Safety Info Posts

Want to know if positive reinforcement is more powerful than negative reinforcement?

Think about the kids who came from abusive homes vs. those who came from supportive homes where they knew they were loved. It isn’t all peaches and cream, but they KNOW when they are loved and supported, and it shows in how they live their lives and in how they make decisions. We hold our…...

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Manipulating safety metrics, even leading indicators, is a management behavioral problem

Over my career, the most profound advancement in safety management was the recognition and shift away from lagging indicators (i.e., injury rates) to leading indicators within our safety management system (SMS).  But as this approach to safety metrics became more widespread, we have seen even leading indicators become a “number game” that gets manipulated as…...

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Safety metrics is absolutely necessary for a functioning SMS

If you think safety metrics is old fashion and leads to “manipulating behaviors”, go out to your car and disconnect your dashboard/pull fuses so that you get no analytical feedback data on how well you are staying within your safe operating envelope of yours and the car’s performance. Then tell me metrics are not needed…...

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“Safety Culture” vs. “Culture of Safety”

If the phrase “safety culture” has become so toxic in today’s world, is it wrong to use the phrase “culture of safety”? I mean, it is nonsense to claim an organization has no culture. Some can say it over and over, but that does not mean it is right. ALL groups have a culture that…...

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Safety Professional or Accident Monitor?

Every time I see the Lifelock commercial with the “security monitor” in the bank being held up I can not help but think about our profession. Replace the security guard with a safety pro and go through the commercial. Too often we are relegated to “accident monitors”., Oh I’m not a safety professional – I’m…...

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Safety Thought of the Week… This is a great synopsis of how serious accidents build within an organization over time because of the lack of a functioning SMS

When reading this, think about the “Swiss cheese model” from Reason and the “domino model” from Heinrich. “Disasters are essentially organized events. To occur, they typically require the systemic and prolonged neglect of varying signs and signals of danger, creating deep pockets of organizational ignorance, organizational silence, and organizational blindness. When signals of risk are…...

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Heat Stroke during entry into PRCS (Baghouse)

At 12:45 p.m. on July 5, 2022, Employee #1, 46, and his coworker cleaned a baghouse on a roof. The employee was wearing a Tyvek suit, KN95 respirator, and a safety harness when he made an entry into a steel baghouse, which is a confined space. National Weather Service reported conditions of 93 degrees F,…...

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Argon used in welding asphyxiates welder in 24″ pipe

At 1:30 p.m. on April 19, 2022, an employee, 35, was back welding inside a spool vessel (titanium pipe) that was 24 inches in diameter. The employee was asphyxiated due to the displacement of oxygen by argon gas…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in...

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Two employees entered a 21″ sewer manhole that was oxygen deficient

At 4:15 p.m. on June 14, 2022, two employees entered a 21-inch sewer manhole to conduct vacuum testing, not knowing that it was oxygen deficient. Both employees were overcome and died…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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Emptying and Cleaning an open-topped frack tank results in two fatalities (H2S suspected)

At 8:00 a.m. on June 26, 2022, two employees, 45 and 46, were emptying and cleaning an open-topped frack tank (Tank #4) at an oil and gas services site. There were no eyewitnesses and the employees were working at a remote site by themselves, so few details are known about what occurred…. Membership Required You...

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Lack of knowing where energy isolation device was located resulted in electrocution

At 1:45 p.m. on July 18, 2022, an employee, 51, was preparing to replace an ice machine at a retail store. The employee searched for the electrical panel to de-energize the ice machine but could not locate it. The employee was employed by a refrigeration equipment company and did not work at the retail store…....

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