Top Holiday Hazards
By Heather AndersonIt is common knowledge that more accidents occur during the holiday season than any other time of the year. The best way to prevent an injury is to learn what the most common reasons are that bring a person into the ER.
Car Accidents
Car accidents this time of year are extremely dangerous due to weather conditions and a higher-percentage of intoxicated drivers on the road than usual. Avoid driving in hazardous weather conditions when possible and winterize your vehicle before traveling. Above all else, never drink and drive.
Holiday Decorating
When it comes to holiday decorating a variety of accidents can happen. Over 5,000 each year involve falling off of a ladder hanging Christmas lights and decorations. The month of December is responsible for 25 percent of all home decorating fires. Fires caused by Christmas trees and decorative lights claim an average of 500 homes annually.
Winter Sports
Many people do not realize how dangerous winter sports can be and end up with extreme consequences. Skiing and snowboarding accidents cause hundreds of physical injuries, as well as frostbite, hypothermia and severe sun burns. 35,000 sledding injuries occur each year. In 2004, 11,000 children sought medical attention from ice skating injuries.
Kitchen Fires
Fire departments across the country plead with the public to be careful in the kitchen during the holidays to avoid kitchen fires. Three out of ten home fires began in the kitchen. To reduce the risk of a kitchen fire, do not leave cooking food unattended and keeping flammable materials away from heat sources.
Cuts
From cooking to wrapping presents, if it’s sharp it can cut the skin. Hundreds of people cut themselves every year working hard to create the perfect holiday mood. Be careful with sharp objects and keep out of the reach of children. Make sure that first aid kits are available when needed.
Poisonous Christmas Plants
The many holiday plants are poisonous and can cause severe reactions if ingested. Keeping poinsettias, mistletoe, holly, Jerusalem cherry and amaryllis out of the reach of small children and pets is the best way to ensure that there will be no need to call poison control.
Electrical Shock
Electrical decoration mishaps bring an average of 5,000 people to the emergency room each year. Only use extension cords that are in good condition (not frayed) and never run them underneath any kind of fabric, including rugs. Be careful to overload electrical sockets and unplug devices when they are no longer in use.
Shoveling Snow and Snow Blowers
Removing snow and ice from walkways and driveways provides protection from potential lawsuits, but each year 100,000 injuries are result of this chore. When shoveling snow, lift with knees bent and a straight back to prevent back injury. Permission from a physician is necessary for those with heart conditions and should stop immediately if chest pains occur. When using a snow blower, the fourth leading cause of finger amputation, always wear protective eyewear and keep hands away from the auger. Make sure that all safety devices are in working condition and read safety instructions before operating.
To learn more about SafetySkills™,
visit http://www.safetyskills.com.
Driving in a Winter Wonderland
By Heather AndersonLoved ones coming together is what the holidays are all about, but first you have to get there. This holiday season is expected to receive more travel on the roads than in previous years due to the recession, which means that more safety measures need to be taken to avoid accidents. SafetySkills™ is providing these safe driving tips:
- Know the weather conditions and how to drive in them. 75 percent of all winter weather related deaths can be attributed to driving in dangerous weather conditions. Take SafetySkills™ free Hazardous Driving Conditions online course to learn how to minimize your risk at http://www.safetyskills.com/winter-driving.
- Prepare you vehicle for winter driving. It is recommended to check the tire pressure, windshield wipers and fluid, and the battery to avoid car trouble and keep the windshield and windows clean for proper visibility. Stocking the car with self-sustaining technologies and supplies is also encouraged, such as a first aid kit, blankets, matches, safety flares, flashlight, fully-charged cell phone and bottled water.
- Stay alert. Driver distraction is becoming, in the words of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, an “epidemic” that caused 500,000 car accidents and 6,000 fatalities last year. Drivers need to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel at all times.
- Never drink and drive. 36 percent of all Christmas accidents on the road are alcohol-related. Those who become too festive for their own good should never get behind the wheel and should use a taxi service.
- Plan for daytime driving. Three times as many fatalities occur during the night (6 p.m. - 6 a.m.) than during the day according to both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Safety Council (NSC).
“Driving this time of year is simply chaotic,” said Trey Greene, CEO of noodleStream.com. “The roads are busy and that mixed with the weather creates a dangerous environment for driving. Using these tips will help reduce the chance of car accidents and more importantly injuries and even deaths.”
To learn more about SafetySkills™
and to take their free Hazardous Driving Conditions course,
visit http://www.safetyskills.com/winter-driving.
Don’t Let Your Holiday Go Up in Flames.
By Heather AndersonSafety in the kitchen will save a perfect holiday dinner from ending with the fire department hosing down your Christmas ham. Kitchen fires are a major concern during the holidays and some simple safety tips could prevent a Christmas disaster.
Stay in the kitchen while food is cooking. Leaving cooking food unattended is the number 1 cause of kitchen fires.
