Peeling the Onion: Exposing the Various Layers of Safety in the Workforce

January 10, 2022 By Leave a Comment

Let’s peel back the onion on some recently published Safety Stats.

The number of people killed at work dropped in 2020 – Good News!

The Year 2021 was full of changes and challenges. Much of the news was pretty negative. But, one piece of good news was that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of fatal occupational injuries in 2020 dropped from 5,333 in 2019 to 4,764 in 2020. This is the first drop in fatalities since 2014. This is good, but no one knows why this happened. There are many possible things that could have had an impact. We must peel back the onion and look deeper.

exposing the layers of safety stats

Here are some stats:

  • Did the COVID epidemic have an influence? Probably.
  • Were there fewer businesses operating? Yes.
  • Were fewer people actually at work? Yes.
  • The pressures of excessive overtime were up as businesses began to expand again but could not get enough people to fill all the positions. Did this have an impact? Maybe.
  • Were the numbers unclear because there were more part-time workers? Probably.
  • Was management actually doing a better job in the safety arena? I hope so!
  • Even though there was a lot more stress among the people with all the COVID worries, the number of murders dropped by 14.5%. Women made up 16.3% of workplace homicides. Maybe people were handling the stress better than usual. I hope so!
  • Exposure to harmful substances went up, including overdose of drugs. Was this from increased workplace pressures. Maybe.
  • Fatal injuries among law enforcement people went up 18.6% to 115 people. Thank you for your courage!

This is a complex problem with which all of us in safety are working to improve. The number of fatal injuries in 2020 was lower than it has been (and that is a good thing!), but the reasons are multifaceted. Please keep up the safety work you are doing and we’ll see if the 2021 numbers improve again.

What Do Workers Want?

American workers want better stability, safety, and leadership.

Randstad, USA, a large professional and commercial staffing organization, recently conducted a survey of their clients, finding that the COVID situation had an enormous impact in raising the workers’ concerns for safety. Workers want their leaders to clearly take the lead, making and acting on decisions to improve their safety and the stability of the workplace environment. Workers want clear standards on vaccinations and working conditions like spacing and overtime considerations. This is a big challenge since guidance from the Government, OSHA, the CDC and the courts is in such flux, and the shortage of skilled workers complicates this even further. This is a huge source of stress on everyone. It is critical that there is open, honest conversations among all the people so the best, most logical decisions can be made. This is really the work of leaders and the people want them to step up and lead.

Getting back to the onion metaphor…the Leader needs to be rooted (strength of conviction, knowledgeable) and have a strong inner core…yet be flexible, able to listen, communicate and most importantly, to be able to step up and lead.

Call to Action: As you peel back the onion around the safety performance of your workplace during this past year, what will you find? Contact me (716-622-6467) and I’ll share with you the “Layers of Safety” I use when speaking to Leaders on becoming the most effective they can be in leading Safety in the Workplace.

removing layers of safety stats

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Reducing Workplace Violence and Building a Better Place

June 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment

All of us, together, make a difference in the safety and the lives of our co-workers.

When Claire Knowles, Robin Nagele, and I (NageleKnowlesAndAssociates.com) are asked to come into an organization to help them reduce the risks of workplace violence and develop an active shooter protection plan, we have a good selection of options for them to consider, ranging from a comprehensive training and development plan to a bare-bones introduction. We see workplace violence ranging from a simple lack of respect to harassment to bullying to fighting and even murder, and our offering covers the range. Workplace violence can happen from the inside (bullying, harassment incivilities) and from the outside (perpetrator entering the workplace with intent to do harm). It covers Psychological Safety and Physical Safety.

we need to all work together for workplace safety

However, many people see this whole subject from a wide range of perspectives. It is very unlikely that an active shooter situation will develop here so why bother? Well, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019, 761 people were murdered at work. Homicides were 454 and suicides were 307. This is the fourth highest cause of workplace fatalities. Could that happen here? It is a myth if you think it can’t happen in your workplace.

Harassment and bullying are HR problems and not often considered safety problems–but they are because they impact psychological safety. They can lead to people making mistakes and getting hurt. Lack of respect, harassment and bullying are just little issues (unless you are the target) so why spend the money? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2019, in addition to the 307 suicides, there were 313 drug overdoses at work. What was the impact of harassment and bullying on these people? Their psychological safety is hugely impacted. There are all sorts of ways to try to talk your way out of these sorts of issues. But there is a big impact on both the people and the businesses’ profits.

In the unlikely event of an active shooter situation, people can be killed and injured, the business will be shut down as a crime scene, the bad publicity runs rampant, and the regulators and lawyers will be all over the place. Your relationships with your people and customers will be a shambles. This results in huge losses.

