Pointing And Yelling At Things Reduces Workplace Accidents - Japan

Sometimes when you're performing a task that you've done a million times, whose steps you can recite in your sleep, you suddenly realize that you've payed no attention to the last few moments, as you were daydreaming about puppies or tacos or a day on the beach, or something. Generally letting your mind wander over something that may have become mundane. Any act that we repeatedly perform can sometimes lull us into a certain complacency when we're simply running through a checklist, big or small, inside of our own heads. We are all human, and it happens to the best of us.

The Japanese have been using a method for reducing mistakes on the job involving pointing at an object, and confirming its compliance or function, or at least its existence, out loud. They've deployed it across their national rail system, and companies like Toyota have picked up on it, as well. This is part of their "Zero-accident Campaign", whose theory states that:

The act of "pointing and calling" helps to bring the activity "out of your head" and into an actual realm of worldly existence, requiring that you physically pay closer attention to whatever it is you are doing. In other words, it creates an increased awareness through physical reinforcement. A 1994 study by the Japan Railway Technical Research Institute found that human errors were reduced by 85% when a task was accompanied by both pointing and calling, as opposed to doing neither.

A more scientifically-detailed explanation of Finger Pointing and Calling (FPC, yes it really has a name) can be found at the link below:

Finger-Pointing to Reduce Accidents - Research using body sensors suggests gesturing may increase driver attention.

The idea has never been implemented on a wide scale in the West, however, and one theory suggest that English and U.S. workers are just too self-conscious to be pointing and yelling at things in public, and would feel "silly". Hard to believe given the cultural norms in Japan regarding humility and not calling an undue amount of attention to oneself. Our take is that you do what needs to be done to get the job done safely, and dance like there's nobody watching.

Either way, you can see how a system like this could be applied in many different ways, driving a truck or otherwise. Many of us already do it, though sometimes probably subconsciously, talking to the traffic around us, or the ingredients for the cake we're baking, or the cabinet we're building, or running through driving directions when we don't have a GPS lady ordering us around.

External Links:

Why Japan’s Rail Workers Can’t Stop Pointing at Things

Concept of “Zero-accident Total Participation Campaign”

My instructor at Western Pacific Truck School actually had us doing that. He said the DMV examiners would want us to do it during the ride. I found it very distracting and disrupting, and when it came time to be examined, the examiner actually told me to stop doing it. It seemed to annoy her.

So pointing at a bad driver with my middle finger and calling him an idiot will make me a better driver? Who knew? Gonna have to rethink if my normal defensive driving mindset is adequate.

I do something very similar to this at work - whenever I finish working on a car, I do my "call out", whether I'm changing oil, tuning up, or a vehicle repair.

"Safety check on bay x" "Wrench on plug - plug is dry, plug is tight. Hand on filter - filter is dry, filter is tight" "Safety check complete, oil level/ repair is verified - sticks are down, caps are tight, no tools, no rags"

As i call this out to my coworkers, I'm pointing at & twisting each cap - oil cap, power steering cap, wiper fluid resevoir cap, brake resevoir cap, expansion/over flow tank cap, radiator cap, etc and also scanning the engine bay for ratchets, wrenches, extensions, sockets, etc.

My boss gave me some seriously crazy/funny looks when I first started, but eventually it started a trend, lol, because now everyone in the garage does it, haha.

But hey, unlike some other co-workers, (both where I'm at currently, and previous jobs) I've never left a loose cap or tool in the engine bay of a customers vehicle.

If it works, it works.

I kinda-sorta do this at work and at home sometimes if I'm having trouble focusing on the task at hand. I'll usually just talk myself through what I'm doing, but sometimes I point at things too. I remember plenty of times when I was doing otr I'd point at a street sign and read it aloud. I often point and talk out loud when I'm hooking or unhooking from a trailer to help ensure I don't skip any steps, especially if I'm trying to move quickly. I don't know if I'd do it all the time but it does seem to help sometimes.