“Little difficulty is experienced in correcting the mechanical hazards, but the correction of unsafe acts will remain troublesome unless there is a better understanding of the reasons or motives that permit these unsafe acts to occur. The purpose of this discussion is to point out that definite causative factors lie directly behind the occurrence of unsafe acts, that they are few in number, practicable...

To improve safety performance, coherent action is required in three (3) areas: technical aspects, safety management, and human and organizational factors These different “pillars” all influence the “culture of safety” within an organization. It should be emphasized that, in any given organization, safety priorities have undergone several phases of chronological development, with each new...

“The situation that the worker has to manage is always unique. Even if the prescribed operation is habitual, certain factors are specific to this particular time: the weather conditions, the time and the day of the week, the state of the upstream or downstream facilities, the equipment to be used, a maintenance technician nearby, the team not being made up of the usual members, a change in procedure,...

Many organizations use blinding/blanking as their main means for isolating a Permit-Required Confined Space.  But a number of years ago, an unqualified operator mistook a “Paddle Spacer” for a “Paddle Blind,” thus leaving the flammable gas pipe to the PRCS improperly isolated.  There is a very distinct way to tell these two in-line devices apart from one another –...

One of my favorite topics to discuss during hazard analyses, incident investigations involving LOPC, and audits are the use of torque wrenches.  These wrenches play a critical role in process safety, yet they may be among the top 5 abused and misused tools in the mechanic’s toolbox.  And sadly, many still wish to argue that torque wrenches are not required in process safety, regardless...

Not a trick question; however, I bet it made you stop and think for a second.  There are many stories/scenarios involving LOPC events where a pressure gauge was not maintained or not read properly.  This year we got involved in an LOPC event and testing done on the critical pressure gauge showed it was way off in its reading.  Of course, the gauge was over 20 years old, had never been...

It is important to have a systematic and exhaustive decision-making process in place. While it applies especially to strategic levels, it can be adapted to all levels, because trade-offs must be made everywhere within organizations. Recognise the existence of and the need for compromise: accept that at every level the company can die in a number of different ways (loss of customers, major quality issue…),...

Historically, the job of a manager has consisted of planning, doing, checking, and acting – the famous PDCA cycle taught in management schools. But tomove towards an integrated safety culture, the role of managers now extends beyond this cycle: they influence and inspire safer behaviors from theirteams. The involvement of managers is essential since they set the tone: it is they who mobilize everyone. ...

HSE Inspectors routinely come across workers with various degrees of stubble growth using respiratory protective masks despite guidance to the contrary. This research studied the effect of 0-7 days stubble growth on the protection given by FFP3 filtering facepieces and half masks.  Fifteen male volunteers took part, each testing four masks. For most, three different designs of FFP3 and one-half...

We hear a lot about the significant role trust and credibility play in a safety effort within an organization looking for a step-change in safety performance and culture.  I agree with this; however, I take a different view of how this all plays out.  If an organization is struggling with trust and credibility in safety, I believe it is simply a reflection of the lack of trust and credibility...

Building trust and credibility in safety does not require some special effort. It just requires a constant message that is backed up with constantly reinforced behaviors from management/leadership. Some may call this “Walking the Talk”; but we have to ensure the TALK is correct before we walk it! There are two (2) big pieces to a Safety Management System that not ONLY do they usually NOT...

I have said this many times… one of the most hazardous tasks that can take place on industrial property is the loading/unloading of hazardous materials.  So many things can go wrong and with the quantities being handled, hazards can get out of control quickly.  So DOT has seen fit to require a “qualified attendant” during the loading and unloading process.  However,...