When meeting with executive teams, I like to conduct an exercise to gauge the leadership team’s level of knowledge and direct involvement in the safety and health of their employees. Before getting deep into the organization’s specific barriers/controls/safeguards regarding their top 3 risks (which the team picks), I ask the team to take 10 minutes and identify the barriers/controls/safeguards in today’s vehicles and to place them into the three (3) Layers of Safety.
They do this as a single team. It is a fun exercise for any group of employees, and it brings to light the stark difference in the role of a barrier/control/safeguard. Some are intended to PREVENT the accident; some are designed to PROTECT the occupants from the consequences of the accident; and some (not necessarily on the vehicle, so this is a trick question) are intended to MITIGATE the event’s severity.
A group that can fill this worksheet out and properly place the barriers/controls/safeguards in the proper column is ADVANCED in their knowledge. Those who can identify a lot of the barriers/controls/safeguards associated with their vehicles but are not sure of their purpose in the safety scheme are moderately knowledgeable. And yes, unfortunately, some groups struggle to understand the exercise and identify the “safety devices/controls” on their vehicles. However, after the exercise, everyone can identify a “safety device/control” and understand the role it plays in the event.
| 1) PREVENT | 2) PROTECT | 3) MITIGATE |
