Earlier this month, I wrote Cuts so deep that workers can’t participate in their safety process concerning how reorganizational changes can lead to a lean workforce that the workers who need to participate in their safety process do not have the time to. Now, let’s take a look at what happens when the layer of field supervision is cut so deep that we lose the ability to have the capacity for “supervisors actually to supervise” the high-risk work.
We usually see the impacts of reduced supervision via our safe work permitting performance. We see a decrease in the quality of the permits being issued, which can even lead to work happening without the required permits in some situations. But these reductions in supervision, especially in immature cultures in their safety management system, will lead to larger-scale failures within the Safety Process/SMS.
I loved this approach from our HSE friends in the UK, regarding the role that supervisors play in the safety process/SMS, especially when that process/SMS is associated with the SIF approach.
Supervision is an important Performance Influencing Factor (PDF) that is believed to have contributed to a number of significant accidents (Texas City, 2005; Texaco Milford Haven, 1994; Hickson and Welch, 1992). Problems can emerge because of poorly defined responsibilities, heavy workloads, inadequate resources, or as a result of removing supervisory roles altogether.
Many supervisors are given a vital role during emergency response yet are often poorly trained in these critical responsibilities. Supervisors may also have an important part to play in managing contractors and/or issuing permits-to-work (the public inquiry into the Piper Alpha explosion in 1998 concluded that the operating company failed to ensure that a key supervisor was sufficiently competent in the operation of the PTW system).
Other essential supervisory functions include planning and allocating work, making decisions, monitoring performance and compliance, providing leadership, building teamwork, and ensuring workforce involvement.
