Please remember, these principles were proposed over 100 years ago! Mr. Heinrich may not have been 100% correct in all his beliefs, but I would go as far as to say that if a business today were to embrace his principles from the 1920s, it would see significant improvements in both culture and performance. Industrial…...
Safety Thought of the Week…Defending Heinrich again Read More »
When it comes to safety and health, internal consequences to support the right behavior are terribly important. Remember, external and intrinsic (natural) consequences for safe behaviors are not readily available, and we cannot expect to receive sufficient support (extra consequences) from others to sustain our proactive, safe, and healthy choices. So, we need to talk…...
Safety Thought of the Week… Internal Consequences Read More »
Post-accident remedies for “human error” are usually predicated on obstructing activities that can “cause” accidents. These end-of-the-chain measures do little to reduce the likelihood of further accidents. In fact, the likelihood of an identical accident is already extraordinarily low because the pattern of latent failures changes constantly. Instead of increasing safety, post-accident remedies usually increase…...
Growing up in the Process Safety world with OHSA’s PSM and EPA’s RMP standards, I thought everyone had a “Safety Management System.” In school, we learned about OSH Management Systems and all they could do for a business. However, when I started consulting in 2005, I realized that SMSs were elusive in industrial facilities. Even…...
Safety Thought of the Week… BENEFITS of a formal SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Read More »
A few weeks ago, I was asked to spend a morning with an executive team discussing “safety metrics.” In this discussion, I realized this team was somewhat confused with all the “lingo” thrown at them by many consultants over the past 10-12 years. They were lost in what mattered and had tried a rash of…...
Leading Indicators can be EASY, but they are a shift in how Safety is managed! Read More »
As an accident investigator this has to be one of my favorite books. Of course, I am a massive fan of Dekker’s books and videos. He has a newer book on this topic that is also a MUST-READ for safety professionals and accident investigators. After nearly 16 years as a safety professional in the chemical…...
Safety Thought of the Week – Reacting To Failure (Sidney Dekker) Read More »
Please keep in mind that I am speaking strictly in terms of “complying” with required baseline standards and codes. Is 10,000% compliance a pipe dream? Should it be an expectation of the business leaders? 10,000% means 100% compliance -100% of the time. Remember, these are baseline standards/codes that have been in place for 40-50+ years…...
10,000% Compliance Read More »
A few years ago, I put forth the idea that workers pass through the 3 Cs in their decision-making process as they learn to take more and more risks. Those three (3) Cs were: That article stirred quite a bit of debate among the SAFTENG community and so I thought it was time to share…...
For each one of my Advanced SMS courses, I always start the course by having the students list the 16 Elements of the SAFTENG Safety Process/SMS in order of importance. I tell them there is no right or wrong answer. Over the past couple of years, I began to keep the answers to the questions…...
This is one of the most requested presentations I use when working with C-Suite Executives and Senior Safety Leadership…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
Safety Leadership and Culture Read More »
This is a presentation I use when doing some of my SMS and Incident Management training courses…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
Incident Management – Safety Management System Element Read More »
James Reason’s Human Failure Model: Active and Latent [Organizational] Failures As safety professionals, we need to understand that we ALL make errors, mistakes, and violations. When we are asked to facilitate a causal analysis, it is incumbent upon us to keep the team aware of this fact and educate them on the differences between Active…...
Safety Thought of the Week… James Reason’s Human Failure Model Read More »
