When I look at the landscape of health and safety today in the U.S. and globally, it reminds me of a Henry Ford quote I heard long ago — “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
The technical detail available to members of our profession is incredible. It also has the potential to be suffocating as the voluminous regulations, ISO policies, procedures, local site requirements, paperwork, basic training, etc. become overwhelming commitments of our time and effort. With all this focus on reactive and condition-based issues, where is the time for a safety engineering focus that goes beyond traditional safety?
Recently, one of our safety pro acquaintances made a disturbing discovery --his responsibility for improving safety was being hampered by a culture of evaporative acts in the work groups with whom he was to meet. His approach of engaging in open-ended safety conversations with front line employees had developed trust among many of the people at each of the work sites.
Earlier in my career, I was fortunate enough to have worked for a few organizational giants like NASA, TRW, and United Airlines. Within these organizations, I was exposed to the rigors of systems thinking, Total Quality Management (TQM), and the Baldrige Award efforts of the 1990s.
CPWR (the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights) recently developed eight practical worksheets compiled into a booklet titled Strengthening Jobsite Safety Climate by Using and Improving Leading Indicators.
An effective safety program doesn’t come out of nowhere. It takes years of hard work and dedication, a company’s leadership, an engaged workforce and a safety system that addresses all the major causes of injuries.