Keep cloth items away from heat sources. Wearing long sleeves while cooking and leaving potholders and dishtowels lying near the stove are great ways to accidentally start a fire. Roll up long sleeves and place potholders and dishtowels away from the stove and oven.
Do not have too many cooks in the kitchen. Make sure there is enough room for everyone to cook well and safely. Nobody wants to get burned or cut, but chaos in the kitchen leads to accidents so keep things calm.
Cleanliness is godliness. Many people do not realize that keeping kitchens clean reduces the risk of fire. Leftover grease and food can catch fire in burners, the oven, pots and pans.
Grease is the enemy. Grease and oil can easily ignite if they get too hot. Cook very carefully and lower the heat whenever smoke appears. If a grease fire occurs, try to smother it with a lid. Never attempt to put it out with water, this will cause the fire to spread further.
Call 911. Every home should have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen as a precaution, but sometimes the fire department still needs to be called. If a fire occurs and you are unable to put it out, call 911 immediately and flee the home.
“Our goal is to give people the information they need to enjoy life while being safe,” said Trey Greene, CEO of noodleStream.com and creator of SafetySkills™. “Everyone should have a great holiday, especially with the hardships so many are experiencing. Helping out in any way we can is what holiday spirit is all about.”
To learn more about SafetySkills™, visit http://www.safetyskills.com.
Oh &^&^: Where'd That Come From - Twelve Months Today
By David Broadbent
Submitted at the request of Kevin Forbes -
HSE People
It
is twelve (12) months today since the accident that nearly
claimed my life and turned me into The Sixty Dollar Man (not sure
what the Titanium is worth?).
The journey thus far has been long and arduous. Whilst my left elbow and hand function quite well, the left shoulder has, at best, ten percent (10%) function.
Many people ask me "does that not upset you". The honest answer is, "Of Course" - followed up very quickly by the "what might have beens". In my case I can still sit at the dinner table with my wife and hold both the knife and fork etc. There had been a very real chance that they might have had to remove the left arm.
On Wednesday October 28th I presented the Keynote Address at the Safety Institute of Australia's lead conference in Sydney. The Title of the Presentation was "Oh *& , Where'd that come from". Just read this small excerpt from within that Address.
"............Now I shall return to the situation that has brought us together this morning. The fact that I was bitten so badly by the car that collided with me. When we were last here I was describing the Surgery. As a result, my left arm and shoulder are now heavily reinforced by surgical Titanium.
I also happened to be hooked up to all sorts of machines and had cables and tubes running all over the place. That, in itself, is quite distressing. Probably the most important tube at that time was the one leading to my right foot. It was hooked up to a Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) Unit, and was feeding me straight morphine. This little beast was designed to allow me to choose to top up the “juice” every six (6) minutes. There was a countdown timer on the screen. I can tell you I spent a lot of time learning to count backwards. Now you are not supposed to OD using a properly calibrated PCA device. There is one particular day I recall where Anne visited, and all I did was sit in chair…….tubes everywhere…..and rock myself gently in the chair….counting backwards from 360. That is a distressing memory.
The next ten days or so were a mixture of pain, awareness, fears, and questions – the PTSD had not arrived yet; I actually thought I had missed that boat. In the first week one of the highlights of my existence was being provided with a bed that was remotely adjustable, by me. Prior to that every time that Anne left, she would have to wind the bed up; in much the same way as you started a Model T Ford.
When you are laying in a bed, unable to do almost anything, the ability to raise or lower your pillow actually becomes a benchmark on the road to recovery. I am sure in times of difficulty you may heard someone say something like “don't sweat the small stuff”. The meaning being that the little things are not worth getting upset about; it’s almost like having to wait for the big things.
Well I am here to tell you that I have experienced the “big things” – and was right in the middle of them. There was very little I could do about them. What I had some control over was the little things. So an applied reality is, that in situations where the majority of our “control” has been removed, and I certainly was in that category, it is the “small stuff” that might show the way toward the “recovery”. So… do not automatically discard the “small stuff”…It needs to be given greater prominence in recovery. Sadly our health systems deliberately pay scant attention to this “small stuff”.
In New South Wales it has recently been announced that all hospitals shall be directed toward the universal use of pre-packaged frozen foods. This decision rings alarm bells for me. I am reminded of a Kitchen Overseer who was in charge of catering at the Maitland Correctional Centre quite some time ago – this was a maximum security prison. He suggested, and this has been confirmed by every Custodial Officer I have ever met, that if the food is “ordinary”, or there is not enough of it “expect a bad day”. Now I am not saying that a prison and hospital are the same, although the French philosopher Michel Foucault might argue differently. They would both be defined by his nomenclature, as “Total Institutions”
The NSW Minister of Health may not consider the quality and volume of food as being a high priority. Indeed they had been quoted as saying that “the efficiencies we obtain shall release funds for other frontline health services”. Now we all know “efficiencies” means “cheap”….. and “front-line services” might translate to “operations, nurses, doctors etc”. So what we do is remove the “small stuff” to spend more on the “big stuff”. Make no mistake please, I am not saying that this is not a difficult area to manage. It is……….., and because these health systems are dealing with ourselves and our families they are always amongst the most emotive in our communities.
