Safety Management System

Most everyone has seen the failures within Boeing, both in its commercial aviation division and now its space flight division.  I’m guessing this latest story should not be a surprise, seeing the depth of the issues in their commercial aviation division.  But this is NOT about Boeing, as there are hundreds, if not tens of…...

Culture can best be understood as “the way we do things around here.”  An organization’s culture will influence human behavior and performance at work. Poor safety culture has contributed to many major incidents and personal injuries. Success typically comes from: good leadership, good worker involvement, and good communications. Creating a positive safety culture in an…...

I have seen some crazy videos this year of just unreal worker behaviors. The ones that shock me to my core are what I would call “horseplay.” These are the times workers need to be terminated. I may go as far as issuing discipline to those watching/taping and even up the ladder to supervisors and…...

You can assess your own health and safety management system using this self assessment checklist (.doc) . Use the columns in the middle of the table to give yourself a score for each element.  Where you give yourself a score of 1 or 0 you may need to take action to improve those elements –…...

It is suggested that LATENT ORGANIZATIONAL failures are analogous to the “resident pathogens” within the human body, which combine with external factors (stress, toxic agencies, etc.) to bring about disease. Like cancers and cardiovascular disorders, accidents in complex, defended systems do NOT arise from single causes. They occur through the unforeseen (and often unforeseeable) concatenation…...

So many want to accuse Heinrich of being too heavy on “unsafe acts” and claim that he held the workers too responsible for their injuries. This is just pure hogwash! I have shared many passages from Heinrich’s writings from the 1920s-1930, and each one clearly shows that he was more a fan of what we…...

Whether we are talking about Process Safety or Occupational Safety and Health management systems, the ability to track corrective actions and recommendations discovered from the Safety Process/SMS activities may be one of the most critical aspects of any management system; it is undoubtedly the driving force behind any “Continuous Improvement” efforts. In the process safety…...

These days, too many companies have short-circuited their “new employee safety orientation.” They have either substantially shortened the time employees are in “safety orientation” or, worse, changed the format from face-to-face to a CBT format using information that is NOT even specific to the site-specific safety programs/practices. And then they call me and ask, “Why…...

Chainsaws and Human Factors This module looks at finding the balance between production, distractions and safety concerns in an effort to avoid hazards. Category: Hazards Core Component(s):  Incident Reviews and Lessons Learned, Human Factors, Communication and Decision Making Estimated Delivery Time: 30 minutes Video Length: 14:11… Membership Required You must be a member to access...

This article is in line with this week’s [My] Safety Thought of the Week (Manage Safety the same as Quality).  I hope to explain the 3-5-year plan I offer clients who have decided it is time for a formally structured management system to manage the risks their workers face.  It is a quite simple plan…...

I have discussed this approach before but think it is worth repeating. In our SMS/Safety Process, we need to view the men and women who do our dirty and dangerous work as our “customers,” just like we view our business customers through the lens of our Quality Management System (QMS). Imagine the outcome if we…...