When the business leaders tolerate lack of respect, harassment and bullying, the workplace is not psychologically safe, and people stop talking together and sharing information. This costs a lot of money in grievances and HR meetings, etc. It also costs a lot in missing the possibility of new business opportunities that are discovered as people talk together about how the business is doing and find new ideas for new opportunities emerging from their conversations.

We can all come together and address the elimination
of all forms of workplace violence.
Let’s pull together and make it happen for the good of us all.

Building a Better Place – We can do this Together!

There is so much bad news of workplace shootings, conflict of all sorts in our cities and streets, police and other citizens being killed and the endless arguments in our governments at all levels that it is tempting to just try to shut everything off and pretend nothing is happening. It feels as if we are in chaos with no good answers to be found.

But there are many good people in our cities and states, in volunteer organizations, in our governments and businesses. We need to rise above all this noise and strife. I believe that most people want to live good, safe lives, to raise their families, to seek life, liberty, and happiness. We want this in our private lives, in our homes, towns and cities as well as in our places of work where we spend so much time.

We can each make a positive difference in our homes, neighborhoods and at work. We can look for the good we each have to offer and make connections. We can have conversations together about how we are doing. We can talk about the little things that matter and connect us. We can show caring for each other and kindness. We can value our differences without trying to force them onto someone else. We can do this at work where we spend so much time together. We can find our common purpose and build on that.

As all of you readers know I have a great concern about leadership and workplace safety. When we build a more harmonious workplace the levels of anger and frustration drop. We can treat each other as real people and not some object to push around. We can build a better workplace with co-created principles and standards of behavior.

I know we can do these things because we did this at the plants where I was the manager and in the businesses in which I consult. When we co-create our principles and standards, working together with respect and listening, sharing information freely, helping people to see that their work is important, the levels of anger and frustration drop. I have seen this many times over. When this happens, more and more of the time we are focused at doing things right and the total performance of the organization improves. We can learn and grow together so our levels of knowledge and understanding go up. Fewer injuries and incidents occur. Total quality of our life and the products we make get a lot better. I have seen this happen over and over. We can do these things if we want to do them.

Our leaders play a big role in this by setting the standards and modeling the positive behaviors that are so important. We all watch our leaders and those with integrity and a caring heart are those we most admire. Their behaviors and the words they use set the way for us all.

However, we all have a role to play. We can all be winners as we pull ourselves up. Sometimes, it is not easy, but we can all do this with courage, caring, concern for each other and commitment to the dream of a better world.

If you do not do this, then who is going to do it? It rests on each of us.

make a difference in the safety and the lives of your co-workers

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Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Can’t Replace the Wisdom of the Skilled People Doing the Work

May 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment

I have read several recent articles about how big data and artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to help to improve safety.

The AI approach involves the collection and evaluation of huge amounts of data (big data) to learn from human behavior, looking for patterns and helping to improve safety performance. By doing this over and over, the machines can learn to keep doing better and better analyses and even begin to provide predictions about improving human performance. For example, repeated activities like lifting can be studied, problem patterns in lifting techniques be identified and improvements in the behavior or the physical arrangement of the lifting work modified.

This could provide very useful information that could reduce injuries and incidents, however, it is important to understand that people creating the algorithms are making assumptions and decisions about the way the work is done. “The devil is in the detail.” This can lead to a gap between the work-as-imagined and work-as-done. While the piles of data, the patterns they predict and the predictions they make can be useful, they can also be a problem. All this information can be quite beguiling and lead us to thinking we have all the information we need to reduce the injuries and incidents.

These studies can help to reduce injuries and incidents by providing the people some tools to see what is happening and make some adjustments in their behavior. But relying on them to do our thinking is a problem.

These tools need to be taken with a huge grain of salt. There is nothing to replace the wisdom and good judgement of the people actually doing the work and helping each other to see and improve what they are doing.

artificial intelligence can't replace the wisdom and good judgement of humans

These AI tools can help, but they are not the final answer. It is those close to the work who need to make the final decisions. We do not want to automate taking peoples’ brains out of the picture. These AI tools cannot see the actual situation that the person is facing as he/she does their job. Decisions often need to be made as the work unfolds to get the work done right. The gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done needs to be closed as much as possible so the best procedures and practices can be used to do the work safely.

work as imagined

We need to help each other to rise to be the best we can be. Partnering together, helping each other, talking together about the work and the potential safety challenges are all highly effective ways to improve the total performance in sustainable ways. We should not allow the AI to push the thinking and good judgement of our highly skilled people aside. We can use AI as a supplement and to provide clues about improving the work. But pretending that AI can do our thinking for us is myth.

Everyone sharing information about your particular situations, treating each other with respect, telling the truth, making sure that the standards of performance and expectations are clear, helping everyone to see the importance of their work for the success of the whole business are foundational. Treating the people as intelligent, highly skilled and thoughtful will bring out the best in them.

