Improving the safety culture requires an integrated approach to safety through coherent actions in three (3) areas: … HomeRead More »

To help organizations understand how SIF can complement their current OSH efforts I am making these posts and powerpoints FREE through Sunday. … HomeRead More »

Recently a client who uses anhydrous ammonia (NH3) had a significant event involving their NH3.  This event is the perfect scenario to demonstrate that “inherently safe design” is by far the best design.  The incident involved unloading a tank truck of NH3 into a bulk tank.  A single valve was in its CLOSED position when it was supposed to be OPEN.  This was called out...

Earlier I shared a quote from Hippocrates in 450 B.C. and in that post, I mentioned that management’s reliance on incident rates is a sickness. That got me a lot of texts and a few phone calls. So I figured I would explain what I meant by that. Reliance on lagging indicators to measure the presence of safety by the measure of fewer consequences from accidents is NOT how any other business function...

“A supervisor or a foreman stands upon the first rung of the executive ladder. Because of certain valuable personal qualities, he has been selected to direct the work of other employees. Unfortunately, in the average case, he enters upon this phase of work uninstructed in the art of executive leadership—and works into it so gradually that he may not realize that his functions as an executive...

Playing on what Hippocrates said centuries ago, I’ll offer this advice to safety pros who are exploring their next gig…   Before you can heal [an organization], ask [them] if [they’re] willing to give up the things that make [them] sick. Hippocrates, 450 B.C. … HomeRead More »

Not a doctored pic – it is real and you can verify it at your local store, which I will not name, but I am betting you can figure it out or at least be close to the target. … HomeRead More »

Size, Shape, and Color matter when reducing human error. It is really quite simple but seems to be a lost art these days. REAL PIC – we can’t even make this stuff up! … HomeRead More »

Which is most effective? All are real options. The one furthest to the right was one that caused quite a bit of controversy. Imagine trying to read that sign traveling at 40 mph…   Human Factors Engineering MATTERS!

Use safety as the vehicle to create a facility culture where SAFETY IS VALUED. For any organization to advance in safety, there MUST be TRUST and CREDIBILITY, and the path to building both starts with EMPATHY. Showing workers, we actually care about them is STEP 1 to any shift in safety. And EMPATHY is a powerful tool in gaining CREDIBILITY and building TRUST in a workforce. It matters not the dark...

The significance (or severity) of an event depends upon the consequences suffered and not on the error that initiates it. The error that triggers a serious accident … and the error that is one of the hundreds with no consequences… can be the same error.   Human Error, James Reason, Department of Psychology University of Manchester, 1990

Management’s responsibility for controlling the unsafe acts of employees exists chiefly because these unsafe acts occur in the course of employment that management creates and then directs. Management selects the persons upon whom it depends to carry out industrial work. It may, if it so elects, choose persons who are experienced, capable of, and willing to do this work, not only well but also safely....