All great Safety Management Systems of my time have been built on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model. And although all of the stages of this PDCA model play a crucial role in the success of the SMS, the one that is most often overlooked is the CHECK stage. This CHECK is intended to validate/verify the SMS activities are generating the results we desire. Many will associate the CHECK stage with the traditional OSH/PSM auditing, and yes, these traditional audits do fall into the CHECK stage. But I want to talk about how the CHECK stage is also used to validate/verify the successful closing of Corrective Action Plans (CAPs). As we have discussed before, a well-oiled SMS will IDENTIFY a lot of opportunities to improve, and these opportunities will result in formal CAPs. And in a mature SMS, these Corrective Actions can be in the thousands, leading to people “freaking out” – especially when the closure rate(s) is a LEADING INDICATOR, and people’s bonuses are tied back to their closure rates.