It is often said though, that you are safer at home than in Hospital. Well of course you are! When you are in Hospital your health has been compromised by some illness, disease, accident etc. Let me put this another way. You are safer at home than in Hospital. Not because you are ill…because you are there. In the United States more people die as a result of their hospitalisation (not their illness, accident, disease, complications etc) than do from Motor Vehicle and Workplace Accidents, Suicides, Falls, Poisoning, and Drowning combined. These are what are called “preventable errors”. The Washington Post reported on April 8th last year that between 2004 and 2006 there were almost a quarter of a million people (240,000) who died as a result of preventable errors. To put this into perspective this is around three percent (3%) of all admissions – that is a pretty big number! Remember these deaths are not the result of the circumstances etc that put you there. They are all determined to have been “preventable”. Now if we add in those persons whose illnesses etc are actually made worse due to their hospitalisations, and the preventable errors that become part of their treatment, that number well exceeds the millions. It has been estimated at over fifteen percent of all admission in the US , with an approximate worth of two hundred billion dollars+..............
Here is just one of the Comments from the Keynote Address:
"That was one the most powerful presentations I have
ever seen. It has really made me think about Risk and Culture in
a very different way. When I go back to Work and share this
knowledge with my colleagues I know it will strike a chord for
them as well. By the way would you consider coming to Canada to
present this to the Board?"
Once again if my own story, background etc can add value to your own safety journey, or the journey of those around you, just let me know. I shall do ALL that I can to assist.
I have been asked if I shall place some of the "Keynote Address" on Youtube. An audio only version should happen in the next few weeks.
With my kindest regards
David G
Broadbent
TransformationalSafety.Com
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
By Ehi Iden
QUALITY SAFETY MANAGEMENT
A Never Ending Story
Quality and Safety: Partners in
productivity
It's important to think of safety as an important aspect of
both product and process quality in the workplace. In this
course, we'll address those concepts and principles that apply
safety specifically to process safety.
Let's take a brief look at how product and process safety differ.
Product quality is elusive. The only way
you know you have it is by asking those who define it: The
customer.
All the company can do is to try hard to produce a product that fits the customer's definition of
quality. When the product is designed to prevent injury or illness, the customer will define the
product as safe. As we all know, customer perceptions about product safety are very important
these days. Unfortunately, some companies do not take safety into consideration when designing their products. Consequently they may unintentionally design unsafe or unhealthful features into their products.
Process quality and safety are very
closely related. Process quality may be considered error-free
work, and safety, as one element of process, can be thought of
as injury-free work. When an injury occurs, the "event"
increases the number of unnecessary and wasted steps in the
production process. How does safety fit into the continuous
quality improvement philosophy?
What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?
Total Quality Management is a strategic
approach to management that takes advantage of all corporate
resources to continually improve performance and processes so
that they may ultimately be error free. The result is a product
or service that greatly exceeds customer
expectations.
The champions of Total Quality Safety
Management
Dr. W. Edwards Deming is considered by most to be the father of Total Quality Safety Management. He was probably more responsible than any other person for Japan's meteoric rise in manufacturing. He believed that statistics hold the key to improving processes, and that
management must take responsibility for quality in the workplace because management controls the processes. This module will take a look at his 14 Points of Total Quality Safety Management as they relate to safety.
Joseph M. Juran was a contemporary of Deming, and a second great contributor to the success of Japan's management revolution of the 40's and 50's. He viewed quality problems as 80% the result of weaknesses in the management system and 20% attributable to workers. He would have, no doubt, the same opinion about the causes of workplace injuries and illness. Like Deming, he admonished managers to avoid campaigns and slogans to motivate the workforce to solve the company's quality problems. He favored the use of quality circles because they improved communications between management and labor, and would have surely improved of the idea of management-labor safety committees which have been established for the same purpose.
Philip B. Crosby, a quality expert, was responsible for quality for the Pershing missile project at Martin Corporation, was director of quality for ITT, and in 1979 formed Philip Crosby Associates. He defines quality as "Conformance to requirements, ...which can only be measured by the cost of nonconformance." He might consider safety as the "conformance to injury- and illness-free work practices, ... which can be measured only by average industry costs." Like Deming, he developed 14 steps to quality improvement.
You'll find more about each of these contributors to continuous quality improvement by reading the texts listed at the beginning of this module.
Deming's Fourteen Points Applied to Total Quality Safety
Deming's 14 Points form some of the most
important concepts and approaches to continuous quality
improvement philosophy. The focus of this module is to better
understand and apply each of Deming's 14 points to workplace
safety. So, let's examine what he says about quality, and how it
can be applied to safety.
