Highly reliable organizations use a portfolio of programs to maintain the continual improvement of system designs, procedures, and policies. This continuous improvement process allows the organization to RECOGNIZE OPERATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION EARLY and TO DEVELOP CORRECTIVE ACTIONS TO BRING THE SYSTEM BACK TO STABILITY The goal of this continuous improvement process is to: PREVENT…...
What is a Highly Reliable Organization? Read More »
Risk management strategies can be categorized into four (4) fundamental approaches. They are: Inherent, Passive, Active, and Procedural Let’s discuss what they mean and the order in which we should utilize them. Think along the lines of Hierarchical Control Schemes…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member?...
Risk management strategies can be categorized into four (4) fundamental approaches Read More »
Several years ago I was asked by a client to throw my name into the ring for a senior-level job at a large chemical company. They were a great client so I obliged and although I had no desire to give up SAFTENG, the interview process was so refreshing. It had such an impact on…...
An interviewing technique that separates the talkers from the doers Read More »
More on near misses and unsafe acts that result in no consequence- remember this is from the 1930s and 40s “It needs but little thought for the average person to conclude that the no-injury accident ratio herein expressed is not exaggerated. How many drivers of automobiles would care to assert that they had never had…...
Defending H. W. Heinrich’s work… near misses and unsafe acts Read More »
Lots of talk about SIF (Serious Injuries & Fatalities) these days. It even has a new acronym some of you may have seen being used… STKY (Stuff [or Sh_t] That Kills You). Leave it to the safety profession to package this risk management approach into a “program” that can be marketed and sold as another…...
SIF… it’s what many of us have been doing for 31 years! Read More »
Heinrich wrote this in 1941. So many want to decry his belief that unsafe acts play a significant role in accidents. In my earlier posts, I shared his position that unsafe acts are a reflection on management and not so much on the worker who carried out the unsafe act. In this quote from his…...
Defending H. W. Heinrich’s work… MAN VS. MACHINE Read More »
“Very few unsafe acts will result in damage or injury. In a highly protected system, the probability that the consequences of an isolated action will penetrate the various layers of defense is vanishingly small. Several causal factors are required to create a ‘trajectory of opportunity’ through these multiple defenses. Many of the causal contributions will…...
We hear it all the time… “yes of course we have a safety management system.” Then we ask one simple question, “can we see your OSH auditing plan for the year/3-years/5-years?” The most common response we get is “OSHA does not require us to conduct overall workplace audits.” That is true and it is also…...
In his 1990 paper, The contribution of latent human failures to the breakdown of complex systems Jame Reason presented us with three classifications of organizations. As usual, his work and results were spot on! The three (3) categories are: Pathological organizations Calculative organizations Generative organizations When we read these descriptions, as well as what Westrum…...
Tripartite classification of organizations Read More »
As the “safety culture” debate rages on, I came across this 2019 research paper that I found to be spot on. Of course, those are my biases shining through as I believe all organizations have a culture; in fact, they will have multiple cultures. So I am not one who subscribes to the idea that…...
I posted an article today @ SAFTENG explaining his accident pyramid model and discussing some of his Domino model. This quote is his own words trying to use the lottery to explain his pyramid model. I think it is a very fitting analogy. “The machine is dangerous as man makes it so. It is the…...
Defending H. W. Heinrich’s work… accidents are like playing the lottery Read More »
Another article defending the work of H. W. Heinrich, Assistant Superintendent Engineering and Inspection Division, The Travelers Insurance Company. I feel the need to explain how many have misstated Heinrich’s Accident Pyramid in this article. His Accident Pyramid is probably his most famous piece of work and by far what most attribute to his work. …...
Defending H. W. Heinrich’s work… Accident Pyramid Read More »
