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Safety kept secret
May 20, 2008
Lotsa guys think safety's a matter of common sense. Yeah, that’s right, guys who work in a warehouse or DC know how to be safe around lift trucks and racks. Gimme a break.
If safety was that easy I wouldn’t be takin' so many cartoon pratfalls. I got a lot to learn when it comes to safety. That’s why consultants make such big bucks. I’m tryin' to read up on ways to be safer. I just saw an article by some guys from Proudfoot Consulting. That name alone's pretty funny. But they’re legit—actually part of Management Consulting Group PLC., a big consulting firms out of Atlanta.
They say when they enter a warehouse lookin' for trouble spots, they look at guys like me--equipment operators. They ask what safety, operational and attitudinal assessments have been performed.
Huh?
Never heard of such things. If they ever happened, it’s been years. Guess that’s pretty typical. My supervisor doesn’t know much about that stuff either. Once in a while he’ll give me a dirty look if I’m doin’ somethin’ stupid. That happens a lot. I don’t think I been much safer for him givin' me the old skunkeye, though.
The guys who wrote this article say guys like my boss usually go through the motions, and don’t really measure stuff. Can’t manage what you don’t measure, right? So whatever it is my boss calls what he does to spread the safety gospel, it ain’t got no teeth—except the ones he flashes at me all the time.
These consultants also say if there are what they call “incident descriptions,” lotsa companies don’t include stuff like when it happened, tools or equipment involved—so whatever info gets collected is lousy, and the chain of command don’t care anyway. They say at one project they were at, about half of the accidents involved neglect of “Personal Protection Equipment—what they call PPE. The operations managerthere kept remindin’ operators to wear this stuff. They didn’t and nothin’ happened to ‘em for not doin’ it, so big deal. That was the general attitude at this place.
There’s not much accountability for safety in many plants, stock rooms, or construction sites around the world, these guys say. That’s why there’s no shortage of dumb stuff goin on—like when I jammed my lift truck into a very narrow aisle. Who knew they made things called VNA trucks? My boss forgot to tell me.
Anyway, these guys had some pretty good pointers, and I’m gonna cut and paste ‘em here cause I ain’t no writer:
1. Establish operational discipline and compliance to a Safety Management Operating System, which provides the tools for objective measurement of safety KPIs at the point of execution.
2.Put the appropriate safety and execution organizational structure in place.
3.Engage supervisors and operators by using discovery learning maps and techniques at the point of execution
Ensure safety processes align with changing operational requirements.
“Combining the above elements will result in the emergence of an evolving safety culture and thus a downward trend in incidents and accidents throughout the operation.”
Sure, easy for them to say.
Lemme' know how you're doin' with this stuff.
Posted by Frank on May 20, 2008 | Comments (2)
In response to: Safety kept secret
Consultant commented:
Before you go down the road with this type of consultant group, keep in mind that their main objective is 'profit enhancement' for the company, and that means they 'chop heads'. And you might be one of them.
In response to: Safety kept secret
Dave Snyder / Federal Rack commented:
Many of the safety concerns are directly related to the attitude promoted by the operation. Its generally easy to tell how important safety issues are as you walk into a facility. When you are greeted by the overpowering sound of head banging music thumping through your head, while people race by in equipment oblivious to your presence, you anticipate a slightly different approach to safety. Facilities that greet you with a series of warning signs including safety instructions, staff neatly dressed wearing head and eye wear; you see a slightly different approach to safety. The key to both of these is the tone that is set by the company management, and the front line supervisors. The key to safety begins with what the top wants, and what the front line insists on.