AI can help, but it is not a replacement for the collective intelligence of the people who are dedicated to excellence.

I would be remiss if I did not insert (here), that the process for actually achieving this highly effective communication among and with people is Partner-Centered Leadership. Please call me (716-622-6467) and I’ll show you how easily this framework can be applied to your every-day communications and Leadership.

The Internet of Things (IoT): Another Caution

There are more and more electronic tools becoming available to help us with all sorts of tasks. We see ads for building electronic homes, installing fine security systems and even monitoring the sleeping babies. There are dozens of Apps for our cell phones so we can keep track of things.

Monitoring tools are also becoming available to monitor people as they do their work. It is a good idea to monitor someone who is working alone at a remote location or working alone at night doing security in a big warehouse. Sensors installed across wide locations enable rapid response in the event of an accident or emergency.

Like AI, these can be quite helpful, providing we don’t become too dependent on them. As these tools are developed and deployed, remember that they are put together by people who are making assumptions about their particular use.

Some of this monitoring can be used – drawing from the old time and motion studies from the days of Frederick Taylor in his 1911 book, “Principles of Scientific Management“. There is high value in learning from the past. There is high value in integrating new technologies. Yet striking that right balance is key – and always, always, with the genuine involvement and input of the people who are actually doing the work.

Summary

AI and IoT can be quite useful, but they need to be taken with caution and not allowed to replace the good thinking, planning and actions of our highly skilled, intelligent people. The comments in this newsletter are not luddite, but rather a caution about not throwing away the thinking, creativity and resourcefulness of the people with whom we work. Let’s help people become their best and rise to the top.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

This is Your Wake Up Call!!!

November 10, 2020 By Leave a Comment

Has your organization become forgetful or is it sleepwalking?

A delightful new book by Stephen Capizzano (2020), The Forgetful Organization, has some ideas that really make sense for those of us working to help organizations improve their safety performance and move towards Safety II.

has your organization become forgetful or is it sleepwalking?In this story, a wicked witch puts the princess and the whole kingdom to sleep for 100 years. They all have to wait for the arrival of the prince to kiss the princess and awaken everyone. As children, we all knew this story, but in this new book, Stephen Capizzano shifts the story to thinking about what happens in our organizations.

Are we in our organizations, walking around as if we are asleep? This idea of us walking around as if we are asleep is not new. The ancient Greeks talked about the caves of sleep and drinking from the rivers of forgetfulness. Are we sleepwalking deep in our habits and unaware of things going on around us?

Are we asleep in our old habits that we like and feel comfortable in? Do we like pushing the blame for problems off onto someone else? Do we like doing the minimum required for compliance? Isn’t just enough good enough? Do we really enjoy our dull safety meetings because it is a time for day dreaming about something else? Do we enjoy pushing back when something new comes into the picture like a new training program or improved safety procedure? Do we really love the “same old way?”

As we are sleep walking, 5,250 people died at work in 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The number of fatalities since 2008 has ranged between 4,800 and 5,250 people a year. Is that a habit we have become used to? The second highest cause of death for women at work is murder (453 in 2018). Is this another habit?

I used to be in the sleep-walking mode until we had a fire at a plant where I was the Plant Manager and I woke up. Maybe that was my handsome prince. Actually everyone woke up. We became a high-performance organization getting the fire out, the repairs made and starting up. Then our old habits reasserted themselves and most of us went back to sleep. But this jolt for me to wake up was so powerful I did not go back to sleep. I went on a quest to find out how we can all breakout of our old habits, stay awake and do extraordinary things together.

In this quest, I discovered many new things and created Partner-Centered Leadership, which I have discussed many times in these newsletters. One key element I found was that people want to be winners. Another finding was that we already know how to work at high levels of performance. We just have to wake up and help each other to shed our old habits. It is not a matter of scolding each other to do better. It is really just reminding each other that we already know how, so let’s do it. When we wake up, we use the natural processes of working together at a high level of performance. We do not need to go to special classes or workshops; we already know how to work this way as the fire crisis showed.

We already know how to:

  • treat each other with respect
  • help each other
  • listen together
  • tell the truth
  • share information
  • say we are sorry when we mess up
  • think and develop better ways to do things
  • work safely
  • remind each other to be our best

The key features for leaders to remember in Partner-Centered Leadership are:

  • valuing people, change and the future
  • seeing organizations as if they are living systems
  • recognizing organizations as complex, adapting, self-organizing networks of people
  • focusing on the open flow of information, building respect and trust
  • helping people to find meaning in the work itself

set a goal of where you want to beWhen we were able to shed our old habits at our Plant in West Virginia, injury rates dropped by 97%, emissions to air, ground and water as reported to the EPA dropped 95%, productivity rose by 45% and earnings rose by 300%. As I walked the plant for 5 hours each day we were reminding ourselves to shed the old habits and create a much brighter future.