Point 1. Create a constant purpose to improve the product and
service, with the aim to be competitive, stay in business, and
provide jobs.
Deming spoke about the "problems of today and the problems of tomorrow," and that management in America today tends to focus only on today's problems when it should be placing increased, if not most emphasis on tomorrow's threats and opportunities to improve competitive position. Management should be focused constantly on improving the safety of materials, equipment, workplace environment, and work practices today so that it can remain successful tomorrow. The objective of continually working toward a safe and healthful workplace today, so that fewer injuries and illnesses occur in the future fits well with Deming's
constancy of purpose. If management
successfully communicates the clear, consistent message over the
years that workplace safety is a core value (as stated in the
mission statement), that there are "no excuses" for accidents,
the company can be successful in developing a world-class safety
culture. If a company considers safety only a priority that may
be changed when convenient, constancy of purpose is not
communicated.
Point 2. Adopt a new philosophy. We are in a new economic age.
Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn
their responsibilities, and take on leadership for a
change.
We continually teach that management must step outside itself to reflect, to take a new look at what its purpose is, long term. Safety can never be understood or properly appreciated if only the short term view is taken by management. Quick fix programs to "impose" change will not work. Only understanding of the long term benefits will give management the vision to properly and consistently send and act on the message of workplace safety.
The old philosophy accepts as fact that a certain level of injury and illness will result from a given process, and that the associated costs should represent one of many costs of doing business.
The new safety philosophy strives to:
Prevent injuries and illnesses by continually analyzing and improving upstream factors such as work practices, equipment design, materials, and the workplace physical and cultural environment through education, training and recognition.
Improve product safety for the benefit of the customer.
Point 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve
quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by
building quality into the product in the first
place.
Deming was referring to the practice of inspecting every piece of product at the end of an assembly line to separate out the defects. Instead, he encouraged improving the quality of the process to decrease the defects, thus eliminating the need for mass inspection. When we apply this to safety, Deming might consider relying on the results (defects) as measuring our success solely by counting the number of accidents (also) that occur. No consideration is given to measuring employee and management-level safety activities.
In safety, evaluating only results statistics is like driving a car down the road and trying to stay in your lane by looking through a rear-view mirror. All you can do is react, after the fact. When we only analyze accident rates, we can only react to the number. Accident rates tell us nothing about why the accidents are happening. The old safety philosophy we discussed in above measures primarily injury and illness rates (defects) which represent the end results of the safety component of the process. Incident rates, accident rates, MOD rates, etc. all measure the end point, and since these measures are inherently not predictive, these statistics provide little useful information about the surface and root causes (upstream) for injuries and
illnesses.
The new philosophy emphasizes measurement along the entire
production process, primarily:
Measurement of management/supervisor
safety activities;
Employee safety education and training;
Individual worker behaviors; and
Materials and equipment design prior to purchase.
Point 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of
price tag. Instead, minimize
total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of
loyalty and
trust.
Safe equipment, materials, chemicals may cost a little more but
will save in the long-term through fewer
injuries and illnesses. Management should write safety specifications that meet their requirements into
contracts. Even today, manufacturers of equipment and machinery sell equipment that does not meet NEC,
NIOSH, ANSI, or other safety standards for product safety. Employers purchasing such equipment run
increased risk of injury and illness to their employers.
With respect to personal protective equipment (PPE), "cheap" is not better. Ensuring high quality personal
protective equipment is smart business when we realize that it's a profit-center activity. How's that? If you
spend $5,000 in various types of PPE in a given year and any one piece prevents a serious injury, your
company has just paid for all the PPE for that year and probably for many years into the future. The money
spent on PPE should be thought of as an investment that may result in substantial returns (reduced direct
and indirect accident costs) to the company. Unfortunately, many consider only the initial cost of PPE. They
don't see the big picture benefits.
Relying on a single supplier for safety equipment, such as personal protective equipment, may have many
benefits. Supplier representatives, calling on an employer over a period of years, will become familiar with
the particular safety equipment needs of the employer. The employer who establishes a long-term close
relationship with the supplier is more likely to receive the attention and higher quality equipment when
requested. Developing a close, cooperative partnership between the employer and the supplier of safety
equipment is extremely important for the success of both parties, and is possible by applying the single
supplier principle.
Point 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of
production and service, to improve
quality and productivity, and thus constantly
decrease costs.
A system refers to a number of processes or procedures that
have been standardized. Everyone does
something the same way. It's important to have an effective safety and health management system. What
safety process or procedure might be standardized to improve your company's safety and health
management system?
Jeffrey Castillo, CSP, states that "Traditionally, safety functions have been under the direction of the human
resource department, which places safety and health at odds with the organization's primary goals: to
produce and sell goods/services. Too often, managers in other departments feel the safety manager (alone)
should contain costs, solve safety problems via training or committees, and reduce injury costs. Yet, in most
cases, the safety manager must accomplish such tasks while other managers increase production goals."
