Career Path > Safety
BBS
Already Gone:
The fault in BBs, ISMS, and any other safety "program" is that it all goes on paper. It looks good on paper. Before long, you are so focused on metrics that you lose sight of the actual behaviors that result in safe/unsafe work. Here's what you do. Get a safety professional involved (actually involved on the floor with the workforce), get management behind you, get supervision on your side, get the workers to have faith and confidence in what you say. WORK with them to SOLVE safety problems and develop workable solutions in real time on the job - instead of reading them canned toolbox speeches, feeding them buzzwords, and pointing out deficiencies that you are not interested in correcting.
Leave the charts and graphs in the office. Leave you slogans and banners in the box. Be with the people while they are working, learn what they do and how they do it, and never point out a problem unless you are ready to come up with a solution to it.
The easy (and ineffective) way to manage safety is to observe without knowing what you are watching, write up cards, compile data, make charts, plaster slogans on the walls, give totally irrelevant safety speeches, and be a "seagull" safety manager (refer to http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,23667.0.html for the meaning of that).
Chimera:
Get a safety professional involved? Get management to back you? You just doomed your idea to failure. The "safety professional" doesn't want to leave his office and "management" only wants the pretty graphs and the bonus.
I've had better success, relative to the actual job site and the workers, by picking up the trash, moving the extension cord, helping while suiting up and just listening than I have ever seen come from the so-called professionals or management.
I've worked with you, BC, and I love your style. Unfortunately, there is only one of you and too many jobs. While I can't necessarily do what you do, I can do what I do - and that's a start. While it may be a tired cliche, safety really does begin with me regardless of the fancy "system" that may be in place.
Marlin:
--- Quote from: Chimera on Apr 25, 2010, 02:14 ---Get a safety professional involved? Get management to back you? You just doomed your idea to failure. The "safety professional" doesn't want to leave his office and "management" only wants the pretty graphs and the bonus.
I've had better success, relative to the actual job site and the workers, by picking up the trash, moving the extension cord, helping while suiting up and just listening than I have ever seen come from the so-called professionals or management.
I've worked with you, BC, and I love your style. Unfortunately, there is only one of you and too many jobs. While I can't necessarily do what you do, I can do what I do - and that's a start. While it may be a tired cliche, safety really does begin with me regardless of the fancy "system" that may be in place.
--- End quote ---
That is applying the "Broken Windows theory" of behavior modification, it worked for NYPD to drastically drop the crime rate. Changing the environment of the workers is a far better solution that boring them with what they should do at the daily briefings. Of course raffling off a pickup truck with earned "safety chits" at the end of a project works too!! ;)
Already Gone:
I wish they would bring back those days. NYPD doesn't seem to give a crap about those "quality of life" issues anymore. This city is sliding backward. But, it is still the Capital of the World.
Raffles are not safety awards. They are bribes to keep people from reporting their injuries. You see a lot of "duck tape band-aids" on those jobs.
You want a reward for working safely? Tomorrow is your reward for working safely today. (Okay, that isn't bad as far as slogans go. I just couldn't help myself.)
When I say "get the safety professional involved", I really mean "safety professional, get yourself involved". I have some really dirty gloves hanging off my belt. I spend almost all of my time with the people who are doing the work. They SEE me picking up the cords and trash. I lead them by example, and they are quick to learn. Being part of the team is more effective than being a referee all the time.
Tell me, and I'll forget.
Show me, and I'll remember.
Involve me, and I'll understand.
mostlyharmless:
Please explain "broken windows" theory.
While I am not defending BBS or any other program, they all have their good aspects and good intentions, and I know, its a long road to hell and getting paved and repaved with the same good intentions.
Most are passive in nature and only describe an act, environment, or precursor.And sometimes we have little choice but to work with what we have. Here at SRS there are app.9000 employees. A lot are managers and engineers,not counting the DOE folks that provide oversite.DOE likes all these programs, so in an effort to make the "customer" happy, management says do it. So we do. I have seen a relatively simple preplan last over three hours. I have participated in safety stand downs,job hazard analyses, and the actual job itself. What they want us to do is this: after defining the scope of work and analyzing and mitigating( as much as possible)the hazard, we do a thorough preplan with reverse briefing,including discussion of HPI error precursors and are strongly encouraged to do a BBS observation during the job.
BBS is voluntary though the performance of observations is directly tied to a salaried persons wage increase.
The problem I have is that the first line managers are not allowed to do any work. So it is largely vicarious to them, especially if a resperator is involved. This is not to say they dont love us workerbees or that they are not concerned for our safety. They are. But there is little they can do being on the outside looking in. They are less engaged.
Also there is passive consent. Not just here but likely everywhere.By that I mean workers are allowed to be lax on something one supervisor feels is not as important as something else. And this is where top down,or bottom up,personal integrity,responsability comes in. You have to do what is right wether you are told or not,wether someone is looking or not. Wether you may get into trouble or not, though that one is tricky; when do you risk the financial support for your family?
So,given the complexities of the group dynamic, what works? Perhaps I have answered my question.
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