We can all make the choice to wake up and create a safer, brighter future. Let’s remind each other and ourselves that we can wake up. We can each become the handsome prince that Stephen Capizzano talks about in his fine book.

Some interesting safety data

The Bureau of Labor Statics summary for 2018 shows that in 2018 there were 2,834,500 Recordable injuries. At an average cost of about $50,000, this amounts to a waste of over $1.1 trillion as well as a lot of suffering and sadness.

COVID-19

Returning to work during this pandemic seems to be the right thing to be doing, as long as we do our best regarding social distancing, wearing a suitable face mask, washing our hands, and keeping our hands away from our face. We also have to give our older people special care to protect them since they have such serious effects if they get the virus. Everyone needs to look out for each other and take the steps to do the best they can to work safely and keep everyone healthy. This is not down-playing the seriousness of the disease, but rather looking at a balanced approach where people also need to work and the businesses survive.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Workplace Safety…When Tempers Flare

July 10, 2020 By Leave a Comment

We are currently living in really tense social and political times.

when tempers flare at work risk of injury goes upYou can’t turn on the news or check your Internet homepage without sensing the depth of the issues that our country is experiencing. Whether it is returning to the workplace amidst COVID-19 rules, political protests, religious non-tolerance, or negative nightly news events – we’re experiencing a wide berth of dramatic events. And each of us has an opinion, a response, a way that we individually see these events and cope with this discord.

However we cope, we need to do our best to keep it out of the workplace, because when we allow the national scene to externally influence our internal emotions, then our emotions, in fact, can impact our safety and the well-being of others.

Whenever we are distracted by emotions, the risk of an injury or incident goes up, we become less able to concentrate and our minds get (emotionally) preoccupied. Our emotions can be influenced from a host of negatively-impacting ways; in turn, we can be hair-triggered to respond in negative ways. Today, we are especially challenged.

Below is a list of things that add to one’s emotional trigger points and what we can do when emotional overload pushes tempers to flare beyond the threshold level in our workplaces.

When tempers flare, adrenaline flows – it cranks up your heartbeat and breathing rate and primes your body for a fight response. This is NOT GOOD in our Workplaces! When tempers and emotions flare, regardless of the impetus, then the focus on safety takes a back seat. Emotion takes over. That is when you and your coworkers are exposed to higher risk and become most vulnerable to the unexpected.

So what just set you/him/her off?

  • Someone hell-bent on bringing the national scene/election/politics into the workplace, and you vehemently disagree with their view? (Workplaces should be neutral places).
  • Someone unable to keep their personal views on national, regional, or local events to themselves…to which you disagree?
  • Someone unable to contain negative views about another’s race, gender, ethnicity, etc.? (Even when it is well known that what you think about a person/group of persons doesn’t matter when you come through the workplace door – if you’re going to collect a paycheck, you have to find ways to constructively work together with “all” people, regardless of your personal feelings. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.)
  • Something else? Something that has become habitual? Like… bullying, intimidation, harassment or someone purposely pushing your buttons, again? And now they’ve crossed the line!
  • You woke up angry and carried that into the workplace? Maybe you were stressed out before you came through the workplace door and you’ve taken it out on your mates.
  • You’re tired? Maybe you’re tired of people taking shortcuts in the workplace and endangering others; maybe you hate that immature horseplay that may be happening, and that your supervisor seems powerless to address it.
  • You’re an old-timer and could care less about the poor example you’re setting? (Don’t think people don’t see this.) Maybe you’re impulsive or maybe you just don’t give a darn. Maybe, because of the way you/he/she is behaving, that you/he/she has now not only lost the respect of coworkers, but the unexpected safety lapse is fully lurking around you; someone can get hurt…it is in the law of probabilities.
  • Maybe you have just had a long, hot day and you are bone-weary?

Are you about to lose your temper (for whatever reason)? Cool it!

a moment of patience at work saves a lot of regretIt doesn’t have to be that way! Take a timeout!

  • Cool Off: Take a walk around the building or around the block.
  • Take Two: Two minutes and think it through. Try to remove your emotion from this situation.
  • Ask to have a private talk with your supervisor about your concerns: Make sure he/she fully grasps the situation and why what is emotionally happening is impacting safety and the workplace environment. Talk it through.
  • Recognize that the actions of all of us have an influence on the safety-mindedness of other workers, particularly newcomers.
  • If cornered, avoid responding to the aggressiveness of another: Don’t escalate the situation. (Walk away…it’s okay).
  • Learn some work-group de-escalation processes, like our Stop-It Process – where one group code-word can quickly cool the ardor and bring harmony back.

