I post a lot about Human Factors (HF) and Human and Organizational Performance (HOP/HOF), and I get a lot of calls, emails, and texts every week asking more about these topics. But understand HF and HOP are simply approaches to managing safety and health.  They must never be viewed as a “silver bullet” to fix all our problems with safety performance and/or cultural issues. I have a...

On June 27, 2022, an employee at a packaging plant was flushing a chlorine dioxide pump for maintenance when some of the chlorine dioxide escaped the process and he inhaled it. The employee was rushed to the hospital and later died. … HomeRead More »

With an apparent increase in the number of homes and businesses suffering from “gas service” explosions, I will ask the question:  Should the USA adopt the UK’s regulatory approach to “gas service” construction and maintenance? I am used to working with flammable gas in chemical plants and we have layers of protection built-in to our protection schemes, but a smaller...

This is from a state OSHA plan that has released its State Emphasis Program (SEP) for Heat-Related Hazards.  In this SEP there are some great questions we can ask of our own Heat-Related Injury and Illness Prevention Plans to see if our plan is meeting basic OSHA compliance. Here are a couple of KEY points to consider: Is your facility able to measure Dry Bulb Temperature, and are you testing...

I am sure we could debate this topic all day, but it is a topic that “I do not play well with others” on.  The idea is that if we shorten our written compliance programs or SMS elemental programs, it will cause more people to read them and use them more often.  I say hogwash to this idea, and I believe in detailed written safety compliance and management programs.  And I...

Every business will eventually reorganize work teams to meet the business’s needs.  Sometimes, this will involve laying off workers when previous growth decisions were over-estimated, or the economy pulls back, and demand for products falls.  Whatever the reason(s), every business will go through this regularly.  But for those businesses that tout “Safety is #1” or...

I came across this healthcare research paper touting the value of using Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to improve patient safety, with an emphasis on LATENT ORGANIZATIONAL factors that play a role in accidents.  There were so many incredible tidbits in the paper that I have summarized them below.  Many of you reading this are NOT in healthcare, but this paper explains the benefits of using an...

An SMS forces an organization to examine its operations and the decisions around those operations. An SMS allows an organization to adapt to change, increasing complexity, and limited resources. An SMS promotes the continuous improvement of safety through specific methods to predict hazards from employee reports and data collection. Organizations will then use this information to analyze, assess, and...

Scenario: In your letter, you state that your client’s driver was driving a company vehicle, on the clock, and traveling on a public roadway. The driver was traveling between service calls near an intersection when a four-car collision occurred as the result of another car coming from the wrong direction in the same lane. After the accident occurred, the wrong-way motorist exited his car, shot...

This safety and cultural assessment report documents FRA’s findings, recommendations, and methodologies resulting from the 60-Day Supplemental Safety & Cultural Assessment of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS).  The Department of Transportation announced its intent to perform this assessment on March 7, 2023, in response to NS’s safety performance and the East Palestine, Ohio derailment which...

Admiral Rickover is the Father of Nuclear Safety in the U.S. Navy.  He holds the Navy’s record for years of service, having served 60 years (1922 – 1982). He passed away 4 years later at the age of 86.  Admiral Rickover coveted the following “7 Rules” in developing, implementing, and managing his nuclear safety program for the Navy.  A lot of businesses could...

What Happened: Two contractors re-injected the wrong clamp. The flange bolts failed, and the two contractors involved in the work died in the steam released. In the legal case, the judge focused on the possibility of human error. The company should have anticipated the possibility of this human error and concluded that the site did not sufficiently protect the workers from that. Humans do make errors...