Here is a list of eight general principles that was established, following the major steps in the approach but adapted specifically to the implementation of Golden Rules. These principles emphasize the set-up of a coalition and the importance of ensuring synergy with the actions and processes of any external contractor companies. These steps are intended as a general guide. Their chronological order is not set in stone. To be effective, certain actions will need to be undertaken while others are still underway. What is crucial is the ability to adapt to the reality of situations and to opportunities.
The journey looks like this:
- Diagnosis
- Vision
- Program
- Roll-Out
- Anchoring
1. Choose the Golden Rules using a structured and highly participative methodology
- Perform a detailed analysis of the accidentology to take into account past accidents.
- Take all activities and all hierarchy levels within the company into consideration.
- Cover situations where there are risks to safety at the workstation and where process safety may be jeopardized.
- Identify the type of protection provided by the Golden Rule: prevention, recovery, mitigation. Determine where it fits in to the overall prevention system.
- Formulate rules that are emblematic, simple, limited in number, and suited to the reality at the sharp end.
- Involve employees and their representative bodies3 in the elaboration of the Golden Rules.
- Ensure that the Golden Rules comply with all applicable laws and regulations
2. Ensure the rationale behind the Golden Rules is understood and the teams embrace the safety vision
- Ensure that the importance of the Golden Rules in preventing serious injuries and fatalities is clear.
- Commitment on two sides: management – workers.
- Have the company’s top management drive the approach.
- Involve the chain of command.
- Ensure the entire organization is mobilized to support the Golden Rules.
- Involve occupational groups and individuals.
- Give careful thought to a just culture (recognition and sanctions).
3. Train and coordinate a strong coalition for a successful implementation of the Golden Rules
- Identify all the key actors in the coalition.
- Include the different echelons of management in the coalition’s inner circle.
- Train the echelons of management in enforcing the Golden Rules.
- Involve staff representatives and employee representative bodies in the approach.
- Include all other stakeholders in the coalition, notably the support functions and any contractor companies.
- Identify the opinion leaders and give them a role in the coalition.
4. Identify any obstacles to applying the Golden Rules, address them, and organize a solution
- Identify the technical and organizational obstacles to applying the Golden Rules – institutionalize a transitional implementation phase.
- Identify any conflicts or inconsistencies that might exist between the Golden Rules and other orders.
- Institutionalize the right and duty to say STOP when the conditions for applying a Golden Rule are not in place.
- Decide on the decision-making process to use when there is some difficulty in applying a Golden Rule.
- Anticipate the need for special dispensations in place for the Golden Rules, along with a process for the reporting and immediate handling of any situation involving them.
5. Encourage work group appropriation of the Golden Rules
- Mobilize the chain of command to enforce the rules within the work groups while taking into account their cultural differences, and support managers with a communication plan that is regularly updated and improved.
- Structure team meetings and periodic huddles around the Golden Rules and ensure everyone understands why they are in place.
- Pay special attention to the Golden Rules during visits by management.
- Encourage employees to look out for one another’s safety and motivate them to take appropriate action when their co-workers find themselves in hazardous situations.
- Ensure each individual plays an active role in spotting and identifying situations in which it is difficult to apply the Golden Rules.
- Implement an incident reporting and stop work procedure or enforce the one(s) already in place.
- Use a mentoring system and involve mentors in teaching new recruits the Golden Rules.
- Implement “quick wins” to inspire workers to keep following the rules.
- Ensure social dialogue about the Golden Rules is open.
6. Establish and implement a recognition and sanctions policy that is perceived as fair, to ensure adherence to the Golden Rules
- Work with employee representative bodies to establish the fair recognition and sanctions policy.
- Give recognition when workers apply the Golden Rules correctly (positive reinforcement).
- Impose just and fair sanctions when Golden Rules are broken.
- Ensure that incident root cause analysis is of a high standard and not focused solely on sharp-end workers
7. Introduce the Golden Rules for the long term and anchor them in the organization’s practices
- Ensure everyone is aware that “A golden rule must be kept alive if it is to save lives”.
- Update the Golden Rules to keep them fresh in everyone’s mind.
- Teach the Golden Rules to new hires as part of their onboarding and job training.
- Use first-impression questionnaires or reports.
- Include a reference to the Golden Rules in incident/ accident analysis by searching for the root causes as to why they were not followed.
- Introduce and share indicators to measure the success of the Golden Rules implementation.
- Implement Golden Rule application audits as part of a general evaluation system.
8. Ensure synergy with equivalent contractor-company processes and vice versa
- Engage in constructive dialogue to confirm the convergence/coherence of the different sets of “Golden Rules”.
- Ensure the involvement of the company and external contractor company management is visible when implementing the Golden Rules.
- Hold joint toolbox talks about the Golden Rules,
- Manage safety tools (safety, event analysis) jointly.
- Promote the duty to call things out, regardless of status.
- Encourage people to report the situations in which the rules cannot be applied.
- Introduce “initiative” type challenges to give positive reinforcement when the Golden Rules are being followed.
Source: The ICSI “Serious Accident Prevention” discussion group. Implementing Golden Rules. Serious injury and fatality prevention. Issue 2017-04 in the Cahiers de la Sécurité Industrielle collection, Institut pour une Culture de Sécurité Industrielle (ICSI), Toulouse, France. Available as a free download from: http://www.icsi-eu.org/.