Tame Your Temper: Because anger can be powerful, managing it is sometimes challenging. It takes plenty of self-awareness and self-control to manage angry feelings. It is hard, but you’ve got it in you!

Self-awareness is the ability to notice what you’re feeling, thinking, and why. Little kids aren’t very aware of what they feel – they just act it out in their behavior. That’s why you see them having tantrums when they’re mad. Adults (like workers in our workplaces) have the mental ability to be self-aware. If you’re still throwing tantrums, it is time you got some help or leave the workplace. When you get angry, take a moment to notice what you’re feeling and thinking.

Self-control is all about thinking before you act. It puts some precious seconds or minutes between feeling a strong emotion and taking an action you’ll regret.

Together, self-awareness and self-control allow you to have more choice about how to act when you’re feeling an intense emotion like anger.

The Safety Bottom Line: Our workplaces have to be as free as possible from the external emotional factors of the outside world. We’ve got enough to worry about internally – within our workplace walls.

Anytime tempers flare (as a result of any impetus – national, regional, political, or internal frictions) or when aggressive, bullying, intimidating behavior is not appropriately addressed, the risk of incidents increase. Hostile workplace and workplace violence potential increases, as does the potential liability for employers who have a duty to employees to provide a safe work environment, free of abuse and harassment.

Emotion-based discord is a health and safety issue. Supervisors need to be vigilant, “clued-in” and able to address such heated times with calm and genuine concern. Emotions can occur inside or outside the workplace and can range from simple disagreements that escalate to temper tantrum level, to threats and verbal abuse, to physical violence. (All no-no’s in the workplace!)

Thousands of people are exposed to workplace tensions each year…as well as the macro-level national concerns.

The advice is solid: Cool It! Don’t let tempers flare and emotions get elevated in your workplace…where severe consequences can ensue. Nope! Walk away – It’s okay!

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As the World turns…Partner-centered Leadership is needed…Big Time!

November 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment

We are expanding the scope and focus of our Richard N. Knowles and Associates Inc. business to helping organizations reduce the risk of workplace violence.

This begins with the leaders deciding to create a culture where it is okay and encouraged that people genuinely talk together, listen, help each other, look out for each other and learn together. This is a culture that helps people to be the best they can be and for the organization to get a lot more profitable. It all begins with all of us treating each other with respect.

Respect: Treating everyone with respect helps to keep tension low. Courteous, respectful treatment of co-workers, customers, and clients is fundamental to preventing workplace violence. What is your organization’s approach to respect in the workplace?

Does this sound like what we have talked about in our safety work? It involves the same approach, which we call Partner-Centered Leadership. At both the organizational safety level and the full cultural level, we are doing essentially the same work. It is all about people and choosing to work together, communicate together, interact together, in healthy, respectful ways.

By emphasizing that we begin with respect for each other, we are setting the standard that it is not okay to engage in disrespectful behavior, to harass one another, to bully anyone whether by a co-worker or a supervisor or manager, to gang up on anyone and/or use other ways to try to impose one’s power on someone in a hurtful, repetitive way. Those incivilities can only be destructive to culture – they make the difference between a hostile work environment and a healthy one.

Each person in a leadership position needs to go into their organization modeling this behavior and talking with the people about this – why it is important and insist that the standards be upheld. They need to support the line organization in doing this so none of the supervisors are hung out to dry.

The behaviors driving poor safety performance are a part of the workplace violence picture. People who are being pushed to work so quickly that, for example, they do not conduct a “Take-Two” safety check before the work starts or skip tool box meetings or are pushed without anyone listening to their thoughts before starting the work, are often the people who get into trouble and get hurt. Their attention is focused on getting the job done as quickly as they can without worrying about their or their co-workers’ safety. They tend to skip critical PSM safety checks which can lead to big disasters.

safetyThis is the sort of culture that Eric Hollnagel is talking about in his Safety II work, which is intended to move the organization beyond the traditional top-down safety management. (I’ve written about Safety II in previous articles – it is all good!)

In a hostile/toxic culture where it is okay to bully someone, things can build over time to where someone feels so bad and helpless that he/she does something violent…a home-grown, active shooter, for example. In 2016, workplace murders accounted for about 500 fatalities and 380 suicides. The second biggest cause of fatalities for women in the workplace stems from workplace violence.

We at Richard N. Knowles and Associates, Inc. have joined forces with Robin C. Nagele who brings vast experience in security and law enforcement. If you go to our new web site, NageleKnowlesAndAssociates.com, you can learn more about each of us and our work. We bring a holistic approach to this important work that leads to better cultures, improved safety and security and stronger earnings.

Guide to Reducing the Risk of Workplace Violence – The Absolute Essentials (by Nagele, Knowles and Associates)

Request your free copy today!