Jeffrey E. Castillo, CSP, IHIT, "Safety Management: The Winds of Change." Professional Safety, Feb 95.
Management must integrate safety as an element of quality into operations so completely that it disappears
as a separate function. It must be viewed by each employee, supervisor and manager as his or her personal
responsibility; one that is important in not
only improving the production process, but in saving lives.
Point 6. Institute training on the
job.
Some companies today consider training a cost, not a benefit.
How many workers are properly educated and
trained in supervisory, management, and leadership principles as they move up the corporate ladder? Have
you ever been in a situation where the worker who "makes the most widgets" gets promoted? Does
management assume new supervisors and managers know what they're doing?
Currently many companies rely on the safety director or the human resources department to train safety.
The new employee receives a safety overview when hired, and a safety "expert," conducts more specific
training related to the employee's job exercise. The supervisor, in many instances, does not think he or she
is getting paid to train safety. But, who is better suited to do the training than the person responsible for the
safety and health of his or her employees? If the supervisor cannot train safety, how can he or she have the
knowledge to effectively oversee safe work practices? How can the supervisor provide effective safety
feedback? How can the supervisor, when needed, properly enforce safety rules?
The supervisor cannot perform any of these responsibilities unless he or she thoroughly understands safety
concepts and principles, the hazards in the workplace, and is competent to train those subjects specifically
related to workplace he or she controls. The human resources department or the safety director can't provide
that quality of training for a couple of
reasons: They don't work in the area, and they're "not the
boss."
Point 7. Adopt and institute leadership. The aim of supervision
should be to help people and machines do a better job.
Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as
supervision of production workers.
The key to adopting and instituting leadership, of course, lies
at the top. Management needs to lead by
example, action, and word. The leader "cares" about those he or she leads. After all, the leader's success is
tied to the success of his or her workers. The "servant leadership" model fits well into the ideas expressed by
Deming and others.
There is no better way to demonstrate these principles of leadership than in making sure employees use safe
work procedures in a workplace that is, itself, safe from hazards. Ensuring safety is one of the most visible
undertakings that management can take to show employees that they are not merely hired hands who can
be replaced, but are valued human
resources...part of the family.
Point 8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively
for the company.
Driving out fear is the most important requirement when
implementing a Total Quality Safety Management
process. You must begin here. Management controls the workplace. It influences the standards of behavior
and performance of its employees by creating cultural norms in the workplace that dictate what are, and are
not acceptable behaviors. Management may rely solely on safety rules and progressive discipline (negative
reinforcement) in their attempt to control the safety behavior and performance of its employees. However, a
strategy such as this, that may be successful in forcing compliance, is never successful in producing
excellence in product or process. Strategies using fear and control are rarely, if ever successful. What
develops from such a strategy is a controlling, compliance driven climate of mistrust and disgust; only a shell
of an effective safety and health management system.
In the TQM system, managers and supervisors drive out fear through a real commitment to fact-finding to
improve the system, not fault-finding to punish someone. They emphasize uncovering the weaknesses in the
system that have allowed unsafe work practices and hazardous conditions to exist. They educate and train
everyone so that those weaknesses are strengthened, thus helping to continually improve the production
process. They recognize employees for appropriate safety behaviors; compliance with safety rules, reporting
injuries immediately, and reporting hazards in the workplace. Trust increases. Morale and motivation
improve because employees are not afraid to report safety concerns to management. Safety is never a
complaint in a TQM
organization.
Point 9. Break down barriers between departments. People in
research, design, sales, and
production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be
encountered with the product or
service.
We should only compete with our competitors, not ourselves.
Internal cooperation and external competition
applies to safety as well. Cooperation among all internal functions is another key to effective safety.
Competitive safety incentive programs. Reactive safety incentive programs that challenge departments
to compete against each other for rewards set up a system that may promote illegal behaviors by creating
situations where peer pressure causes the withholding of injury reports. Consequently, the "walking wounded
syndrome" develops that eventually results in increased injury costs and workers compensation premiums.
The performance of one employee impacts the success of others in the department. Employees will do
virtually anything, in some cases, to ensure the department gets their pizza parties, saving bonds, or safety
mugs. The fix: Reward/recognize employees individually for appropriate behaviors: complying with safety
rules, reporting injuries and reporting workplace hazards. Reward activities that enhance cooperation.
Bringing management and labor together. Cooperation at all levels of the company to identify and
correct hazards is very important. Of course, the process designed to promote this kind of cooperation is
called the safety committee (or safety improvement team). A world-class safety system will take advantage
of the cross-functional makeup of safety committees to bring management and employees together in a nonadversarial
forum to evaluate programs and make
recommendations for improvement in workplace
safety.
Point 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the
work force asking for zero
defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial
relationships, as the bulk of the causes of
low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus
lie beyond the power of the work
force.
