The pandemic is chocked full of LEARNING opportunities that we can translate into our effort to improve safety at our facilities. The one that screams at me the most is one of how our elected leaders (and I use that term loosely) behaved. I said back in the middle of the pandemic that we needed […]
Imagine a room of 100 adults, and I am teaching these adults basic math for the first time. I write on my whiteboard that 2+2 = 4. And I repeat this over and over. Out of these 100 adults, there will be 10% that believe me because I am the teacher, and they understand they
The recent release of a report regarding the catastrophic collapse of Champlain Towers South is a “storybook” of how Latent Organizational failures set the stage for an accident. And like all the bad accidents before this one, everyone from the government to the media is looking for someone or some people to blame (i.e., Active
Several organizational characteristics can feed organizational silence: Managerial illusions: managers can believe that the situation is under control simply because of the number of procedures. They can also believe that failure to follow a procedure is the only possible mechanism that can produce accidents. This discourages feedback about situations where procedures are difficult, time-consuming, or
It is commonly admitted that the great majority of industrial accidents are caused directly by specific unsafe acts of persons or exposure to specific mechanical or physical hazards. It is agreed that these causes and the accidents that they create interfere seriously with the quality, volume, and cost of production and are of a preventable
The client this week had such an eye-opening experience with the risk assessment yesterday; they were all early this morning and had written out their homework assignment for the night! We took their loading docks and did the OSH version of LOPA called a Hierarchal Analysis around workers being crushed by a trailer at the
As safety pros return to work this week from the annual ASSP conference last week, their excitement and enthusiasm will either blossom or bottom out. So many new techniques are being pushed in the safety arena these days, and many safety pros and management personnel are grasping for whatever it takes to turn their safety
Recently I was working with a client on some LOTO procedures, and I was out, and about in the plant, and as I was tracing down an airline, something caught my eye. At first, I was not sure if I was just seeing things, as in my safety mind, there was just no way anyone
Often, we use our SMS software/app to document safety deficiencies/hazards identified in the workplace. Still, we can also use these apps to validate the safety controls intended to be in place around certain hazards/risks. This week, I am working with a client located in a part of the country where they will be seeing temps
Safety MUST become a value rather than a priority. The great Steve Jobs explains that product selling (i.e., we are selling safety!) is about defining the organization’s values. He makes an excellent point that safety pros should keep in mind when trying to influence management commitment and culture around the safety effort.When he is talking
Many folks think they are far and away from having a formal Hazard Identification process in place. But in reality, if they are auditing their “compliance” with OSHA/Safety standards, they are in phase 1 of a Hazard ID exercise. As I like to say, we must DEFINE and QUANTIFY our safety expectations to MEASURE and
COMPREHENSIVE HAZARD IDENTIFICATION is key to effective risk management. The RISK arising from a HAZARD that has not been identified cannot be managed.