Go to our website and provide your name/address in the comment section. We’ll send this informative resource to you promptly. We’ve had good feedback on this booklet and just completed our 4th revision – further expanding content.

Want copies for your entire workgroup? Give us a call at 716-622-6467.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , ,

Leading in High-Consequence Industries – Red Flags are needed!

August 12, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Every now and then a major disaster occurs in high-consequence industries like chemical manufacturing, petroleum production, refining, and aviation.

These disasters tend to be low-frequency events, which often look like some big surprise just happened. A lot of people get killed and severe damage to their facilities, their customers and the environments results. Often things looked like they were going fine just before the disaster strikes.

major disasters do occur in high-consequence industriesFor example, the workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform received good recognition for outstanding occupational safety performance (the slips, trips and falls sorts of incidents) just a day or two before the explosion on April 20, 2010, that killed 11 people and injured 17 others. The pressures from top management to get into production led to failures of their process safety management (PSM) systems and processes. Communications were limited because management did not want to hear of more problems; they were driving the production schedule. The fine occupational safety performance masked the PSM deficiencies which are more subtle and invisible to upper managers, unless they are keenly aware of the needs for excellent PSM.

Part of being keenly aware is getting out of their offices and into the field looking, listening, talking with the people, and learning what is really going on. The gap between PSM-as-imagined and PSM-as-done was huge. When the pressures for production begin to overwhelm the safety systems, red flags need to be raised. The culture needs to be one where people can bring up problems and challenge the pressures without sacrificing their careers.

Another example occurred at the DuPont Belle, West Virgina plant (now Chemours) where I was the plant manager. I used the Partner-Centered Leadership (PCL) approach when I was there. I spent 5 hours a day in the plant looking, listening, talking with the people, and helping to build higher standards and performance. Along with all our other improvements, our occupational safety and ergonomics injury rates (Total Recordable Case Rate (TRC) dropped by over 97% to about 0.3 and emissions to air, water and land (a measure of our PSM performance) dropped by over 95%.

When I was transferred, the people close to the actual work continued to self-manage themselves with all we had learned about PCL, and their TRC stayed around 0.3 for 12 more years. However, the new managers that came after me used the traditional top-down approach and pulled lots of the PSM decision-making up to themselves. The TRC rates were so good that they left the people close to the work using PCL alone. The managers started to cut corners by limiting funds, cutting back on engineering support, letting inspection timelines slip, and the like. While the TRC looked great, the PSM was slowly rotting away and things fell apart.

They eventually had a series of disasters and an operator was killed. The managers hardly got out of their offices, lost contact with the people, let the standards slip and trust fell apart with the result that the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done became very wide. This sounds like the Deepwater Horizon pattern.

Safety in High-Consequence Industries

people need to continue to work safely to have a great safety cultureNow we have another example with the mess at Boeing and the 737 Max crashes. Top management was feeling the pressures for market share from Airbus and putting terrific pressures on cost reduction and faster production.

According to an April New York Times story, the people were forced to take short cuts, and about a dozen whistle-blower claims and safety complaints on things like defective manufacturing, quality problems, and debris left on planes were ignored. Training of pilots was shorted from 4 to 2 sessions in flight simulators. These problems went from the top of the organization all the way down. Now after two crashes 346 people are dead. There is a lot left in this story as it unfolds. Again, this pattern is like the first two stories.

In these high consequence industries, the top management needs to have a discipline of raising red flags when they are feeling the pressures to hurry up, cut costs and produce more. These pressures shutdown and destroy the communications, quality, and safety standards. This takes discipline and courage but that is the nature of the business. Leading businesses where there are high-consequence, low frequency events requires focus, skill and leading using the PLC approach.

When the system fails, it is not the top managers who get killed!

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Building a Civil, Respectful, Engaged, Safe, Profitable Place to Work

June 10, 2019 By 1 Comment

I think that most people want to work at a place that is like this. We spend a large part of our lives at work, so let’s make things really good.

together we can work together to have a safe workplaceThis is quite attainable with authentic, courageous leaders who take a stand that this is the sort of place they want to lead. The knowledge and technology are available and broadly known by lots of people so I want to share my own experiences.

Building a workplace like this results in the elimination of a lot of waste.

Some examples of the sources of waste are:

  • HR time spent investigating claims of harassment or bullying
  • High turnover
  • Low morale
  • Low engagement
  • Indifference by some people
  • Resistance to change
  • Graffiti and vandalism
  • Fighting
  • Sloppy workmanship
  • Many injuries and incidents
  • Poor housekeeping
  • Unnecessarily long times to get work done
  • Some OSHA investigations and law suits

In some organizations where there is a lot of bullying, harassment and worse, the level of waste could be as high as 20% of their payroll cost. This can all be avoided!!!