What! Zero defects is not an appropriate goal? Does that apply
to safety too? Remember, Deming is talking
about product defects here. The related safety goal might be "zero accidents." Although this goal may be
unachievable, it's the only morally appropriate goal to have because we are dealing with injuries and
fatalities. If we set a goal of anything less than zero accidents, what's going to happen? If we reach the goal,
we pat ourselves on our collective back, sit back with our feet up on the desk, and believe we "have arrived."
When this occurs, you can bet your accident rate will start rising once again. Contentment is a dangerous
condition in safety. If we set zero accidents as our goal, we may never reach it, but that's fine. We should
never be content anyway. We should always be frustrated...never satisfied to make sure we continually
improve the system.
If we set a goal to reduce accidents by 50%, we will design a less effective system to get us to the goal, but
no farther. If we set a zero-accident goal, we will design the more effective system to reach that goal.
On another line of thought: In safety, the "happy poster syndrome" is a common occurrence. Managers think
that by placing a safety poster every thirty feet on a wall, they have a successful safety awareness program.
Employees, for the most part, ignore the posters, and may not believe the message that management is
trying to convey. The Fix: Get rid of the posters and meaningless slogans. Replace them with action,
example, and word. Each supervisor and
manager becomes a walking safety slogan.
Point 11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce, and
eliminate management by objectives. Eliminate numerical goals
for people in management. Substitute
leadership.
According to Krause, in the safety field, many reward systems
and performance appraisals are based on
numerical goals and measures, such as incident rates, that are untested for random variability....this could
mean receiving an undeserved bad performance rating...On the other hand, ignorance of the concept of
random variability also means that work groups often get good safety ratings when they do not deserve
them.
The problem with measuring the success of a company's safety effort using incident rates is that once the
rate has been reduced to what management feels is an acceptable level, complacency sets in, the effort to
reduce incident rates relaxes, and incident rates begin the inevitable rise to previous unacceptable levels.
Management reacts to the increase in incident rate with a renewed safety emphasis. This reactive
management approach to loss control, based on end results (defects), creates an endless cycle of rising and
falling incident rates.
Deming would look upon such a situation with dissatisfaction (and wonder). He would probably encourage
management to do away with any numerical quotas or goals based solely on unpredictable measures such as
incident frequency rates. He would stress the need measure upstream activities such as the degree of safety
education and training, number of safety meetings, individual safe work behaviors, and the safety of
materials, chemicals, and equipment purchased by the company.
In emphasizing TQM principles, the company may never realize sustained zero accident rates, but the
critically important ingredient in a successful process, that of continually journeying closer to that end state
would be realized. Focus on the journey, not the result.
Relying solely on quotas in the "production" system results in management looking the other way, when
unsafe work practices, and hazardous conditions exist. A macho (it is part of the job) attitude by
management, under pressure to produce the numbers, results in higher rates of injury and illness. Very little
thought is given to the human tragedy involved with serious injuries or fatalities. Even less thought to the
indirect and 'unknown and unknowable' losses to the company. Management must understand the danger of
pressure ever-increasing quotas place on supervisors and employees. Short cuts in work practices are
inevitable, and along with them, injuries and illnesses.
Remember, managers and employees should be held accountable only for what they can control. It's difficult
to control statistical results. However, as
we learned earlier, they can control
activities.
Point 12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of
workmanship.
According to Deming, the responsibility of supervisors must be
changed from sheer numbers to quality.
Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship.
Abolish the annual merit rating and adopt continual feedback processes. Deming offers some interesting
ideas here, but they are crucial to success in safety as well as production.
Supervisors must ensure their workers receive equipment and materials that are as safe as possible.
Employees should work at stations that have been ergonomically designed for them to decrease the
possibility of strains and sprains, and repetitive motions disease which represent the greatest category of
workplace injury and illness in the workforce today. Workers require and deserve the highest quality personal
protective equipment to protect them from workplace hazards. The highest quality safety equipment,
materials and environment all contribute to
pride of workmanship.
Point 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and
self-improvement for everyone.
Continual learning is an important concept. It's important that
employees be educated in personal and
professional skills. Safety certainly applies here as well. Return on the investment made in education is well
worth the money.
Weekly or monthly safety education and training sessions, when conducted properly by supervisors, can go
far in improving the performance of employees, and would send a strong message to all that safety is a core
value in the company. Unfortunately, most companies do not see the wisdom in adopting the principle that
to be successful today, each manager and employee in the company must be continually learning. Currently,
most employees receive very little safety
training, internal or external, on safety related
topics.
Point 14. Take action to accomplish the
transformation.
Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's
job. What a concept! Put everybody to work to accomplish the transformation. How can we do this when it
comes to safety and health?
