Re: Safety & HR

[John Carrow <jecarrow@houston.rr.com>]

Gordon Hall asked for input on " what the Deming philosophy could
contribute to safety".

First, I think that the basic measurement of safety, the number of
reportable injuries per million man hours, is a classic example of the
importance of operational definitions.  In this case, literally everyone
involved, every worker, should know just exactly what constitutes a
recordable injury.  The definition itself should encourage and not
discourage prompt reporting and prompt medical attention.

Once there is a measurement that everyone understands and believes in,
the record can be used as the basis for celebrations of milestones  and
perhaps symbolic gifts or prizes and to engender pride in the
organization.

I also think that other common measures like near misses and minor,
first-aid injuries, should be treated as if they were signals of an
assignable cause on a control chart.  That is they should trigger
investigations as to causes and therefore corrective action.

On the psychology front, I think some way should be found to change the
culture to make it socially acceptable for people to become their
"brother's keeper". That is to make it ok (and appreciated) for you to
tell me that I am working unsafely.  Perhaps some form of competiton
between groups for symbolic or even small cash prizes, I have seen this
work wonders.

Finally, I suggest that the Deming philosophy makes it clear that
everyone must be involved to make the workplace safe.  Not just
operations and maintenance presonnel, but certainly engineering,
HR/safety, even the accounting department.  In safety, as in everything
else, all these subsystems working together are necessary to help
optimize the bigger system.

Good luck, Gordon.  A commendable effort.  ...... John