Many workplaces struggle with one of the most critical elements of any attempt to manage safety and health via a safety management system – Incident Investigations. From the struggles of getting personnel to REPORT incidents (including near misses) to management recognizing these reports are GIFTS handed to us! But what normally happens, is we get […]
I like the fact the thieves wore “high vis” clothing to make themselves look “legitimate”. But as the story points out they were getting injured in arc flash events. I support Hi Vis workwear, as it can’t hurt to be more visible in a busy workplace, especially with a lot of mobile equipment around. My
The recent news from Boeing’s CEO regarding their cultural challenges reminded me of a discussion I had with one of my favorite plant managers, Dale Fannin, in 1996. It was an uncomfortable discussion, as I had my a_s handed to me, regarding all my “cheerleading” rather than being a safety leader. Dale, as were two
There’s a massive difference that may require massively different approaches in how we respond to failures in administrative controls such as LOTO. Scenario #1: a worker with less than a year of experience, is tasked with isolating a PRCS that has 29 isolation points. It was his first time to do this isolation and was
In memory of James Reason, I thought it would be fitting to share, in my professional opinion, one of the greatest safety models of my career. If businesses could just embrace this model when it comes to how they investigate events, we could move workplace safety forward a couple of decades. The model is quite
The last few weeks I have been sharing passages from Dr. Todd Conklin’s books. And I could not agree more with 99% of what he teaches. This week is one of those 1%’ers… I believe that a GREAT Safety Management System (SMS) will in fact help organizations “learn” from accidents. Starting with a well established
We must battle the need to believe that when a worker has some type of bad outcome, that adverse outcome happens because the worker becamemomentarily incompetent. Our thinking is driven by a bias toward bad things happening because someone did something bad. The bias that worker became stupid is really a strong force in how
I hate the phrase, “you can’t fix stupid.” It is offensive and mean; most importantly, that phrase is just wrong. Stop saying it. Stop using this phrase right now. “You can’t fix stupid” is serving you and your organization poorly. It colors your thinking, it makes you stop investigations too early, it sounds like something
THEN THE ORGANIZATION IS DOING SAFETY ALL WRONG in the Year 2025! ➡️ OSHA compliance is the “baby steps” of safety. It’s our foundation. If the business is over 10 or older, OSHA compliance efforts should be HISTORY in 2025. ➡️ Complying with OSHA/Government MINIMUM safety standards is NOT making “Safety a Priority” or “Safety
A mentor of mine had this sign in his office, and every time I complained about a lack of commitment to safety, he would either hand me a Job Application to McDonald’s or point to this sign. If we think about it, it fits so many management teams today. I look back on my former