Here's the hard part. Someone must have the vision: If not top management, who? How do you shift
responsibility for safety from the safety director and/or safety committee to line management? If the effort
does not have the blessing of the CEO (with action), the transformation may never be successful. The safety
committee may serve as the catalyst to initially begin the planning for the transformation. Expanding the size
of the committee, then breaking it into "safety teams" specializing in various process functions in the
company might be a way to go. However, educating up is crucial if top management balks at the need for
the transformation. The safety committee must provide the education (usual data... sorted... objective...
bottom line) to influence the perceptions
that ultimately shape the transformation. Uphill all the
way.
Last words...
Taking on the goals of TQSM is not an easy task. If you decide to begin the TQSM journey, be sure to
continue your study of the concepts. Go slowly and don't expect big changes overnight. Ultimately, you are
attempting to change culture and that process can and probably will take years.
Reference: Steve Geigle (my mentor and friend)
New oil and gas recruitment solution to offer a more efficient service for recruiters and candidates
By Kevin Site OwnerWith the current down turn in the oil industry and a recent trend for pay cuts and pay offs, a record number of people in the industry are now seeking employment. The decline in oil prices has lead to projects being put on hold and some projects being cancelled altogether. Major oil companies are looking to reduce costs, and in doing so are cutting their work force.
This has an immediate impact on the recruitment industry, with some recruitment companies reporting half the amount of positions and double the amount of available candidates, compared to this time last year. With the market even more competitive than ever before recruitment companies are also looking to cut costs. Unfortunately this isn’t so easy as in a down turn, recruitment agencies work loads actually increase, as more people seek employment.
Most recruitment companies covering the oil and gas sector use sites like oilcareers and oilandgasjobsearch to find candidates and advertise positions. These sites are so well established that they are a must have resource for recruitment companies. They charge extortionate rates and do nothing to help recruiters cut costs. They know there model works and they know recruiters have to use them, as there is no alternative! Until now…
www.oilandgaspeople.com is a new recruitment site developed by Kevin Forbes, a contractor who works in the Oil Industry. Kevin seen the problems faced by recruiters and also the frustration faced by candidates seeking work. He says: “Oilandgaspeople fills a gap in the market and offers a solution that is genuinely better for recruiters and candidates”.
No longer do recruiters have to pay for job postings and access to a database. Candidates benefit by being automatically matched to positions that they meet the requirements for. Candidates don’t have to browse for new jobs every day and they will never miss out on suitable positions. Recruiters don’t need to wait for candidates to reply to job postings and no longer have to sort through hundreds of irrelevant CV’s often received in response to job ads.
The best thing is the above process is totally free, with recruiters only ever paying a fee when they have a candidate match. There are no hidden fees and the site includes many features that other job sites charge for, for free!
Oilandgaspeople has been created from a clean slate; the site follows a new model and has been designed to offer a better solution for candidates and recruiters. We aim to be the largest oil and gas job site, which we will achieve by working with recruiters and candidates, listening to feedback received and building a site that works for Oil and Gas People and not for the media companies profiting vastly from other sites!
To prove our commitment to the industry we have also launched a community site that will allow oil and gas people the world over to network and exchange information. www.oilandgascommunity.com aims to create safer work environments by allowing oil and gas people world wide to learn from each others experiences, mistakes, lessons learned and to share advances in technology and improved work methods.
www.oilandgaspeople is live to candidates now and will be live to recruiters soon.
More information on how the site benefits recruiters and
candidates can be found here
http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/about.asp
Oilandgaspeople announces the launch of new networking site for anyone in the Oil and Gas industry
By Kevin Site OwnerSocial networking is growing more popular every day, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and others, have fast became a part of our every day lives. The ability to network and connect with like minded people all over the world is not only a great way to socialise and keep in touch with friends; it is also a very powerful business and marketing tool.
Lots of small companies and even some larger ones are releasing the power of the web and using it as a way of generating interest in their business. Lots of companies now recruit on social networking sites and the chances are if you don’t have an online presence you are probably missing out.
All of the above are reasons why people join such sites. www.oilandgaspeople.com hopes to take it a step further. We believe social networking could be used to improve safety within the oil and gas industry. In terms of safety, some countries are much further ahead than others, some companies have strict policies in place, and others have next to none. The standard varies from country to country and from individual to individual.
It comes down to training, knowledge and education. We see the same accidents occurring time and time again. Often those involved will say they ‘didn’t know’ or ‘weren’t aware’ Accidents and incidents that probably would have been avoided, if only we had managed to learn from other peoples lessons and mistakes.
Let’s use the powers of social networking to share lessons learned and to educate others in the industry. Wouldn’t it be great to have a massive resource of people from all aspects of the oil industry? A bank of knowledge and information that can be tapped at any time! From every day tasks to huge projects, you can bet someone has done it before. They may know a better way, a product you wasn’t aware of or a procedure that could save you time, money and improve safety.