Here are the things I did that helped me a lot in tackling this problem when I was a plant manager:

  • I had to develop the focus within me that lack of respect and incivility were serious problems and I had to personally address them. If I was the problem, I had to work on that. I had to take a public stand on my beliefs that disrespect and incivility among us was unacceptable.
  • I then had to let everyone know that I would not tolerate anyone being treated with disrespect and incivility. I had to explain that:
    • none of us had a right to treat each other this way,
    • the open, free flow of information was vital for us to learn,
    • we needed to create a place where it was safe for people to talk together, share and learn,
    • it is very hard on the people impacting psychological safety,
    • it can lead to injuries and violence, and
    • it is very big, darn waste that we can eliminate if we work together. All of us need to play a part.
  • Then I had to go into all the workplaces in the plant, respectfully yet firmly, talking with everyone. Sometimes these conversations were not easy as some people pushed back and challenged me.
  • I did this day after day for months; trust and interdependence grew; slowly things changed. Everyone could see what I was doing and they knew that they could correct me if I made mistakes. Improvements in all dimensions of our work began to show up. Morale grew. There were fewer injuries and incidents. Turnover and absenteeism dropped. The environmental performance improved along with better customer service. Housekeeping improved. More work was getting done on schedule and costs were lower.

organizational leader's should look to the futureThis all began with my determination to work on improving respect, civility and safety. As I built credibility and trust with everyone, people began to make improvements in many other areas. Everything got better.

I need to emphasize that respect in the workplace is so very important. Lack of respect degrades everything. Lack of respect leads to harassment, bullying, sabotage, fighting, and even murder. The leaders set the tone and the standards. Bullying is a problem in over half of our workplaces and about half the bullying is from managers. This is just unacceptable. Not only does it demean the people, it causes safety problems and wrecks involvement and productivity.

Some managers have told me that they do not have the time for working this way. For me, working this way led to far better results than anything that I had learned in all the management courses I had been sent to over the years. As we at the plant came together, working with respect and civility, the level of engagement went way up. This led to more and more improvement. Injury rates dropped 98%, productivity rose 45% and earnings rose 300%. I found this to be a much more satisfying way to work.

  • It was easier for me.
  • It was fun to see the people grow.
  • The results were terrific!

Shifting to this way of working is quite do-able. It takes courage, concern, care, and commitment. Do you have the will? It is worth the effort!

I would be happy to talk with anyone about working this way and share experiences. Call me at 716-622-6467.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Our Progress is Too Slow for Safety!

February 12, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Our safety progress here in the USA, in having fewer people getting hurt and killed at work, is way too slow.

Our Progress is Too Slow with SafetyA review of the Bureau of Labor Statics summary of fatal occupational injuries for 2011-2017 shows a 1% drop in fatalities from 2016 to 2017 to a total of 5,147 people having lost their lives at work. This is about 9% higher than the 4,693 people killed in 2011. The top three 2017 fatalities categories are roadway accidents totaling 1,299 (up 15% since 2011); slips, trips and falls totaling 887 (up 23% since 2011); and murders and suicides totaling 733 (up by only 2% since 2011).

Huge efforts by OSHA, The OSHA Voluntary Protection Program, ASSP, the Campbell Institute, the National Safety Council, NFPA, all their safety professionals and others seem to be stuck. A lot of significant effort like the ISO 45001 work is taking place. Big conferences are being held to share information, new ideas and all sorts of PPE, and other safety equipment. The ASSP conducts many safety professional certification programs in addition to all the various training programs and workshops. There is a lot of good information on the Internet to help as well. There is a lot going on! The amount of knowledge and expertise on safety is huge.

Why?

But why aren’t the improvements showing up in fewer people getting killed? Safety is about everyone going home to their families and loved ones healthy and injury-free.

I have a hunch!

Having worked as both a plant manager of big chemical plants for 13 years and consulting around the world for 23 years in all sorts of organizations, I have realized that so much of what we do in safety is managing the systems and processes and trying to keep things stable, focusing on reliability, predictability, stability, and control. This is good for the step-by-step, linear processes like running payroll, a production line, conducting a basic safety training session, or caring for the equipment and facilities and doing excellent PSM. Most supervisors and managers get promoted because they are doing a good management job. Every supervisory and management position has elements of managership that are very important and must be well done. But when we drive this sort of thinking relentlessly onto the people treating them like machines, things do not go well. This is where we are stuck in our safety work!

We need courageous leaders!

We need courageous leaders who focus on the people, change and the future. Leaders value sharing information, building trust and interdependence, and helping people to see how their job is important for the success of the whole venture.

