| How reliable is your safety system? |
The three parts of your system—mechanical,
work process and human—all contribute to workplace safety.
contributed by John P. MacLean, Orem, Utah
Take a look at any work activity—your workplace is a good
place
to start.
Work is carried on through a mix of (1) mechanical, (2) process
and (3) human factors. Mechanical factors are the hardware, tools,
and equipment your team employ. The Process describes the way you
carry out the work of your department—all the work procedures,
management procedures, computer programs, standards, safety rules,
specifications, maintenance procedures. Finally, nothing happens
without Human Intervention, with all the possibilities of human
error and factors that influence human behavior.
The three parts of the system are interrelated. A failure in one
part of the system can set off a chain reaction. When a mechanical
process fails, the safeguards in other parts of the system should
provide protection. Unfortunately, as we saw in the burned-out light
bulb example (see part 2, item 1, Reliability, safety and a burned
out Light-bulb), this doesn't always happen. A failure in one of
the systems occasionally causes a chain reaction. The result can
be anything from product failure, equipment damage, an environmental
incident, a near miss, to human injury or death.
For this reason, reliability in all three parts of the system is
essential for a safe work-place . . .
Safety reliability checklist
The Number One indicator, the Top Five,
and Eight More items to consider
As an unbiased outsider, if I were asked to look at only one item
to assess your safety awareness and potential to keep the workplace
free of lost time injuries, I would look at housekeeping.
Reliability engineers whom I know all agree that if housekeeping
is sloppy, other operations will be sloppy, and reliability, hence
safety, will be questionable. Not that housekeeping is the only
indicator—an organization can be spic and span, but if other
elements are missing, it can still have a lousy safety and reliability
record.
For a quick analysis of an organization's safety
and reliability and safety potential I would suggest the five items
shown on the next page in order of importance:
- Housekeeping: Look for smart, well
maintained landscaping, grass trimmed, pavement in parking areas
well maintained and free of oil or grease spills; trash sorted
and stored neatly; tidy offices and operational areas; floors
and workbenches kept clean and tidy, spare parts well organized,
labeled and properly stored, hoses hung neatly on racks, windows
clean and in good repair, even in areas of heavy work. A pattern
of attention to these
details holds out the promise that care is taken to avoid
problems elsewhere. Lack of attention suggests the likelihood
of other problems.
- Documentation and Root Cause Failure
Analysis of Incidents: Unless incidents are well documented, it
is not possible to tell if there is a problem or not. By law many
industries are now required to handle a "near miss"
as an investigatable incident. Root Cause Failure Analysis is
a term to indicate a thorough analysis of an incident. The inquiry
must cover everything that contributed to the incident—it
is not sufficient to investigate
only until you find something that broke or someone who committed
an error. All accidents have multiple causes.
- Management systems that include a commitment
to Reliability Support Systems: Check to see if there is real
management commitment, often indicated by budgeted money for those
critical systems. People on the shop floor know how serious management’s
attitude is, and if it "walks the talk".
- Documentation of maintenance including
down-time, overtime, and costs: Are maintenance records kept on
individual equipment items? Is there a record of percentage of
downtime from failure of equipment? Overtime should not exceed
about 5%. Excessive overtime can be an indication of
poor maintenance practices or a high potential for human
failure due to fatigue. High maintenance costs suggest
"fix-it-when-it-breaks" maintenance, unavailability
of spare
parts, or crisis repairs. These can result in poor maintenance,
unreliability and unsafe working conditions.
- Action and follow-up procedures: An
institutionalized procedure should be in place to handle reliability
and safety issues generated by investigations. If action items
are ignored,
the investigation serves little purpose. It is important to have
a specific person responsible to follow up and make sure all
items are handled.
Then, to complete a more thorough assessment, check the following:
- Standards and specifications: When these
are well thought out by experts and experienced people, they help
to tell
vendors what is acceptable and expected to maintain reliability
and safety.
- Standard Operating Procedures: SOPs
are not designed to eliminate individual thought and creativity.
Procedures can
be questioned, as they may be outdated or inapplicable.
But bear in mind that SOPs were prepared by people with
long experience, who considered all aspects of the process. Unthinking
deviation from SOPs negates all the careful deliberation that
went into them.
- Training: A facility should have a budget
for training,
including safety training. How effective is your training?
Asking employees to participate in training assessments will help
you to know whether or not the money is well spent
—and whether employees are receiving the training that
the organization needs.
- Hazard and incident response plans/teams:
A response plan with roles assigned to competent people who can
step in in the event of an incident, can reduce the human and
financial cost
of a serious workplace calamity. This team should be trained
in defining and solving problems, and they should be able to draw
on professional expertise in the event of an incident.
- Communications systems: Communications
must function well. If communications of any type break down,
the probability of an incident increases.
- Loss control program: Loss of materials,
parts, tools and other items, if unknown and unhandled, can be
a dangerous hole in a facility's situational awareness.
- Human asset management: Humans working
accurately
and safely are the key to the reliability and safety of all work
systems. Attention to morale, general workforce attitudes,
the company's culture, training, interpersonal communications
are vital components of safety reliability. Contented, engaged,
motivated employees working harmoniously together, watching out
for unsafe situations, watching out for each others' safety, are
your number one assurance that injuries
are unlikely.
|
|  
|
