYT session (KYT きけんよちくんれん?危険予知訓練)

To increase the knowledge and awareness of the employees for Safety, the KYT should be started. Kiken Yochi kunren (Kunren =Training) and hence Kiken Yochi Training. This is done to improver the employee the dangers lurking at work. This also enhances the understanding and carrying out of the 5S. (Seiri =Sorting; Seiton =orderliness; Seisou= Cleaning up; Seiketsu- clean; Shitsuke = discipline)

?3.?????? Safe driving guidance as per the industry.

?This is for those employees who have more work using the office car for work outside. They need to have driving license and or learn driving. They can then learn about discovering opportunities for possible accidents from driving the car.

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4.?????? Have an AI powered Accident Prevention System in place.

Ai based image recognition and Image analysis are quite popular in many countries. These AI powered tools can be used to analyses the data of the Drive Recorder and can detect the accident driving behavior like careless driving or driving when sleepy etc. .

Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) or KYT maybe time consuming and so if AI powered tools are used the driver-based data for the driving pattern of each driver can be got. Dependence of Hiyari Hatto(ヒヤリハット) and KYT can be reduced.

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