Half of workplace injuries happen in the first year on the job

In 2024, Mexico's social security institute (IMSS) recorded 418,514 workplace accidents among workers covered by occupational risk insurance. In 2020 there were 278,184. Over those four years, the number of insured workers grew 12.6%; accidents grew 50%. The rate went from 1.4 to 1.91 accidents per 100 workers. That year, 859 people died in workplace accidents and 375 more in commuting accidents.

The figure that matters most to us is in another table of the same Statistical Report: how long the injured person had been in their position.

	Cases
Under 29 days	54,697
1 to 6 months	119,964
7 to 11 months	42,708
1 to 4 years	138,936
5 to 9 years	38,784
10 years or more	38,180

IMSS, Memoria Estadística 2024, chapter VII, table VII.11. Excludes commuting accidents and 2,125 cases with unidentified tenure.

One in eight cases happened to someone with less than a month in the position. It isn't that new people are careless: they don't yet know where the danger is at that site, with that equipment, with that customer. That knowledge lives in the heads of the technicians with more years. A good job safety analysis (JSA) is how you get it out of there and in front of whoever just arrived.

What causes the injuries

IMSS also classifies occupational risks by unsafe act. In 2024, the largest category was "failure to secure or prevent", with 220,040 of 610,751 cases, 36%. That's exactly what a pre-task safety analysis tries to catch: the lock that wasn't applied, the harness that wasn't checked, the voltage that wasn't verified.

On paper, the analysis gets filled in at the end of the day

In high-risk work (electrical, at height, confined spaces, machinery) the safety analysis is the last barrier before an accident, and for several activities it's mandatory. Mexico's NOM-029-STPS-2011, for example, requires a written risk analysis before maintenance on electrical installations and written authorization for certain tasks; NOM-009-STPS-2011 does something similar for work at height.

On paper, though, the form is often filled in at the end of the shift with the usual answers, or not at all. The form exists; the practice doesn't.

The decision: the analysis lives inside the ticket, before the first task

In waydot, each job type can have its own JSA template. On arriving at the site, the technician completes it in the app before they can start the tasks: risks identified, controls applied, protective equipment checked and, where needed, supervisor authorization. The record keeps time and location like any other evidence, so you know it was done on site and before the work.

Templates are short and specific, because a generic one for everything gets answered on autopilot:

• Electrical work: was absence of voltage verified? Was lockout/tagout applied?
• Work at height: is the anchor point adequate? Was the harness inspected?
• Confined space: was the atmosphere measured? Is a standby person assigned?

Review them with your safety team and align them with the NOMs (Mexican official standards) that apply to your activity.

Near-miss reports and an emergency button

Incidents, near misses and unsafe conditions are reported from the field with photo and location, and each report can open corrective actions with an owner and a due date. Near misses are the most valuable: they tell you where the next accident will happen. For people working alone, the app has an emergency alert that shares location with designated responders.

What to measure

• Share of high-risk jobs with a complete analysis before starting.
• That same share for technicians with less than a year in the position.
• Near misses reported per month.
• Corrective actions closed on time.

Sources

• IMSS, Memoria Estadística 2024, chapter VII (Occupational Health): tables VII.11 (time in position), VII.26 (2020 to 2024 series) and VII.32 (unsafe act).
• STPS, NOM-029-STPS-2011, maintenance of electrical installations in workplaces, DOF December 29, 2011.