Up Time Magazine- June/July 2008

maintenance mgmt upload Safe and Sound Creating a Safe Work Environment by Mike Rarrat W hy can’t we create and sustain superior safety performance in most industries? The answer, in my opinion, is quite simple. As leaders, we treat safety as a special event or an additional responsibility for our employees. We, as leaders, have not made safety a part of our Work Culture by communicating a clear vision and clarifying our safety expectations. And, as leaders, we have failed to define specific roles and responsibilities related to safety performance for all levels of the organization. We have not created and communicated a system of accountability. We have failed to make and keep our commitment to safety, or in other words, we fail to ensure human reliability and take action when there is a deviation to our safety performance expectations. For years, organizations throughout the United States have spent billions of dollars searching for the silver bullet that can be shot into their business to create an accident free work environment. Some organizations opt to spend their dollars in search of the cookbook remedy that, if followed, will allow managers and first line supervisors to re-create that illusive accident free work environment by following step-by-step instructions. During the past ten plus years, efforts have been made to involve employees in the improvement of safety performance by observing the specific behaviors of fellow employees that can lead to safe or unsafe work practices. This information is communicated and documented, and the information is used to create a database of safe and unsafe behaviors. The database of information can be used in a problem solving process to identify specific employee behaviors that must be modified or identify safety improvements related to equipment and or procedures that can be implemented to remove unsafe behaviors. I have experienced both the “Carrot” and the “Stick” methodology (positive and negative reinforcement) related to safety performance. Good safety performance has been recognized through financial payout, giving away safety products and celebrating with award banquets. Poor safety performance has been met with loss of pay, discipline and even termination of employment for some employees. Neither positive nor negative consequences seemed to have a dramatic impact on improving longterm safety performance. During the past 25 years in the power industry I have personally been exposed to at least 12 major safety initiatives. All 12 initiatives have resulted in limited success. So why don’t these safety initiatives work? Why can’t we create and sustain superior safety performance in most industries? Has the leadership of the organization communicated a clear vision and expectations related to safety? Do you have a clear understanding of how safety performance is measured? Does your organization have a clear understanding of the consequences related to safety performance, both the positive and negative? What are your roles and responsibilities related to safety? What are the roles and responsibilities of the people who report to you and do they understand and are they committed to these responsibilities? The answers to these questions may surprise you if the responses to these questions are grouped by levels in your organization. Most organizations have completed several forms of surveys and assessments over the past several decades, and some businesses have developed safety-training programs utilizing this information. Others have communicated mandates for improvements based on information obtained from these data rich, information poor findings. Once again, the results of both the training programs and corporate mandates yield modest, shortterm results at best. So how is the safety performance in your organization? To gain a true understanding of where you are as an organization related to the safety continuum, you must strap on your PPE and enter the work environment, illustrated in Figure 1 by a Work Management Wheel© from Reliability Management Group’s (RMG). Early Work Identification Will Increase Safety As you wander through your facility, pay close attention to the basics. What is the overall condition of your plant? Is the environment clean and well lit? Are spills and leaks evident? Take note of repair tags or caution tape that may be found. How long has this condition existed? Be sure to visit your control centers and gather the data that may be present and document dates. Have all the deviations from your safety expectation been captured as identified work? What priority has june/july 2008 Assessment What are your organization’s beliefs regarding safety? 28

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Up Time Magazine- June/July 2008

Up Time Magazine- June/July 2008 Contents Upfront Upclose: The True Cause of Most Machine Failures Information Technology: Finding Future Perfect Lubrication: Building an Oil Analysis Winner Maintenance Management: Hidden Ways to Increase Safety Infrared: Air Barriers Lower Energy Costs, Increase Profits Motor Testing: Efficient Motor Repair, Part Deux Precision Maintenance: Good Maintenance, Smart Maintenance Reliability: Common Errors in Root Cause Analysis Ultrasound: Avoid the Baghouse Blues Vibration: Don't Let Your Sensors Get Eaten Alive Upgrade: Lining It All Up

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