Leaders see their organizations as if they are living systems; people are living systems so let’s treat them that way! Leaders go into their organizations on a daily basis modeling respect and openness, listening to and talking with the people about safety, the business and other important subjects. Leaders take a stand and ask the people to help them live up to it.

My safety stand was, “I do not have a right to make my living at a place where it is okay for you to get hurt. We also have to make profits so let’s get going and do both.” My stand on disrespect, harassment and bullying was that this was totally out of place. We need to treat each other with respect. I asked the all the people to hold me accountable to live up to these stands and they did.

When talking with the people, ask questions like these about their job:

  • How is your job going?
  • Do you know a better way to do it?
  • What are your two biggest safety hazards today and how are you going to manage these? (Employees need autonomy to be able to think things through!)
  • Do you have all the information you need?
  • Do you have the right tools and PPE for this work?
  • How can I help you?

In leading this way, I used tools for complex adaptive systems to help me develop clarity and co-create, with the people, the principles and standards of behavior like be respectful, listen, help each other, ask for help if needed, look after each other, apologize for mistakes, and tell the truth. We held ourselves and each other accountable to live up to these principles and standards.

Leading this way will help to shift us from Eric Hollnagel’s vision of Safety I to Safety II. In managing, we get stuck in Safety I and in leading, we break out and achieve Safety II.

Every supervisory and managerial position has a leadership component in their work. Supervisors have a larger managership component and higher level managers have a large leadership component. However, everyone with responsibility for people needs to balance and use both sets of skills.

When I was the Plant Manager of the DuPont Belle, WV plant, I led this way and the results the people achieved were amazing. Injury rates dropped by 98%, we went 16.5 million exposure hours between lost workday cases (8 ½ years), emissions dropped by 88%, productivity rose by 45%, and earnings rose by 300%.

Leaders take a stand! Put your Stake in the Ground!

Go into your organizations listening to and talking with the people. Share your vision. Build trust and interdependence. Create safe spaces for people to talk with each other, to share and create the future. Everything will change. That is what I experienced at the Belle Plant.

Safety happens when people take the responsibility to take all they know into themselves and do it! In leading this way energy and creativity are released, resistance to change almost disappears, and everyone can become the best they can be. A lot fewer people will get injured and killed and the business will make a lot more money. This is what is at stake…a Stake that requires Leadership.

All it takes is the courage and WILL to lead.

Richard N. Knowles and Associates are happy to talk with you about this so please give us a call at 7167-622-6467.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Drugs in the Workplace

October 10, 2018 By Leave a Comment

The opioid epidemic is devastating many parts of our country.

drug issues in the workplaceIt is a problem across society in general and a big safety and HR problem in our organizations. In 2017, it is estimated that there were about 72,000 overdoses across the country. About 70% of businesses report that they have been impacted by this terrible problem. The National Safety Council reports that there are problems with poor prescription drug use, higher absenteeism, injuries, and accidents resulting from overdoses.

In 2016, at least 217 people died from drug overdose at work. This is a 32% higher level than in 2015. No business or industry is free of this tragedy. The National Safety Council survey showed that fewer than 20% of the 500 employers they surveyed felt that they were prepared to deal with the problem. Many other managers are in denial about the problem in their workplaces so they are totally off base.

While many of the large companies have strong drug treatment and rehab programs and spend as much as $2.6 billion to help their people, there are things that all of us can and should do.

What can you do in your own workplaces to address this problem and help the people?

The first step is to acknowledge that you may have a problem and you need to find out what is going on.

work safely in the workplaceNext, you need to reach out to the people with respect and offer to help them. Many people with drug problems believe no one cares, so reaching out to help would be a step forward.

When we have workplaces where respect and caring are the norm, reaching out to people when they seem to be in need can be done as a routine experience. But, in too many workplaces, people are not treated with respect and this leads to a lot of harassment and bullying. In this situation, people feel more alienated and alone so the drug problems get worse and worse. A big step you can do to address this problem is to work to build a respectful workplace. Eliminate the disrespect, harassment, bullying, and other negative behaviors that are infecting your workplaces.

Go into the workplace, sit down with the people, talk together about the drug problem, and ask them to help to look out for those who appear to be unfit for the work, sleepy or drowsy, or careless. This is caring and not tattle-telling. If we care, then we reach out. Ensuring no one gets hurt by caringly addressing a person’s inability to function/do their work safely…impacts all of us…not just the individual.

EAP’s (Employee Assistance Program) are an essential connection for providing help to employees needing help and employers who are seeking ways to have safer workplaces. There are many services and organizations in your local communities who can also provide expert help and advice for your people who are having drug problems so search them out and ask for their help. None of us need to feel like we are helpless bystanders in the face of this devastating drug problem.

You can get help on this from Nagel, Knowles & Associates, so please call us!

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety Leadership Tagged With: , , ,
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