This one is bound to offend some folks in the safety profession, but it was some very wise advice a dear friend and former boss gave me after I submitted my first Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to him after a corporate audit. Just 12 years into my career, I was taught the hard way how CAPs get written and managed to closure. But his analogy of what he expected of me stuck with me to this day. Our one-on-one discussion went something like this…
NOTE: This former boss is one of my best friends today and was a client for 20 years after we parted ways in 2003; he is a former CSP and began his career as a safety engineer inside the company where we met)
Bryan, do you want to be a world-class safety engineer, or did you miss your calling as an interior decorator?
(paraphrasing)
This CAP you presented is long and detailed and would impress many with lesser expectations of you. But for me, this is nothing by “window dressing,” and to be painfully honest with you, I did not hire you to pick out and hang curtains on this house that is in total disarray. We need solid CAs that follow the Hierarchy of Controls if we wish to get this house in order.
Curtains hide what is going on inside a home. People who are not proud of their home will leave the curtain closed; people who are proud of their home will open their curtains and turn on lights so others can see inside.
Closed curtains merely give a house “curb appeal” for those passing by and taking a fleeting glimpse. But they do nothing to address the issues of what’s inside the home.
We need STRUCTURAL improvements; We need to get our HOUSE IN ORDER.
Hanging curtains and moving furniture around may look good and impress some who know no better, but it does nothing to address the issues within the house fundamentally.
So again, do you want to be a world-class safety engineer, or did you miss your calling as an interior decorator?
