Building on my post from this weekend, discussing the three (3) pillars of Safety:
- Technical Safety
- SMS
- HOF/HOP
I wanted to share something I created for a client that needed to frame up the role of a safety professional within their organization. As in many immature safety cultures, safety people and even degreed, trained, and certified safety professionals can take on roles that DAMAGE the safety movement. For example, becoming a “safety cop”, which in some organizations is very easy to drift into for many in our profession. I know I did in my early days, but I was very fortunate to have worked for some great organizations and even better plant managers who corrected this flawed behavior immediately. I actually got “coached” and darn near disciplined for playing the “safety cop” role early in my career.
I have always thought that ANSI/ASSE Z590.2-2003 (R2012) Criteria for Establishing the Scope and Functions of the Professional Safety Position was an excellent starting point in defining our role within an organization. I even use this as the basis for “job descriptions” of existing safety roles and more importantly for new hires being considered for employment. It just seems that the safety professional’s role in an organization has become so diluted, that our primary skill set is not what it is being hired for – many want a “jack of all trades” rather than a safety professional. Here is my breakdown of how we should fit into the three (3) pillars of safety.
PLEASE NOTE: This is about the ROLE of the SAFETY pro(s) in the organization. If reading this, you realize your safety pros do not have the necessary skills to function within this capacity, you need to address this skill gap – not “dumb down” the role or job description!
This scope and functions are ESSENTIAL to Designing, Implementing, and Managing a world-class safety management system. Simply put, the scope and functions of the professional safety position should be to:
- Anticipate, Identify, and Evaluate hazardous conditions and practices
- Develop hazard control designs, methods, procedures, and programs
- Implement, Administer, and Advise others on hazard controls and hazard control programs
- Measure, Audit, and Evaluate the effectiveness of hazard controls and hazard control programs
Here are the details of each of these four (4) functions…
1) Anticipate, identify, and evaluate hazardous conditions and practices
This function involves:
- Anticipating and Predicting hazards from experience, historical data, and other information sources.
- Identifying and Recognizing hazards in existing or future systems, equipment, products, software, facilities, processes, operations, and procedures during their expected life.
- Evaluating and Assessing the probability and severity of loss events and accidents, which may result from actual or potential hazards.
- Applying these methods and conducting hazard analyses and interpreting results.
- Reviewing, with the assistance of specialists where needed, entire systems, processes, and operational failure modes, causes and effects of the entire system, process or operation or components due to:
- System, subsystem, or component failures;
- Human error;
- Incomplete or faulty decision-making, judgment, or administrative actions; and/or
- Weaknesses in proposed or existing policies, directives, objectives, or practices.
- Reviewing, Compiling, Analyzing, and Interpreting data from accident and loss event reports and other sources regarding injuries, illnesses, property damage, environmental effects, or public impacts to:
- Identify causes, trends, and relationships;
- Ensure completeness, accuracy, and validity of required information;
- Evaluate the effectiveness of classification schemes and data collection methods; and/or
- Initiate investigations
- Providing advice and counsel about compliance with safety, health, and environmental laws, codes, regulations, and standards.
- Conducting research studies of existing or potential safety and health problems and issues.
- Determining the need for surveys and appraisals that help identify conditions or practices affecting safety and health, including those that require the services of specialists, such as physicians, health physicists, industrial hygienists, fire protection engineers, design and process engineers, ergonomists, risk managers, environmental professionals, psychologists, and others.
- Assessing environments, tasks, and other elements to ensure that physiological and psychological capabilities, capacities, and limits of humans are not exceeded.
2) Develop hazard control designs, methods, procedures, and programs
This function involves:
- Formulating and prescribing engineering or administrative controls, preferably before exposures, accidents, and loss events occur, in order to:
- Eliminate hazards and causes of exposures, accidents, and loss events;
- Reduce the probability and/or severity of injuries, illnesses, losses, or environmental damage from potential exposures, accidents, and loss events when hazards cannot be eliminated.
- Developing methods that integrate safety performance into the goals, operations, and productivity of organizations and their management and into systems, processes, operations, or their components.
- Developing safety, health, and environmental policies, procedures, codes, and standards for integration into operational policies of organizations, unit operations, purchasing, and contracting.
- Consulting with and advising individuals and participating on teams:
- Engaged in planning, design, development, and installation or implementation of systems or programs involving hazard controls.
- Engaged in planning, design development, fabrication, testing, packaging, and distribution of products or services regarding safety requirements and application of safety principles that maximize product safety.
- Advising and assisting human resource specialists when applying hazard analysis results or dealing with the capabilities and limitations of personnel.
- Staying current with technological developments, laws, regulations, standards, codes, products, methods, and practices related to hazard controls.
3) Implement, administer, and advise others on hazard control programs
This function involves:
- Preparing reports that communicate valid and comprehensive recommendations for hazard controls based on analysis and interpretation of accident, exposure, loss event, and other data.
- Using written and graphic materials, presentations, and other communication media to recommend hazard controls and hazard control policies, procedures, and programs to decision-making personnel.
- Directing or assisting in planning and developing educational and training materials or courses involving hazard recognition and control.
- Conducting or assisting with courses related to designs, policies, procedures, and programs involving hazard recognition and control.
- Advising others about hazards, hazard controls, relative risk, and related safety matters when they are communicating with the media, community, and public.
- Managing and implementing hazard controls and hazard control programs that are within the duties of the individual’s professional safety position.
4) Measure, audit, and evaluate the effectiveness of hazard controls and hazard control programs
This function involves:
- Establishing and implementing techniques involving risk analysis, cost, cost-benefit analysis, work sampling, loss rate and similar methodologies for periodic and systematic evaluation of hazard control and hazard control program effectiveness.
- Developing methods to evaluate the costs and effectiveness of hazard controls and programs and measure the contribution of components of systems, organizations, processes, and operations towards the overall effectiveness.
- Providing results of evaluation assessments, including recommended adjustments and changes to hazard controls or hazard control programs to individuals or organizations responsible for their management and implementation.
- Directing, developing, or helping to develop management accountability and audit programs that assess safety performance of entire systems, organizations, processes and operations or their components and involve both deterrents and incentives.
