Safety Management System

A call for getting back to the basics

Over my 30+ year career in safety and health, I have seen and participated in many “flavor of the month” initiatives.  Almost all of these were out desperately trying to achieve an OSHA rate.  I know; there’s a lot to unpack with that statement.  Probably the most significant movement of my career was the Behavior…...

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The FRA Risk Reduction Program: A New Approach for Managing Railroad Safety

As my time in the railroad industry comes to an end, I broke the ice with the FRA through some close friends in DOT/PHMSA to understand why/how the railroads are 50 years behind the times in how safety is managed.  Through our many and lengthy discussions (many thanks to E.J. and others), I received a…...

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My take on “Work as imagined” vs. “Work as done”

This single image captures all we need to recognize about “real-world safety.” The straight black line represents “work as imagined”; this means the work done “by the book” every time.  Anyone who believes humans follow all the rules 100% of the time is living in a fantasy land.  We are wired to find the easy,…...

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Safety is a privilege

Safety is a privilege to protect our teams. But you better F’ing respect that privilege and honor it. There is no higher calling than what we get to do day in and day out. If this is a job for you – get the hell out of our way and find something else to spend…...

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Understanding Dr. Reasons Vulnerable System Syndrome (VSS)

Investigations of accidents in a number of hazardous domains suggest that a cluster of organizational pathologies—the “vulnerable system syndrome” (VSS)—render some systems more liable to adverse events. This syndrome has three (3) interacting and self-perpetuating elements: Blaming front-line individuals, Denying the existence of systemic error provoking weaknesses and Blinkered pursuit of productive and financial indicators…...

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Workplace Trust and Safety Benefits

I found another ppt from years ago, dusted it off, and updated it for a client.  This is based on many of the HOP/HPI/Resiliency talks we hear these days.  But know this, without trust, NOTHING will work in our effort to improve the worker’s safety.  My favorite saying on trust is from Dr. Clive Lloyd:…...

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The Scales of Safety

After the month I have witnessed, this image came to me this weekend as I reflected on the state of safety in the USA.  I have mentioned before, has the compliance model done more harm than good?  I mean, OSHA has made a huge impact on workplace safety. Still, once a business achieves “compliance” (and…...

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Dr. Lloyd’s Five (5) Principles of building Trust and Credibility

If you have not yet read Clive Lloyd’s “Compliance to Care”, it is a must-read.  Here are my five (5) favorite points he makes:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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HOP/HPI Presentation (Updated 2022)

I enjoy the engineering side of safety more than the cultural piece, but both play a critical role in achieving world-class performance.  After spending 18 years consulting and do more technical consulting than cultural, it has been fun working with a single client on culture this year.  It allowed me to dust off a lot…...

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