The industry is ever changing, ever developing and pushing the barriers of new technology every day. It’s impossible to keep track with everything. Let’s use social networking to expand our knowledge, share our experiences and to improve safety across the board.
www.oilandgaspeople.com is not just another oil and gas jobs site. It has been created by oil and gas people, for oil and gas people! As part of the site and to prove our commitment to the industry, we are proud to announce the launch of www.oilandgascommunity.com a brand new social networking site for anyone working in oil and gas.
It doesn’t matter where you work or what you do, we are confident you will have something to bring to the table. We are going to be developing the site over the coming months and hope to include lots of pages with information, lessons learned, new technology, industry news etc, etc…
People can post requests for help and information on the forums. Join groups of like minded people, create events, chat instantly with other members, share information through blogs and build a profile advertising their company.
If you work in health and safety our sister site www.hsepeople.com will also be very relevant to you. HSE people is a well established community site that will give people an insight into the potential of www.oilandgascommunity.com
Hope to see you all there soon.
Kevin
Forbes
www.oilandgaspeople.com
www.oilandgascommunity.com
www.hsepeople.com
New Offshore Safety Chief in call to maintain high standards
By Kevin Site OwnerThe UK's new offshore safety chief has warned the industry there is no room for complacency.
Steve Walker, who has just replaced Ian Whewekk as head of the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) offshore division, said he wants the regulator to be respected.
Meeting Industry at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen yesterday for the first "time in his new position, Walker said: ' Ian has left me an excellent legacy. Under his watch the industry did improve in its leadership of offshore health and safety... but one of my top priorities is to make sure the industry is not complacent with its current safety standards.
"I want the industry to deliver on its commitments to maintain safety."
Walker said he wants the HSE to be an efficient and effective regulator and hopes it will be respected by the industry. However, he raised concerns about spikes in the number of hydrocarbon releases and major accidents in the first quarter of this year.
Walker, who has been with the HSE for more than 30 years and in the offshore division since 2004 was responsible for running the organisation's recent and largely positive KP3 review into offshore safety.
"We gave the industry a pretty good message when the review was published in July but the Industry still has to keep its eye on the ball.
"I recognise the challenges in keeping aging installations fit for purpose at a time when industry is looking at the technical and cost demands of developing existing fields, especially in the context of the economic climate and the energy debate," he said.
Robert Paterson, the health and safety director of industry group Oil and Gas UK, said: "Over the last 21 years the industry has made huge progress in putting in place multiple barriers on its offshore installations to prevent escalation of dangerous occurrences and to reduce their impact.
SOURCE - www.upstreamonline.com
Teach trick-or-treaters their SafetySkills.
By Heather AndersonHalloween is one of the most beloved holidays by children, but also one of the most dangerous. Everyone has heard of the many real-life horror stories that could have been avoided if the proper safety precautions were taken. To ensure that trick-or-treaters experience the fun of Halloween without injury, SafetySkills™ has decided to offer its Halloween Safety course to the public at no charge at www.safetyskills.com/halloweensafety.
“Halloween is the kids’ holiday, dressing up like their favorite characters, running around with their friends in search of as much candy as they can get their hands on,” said Trey Greene, CEO of noodleStream.com. “But kids also need to learn the safe way to have a great Halloween because the sad truth is that bad things can happen. As a father, I wanted to help other parents and childcare professionals get all the information they needed to protect their children so that they can have a fun and safe Halloween.”
This Halloween Safety course provides parents and childcare professionals with information about safe trick-or-treating, decorating, cooking and even costumes. Along with everything you need to know about Halloween safety, SafetySkills™ is providing printable Halloween Safety coloring sheets that go with the online course free on their website.
“I think the video was clear, to the point and covered many great topics,” said Kim Estes, Child Safety Expert of PEACE of Mind. “I was happy to see a non-scary, simple safety video to help give us all a gentle reminder that safety counts!”
Is your business prepared for the unexpected?
By Heather AndersonHow well would your business fair if the unexpected occurred today? September is National Preparedness Month and employers are encouraged to make a plan to avoid issues that could affect their businesses in the event of a disaster. Unfortunately, due to the current economic strains companies are enduring, many businesses are cutting corners on safety.
“Any disaster, no matter how severe or minor, can result in huge costs to a business,” said Trey Greene, CEO of noodleStream.com. “Making simple preparation strategies can save thousands. Training employees how to respond in the event of a fire, severe weather or a workplace injury will not only protect your business, but save lives.”
The number of preventable accidents reported in the news is escalating at an alarming rate. These incidents are making everyone a little more nervous including government agencies. Despite the new safety legislations being proposed to Congress, some feel that simple changes made by individuals can make a big difference in safety.
“Our entire emergency management team has a role to play when it comes to preparing for and responding to the next disaster,” said W. Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator. “One of the most important parts of the team is the public. The more prepared the public is now, by getting an emergency response kit, making an emergency plan and getting a skill, like CPR, the stronger our emergency response team will be.”