Safety

OR-OSHA 110 Continuous Safety Improvement 1

This material is for training use only

IntroductionAlthough Total Quality Management (TQM) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) ideas have been around for many years, their concepts and principles have not been generally applied to continuous safety improvement (CSI) as a management strategy in occupational safety and health. This workshop introduces CSI and helps you gain insight about how to successfully apply it to improve the effectiveness of your company’s injury and illness prevention program.

Workshop Goals:

At the end of this workshop you should:

1. Be familiar with the origins of the Total Quality Management movement and W. Edwards Deming’s contributions.

2. Be able to apply Deming’s 14 Points to workplace safety.



Form Safety Improvement Teams!

Introductions

Elect a Team Leader __________________

Select a spokesperson __________________

Name your Team __________________

Part I: CSI Concepts Part I: CSI Concepts

Traditional safety management philosophy and practices have resulted in some reductions in accident rates nationally over the years, but it appears that further reductions will require new ideas. A shift in the way we think about safety is the answer.

As you might guess, the concepts and principles of continuous safety improvement find their home in the Total Quality Management movement and Continuous Quality Improvement. In Part 1 we discuss some of the very important concepts and principles that make up continuous safety improvement.



Thinking in terms of process is crucial to quality leadership

W. Edwards Deming’s Safe Production System

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2

Suppliers

Cross Function Safety Review

Consumer researchon safety

Productsafety

Distributionsafety

Production Processes Customers

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2

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Equipment and materials safety

Processsafety

Plan

Study

Act

Do

Study the process flow and any existing data. Formulate possible

improvements, experiments or decide on methods you can use to

gather data.

Implement the improvement effort you’ve planned. Use a small-scale test to implement. Train

those responsible for implementation.

Measure the results of the improvement by analyzing the data collected. Study to see if the process was improved.

If the result was a clear improvement, make the change permanent. Standardize and document all actions. If the result was not an improvement, determine what needs to be done to improve: Go back to the plan quadrant and start over.

The Shewhart Cycle



External customers

Customers outside the organization

Internal customers

Customers inside the organization

Directly receives your process outputs

Why are we customers and suppliers at the same time.

As workers we receive inputs from internal suppliersna d produce outputs for our internal customers.

No employee is independent of suppliers/customers

We are all interdependent.

Customer focus

Inputs Process Outputs



Typical top-down hierarchy to control. Communication mostly directive from top to bottom. Management does all the thinking. Worker input is not requested. Suppliers/customers are external to the organization. No internal customer/supplier mentality.

Each position is both customer and supplier. As supplier, the goal is to provide quality service/product to immediate customer. As customer, the goal is to use service/product to best of ability, add value to it, supply it to next customer. External suppliers and customers viewed as partners within the company. Communication is two-way. Management relies on workers to help do the thinking. Teams continually improve by making small changes to their processes.

CEO

Manager

Supervisor

Worker Worker Worker Worker

Supervisor

SU

PP

LIE

RS

SU

PP

LIE

RS

CU

STO

ME

RS

CU

STO

ME

RS

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer

SupplierCustomer



Deming’s 14 Points applied to safety

Point 1. Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.

What is the purpose of business?

Traditional - short term shareholder profits

According to Deming, what is the purpose of business?

TQM - develop loyal customers, increase market share, stay in business, provide jobs.

How can management create a constant sense of purpose?

Formally - vision and mission statements, objectives, strategies, policies, plans, meetings, presentations, education and training

Informally - conversation, actions, follow-through

W. Edwards Deming was an internationally renowned consultant who work led Japanese industry into principles of management and revolutionized their quality and productivity. He is author of Out of The Crisis and many other books and articles.

What might W. Edwards Deming say about safety and the part it plays in the “new management philosophy?”

Part II: Deming on Safety

Part II: Deming on Safety



Point 2. Adopt a new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for a change.

What are the characteristics of a traditional (reactive) safety philosophy?

Purpose of safety program is to control accident costs

Profits more important than people

Emphasis is on taking the risk. Not worrying about it till an accident happens.

Reacting to accidents - crisis management. Use facts to place blame.

Heavy reliance on accident investigation to discover hazards reduce costs

Heavy reliance on early return to work to reduce costs

Management style: controlling

What are characteristics of the “New” (proactive) approach to safety?

Purpose of safety program is to prevent accidents in the first place

Emphasis is on zero-tolerance. Always anticipating possible accidents.

Responding in a coordinated manner when accident to happen. Use facts to find root cause.

Management style: caring

Heavy reliance on proactive programs, training, accountability, instilling safety as a value in each worker.

Heavy reliance on proactive methods to prevent injuries and reduce costs.



Point 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

Some corporate safety systems depend solely on regular walk-around inspections by the safety director, supervisors and safety committees.

Why is reliance on walkaround safety inspections not an effective strategy?

Uncovers hazardous conditions...not procedures

Inspectors must be properly trained

What can a company do to improve safety without relying on walk-around inspections?

List and describe your ideas:

Proactive activities:

training,

meetings,

job hazard analysis,

recognition programs that reward appropriate behavior (reporting, complying)

incident investigation,

safety improvement teams in each department,



Point 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.

Where does the safety process begin?

Purchasing safe materials, equipment, tools, etc. Helping the supplier design safety into their products/services.

Why does quality suffer sometimes when companies do business with a large number of suppliers?

Each supplier might make the same product, but with varying degrees of quality. Your end product is dependent on the quality of the materials you receive from your suppliers.

What policies regarding the purchase of safety products, materials, equipment, and tools might a company adopt to improve safety?

Develop a close long-term working relationship with one or two suppliers. Help them improve their product in quality so that it meets your high standards. Have the supplier come out to your workplace to better understand your needs. Have the supplier do some training if needed. Go to supplier’s workplace, see how product is being made. Insist on high standards.



Point 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs. Improving quality and safety is not a one-time effort with a narrow focus on a limited number of corporate functions.

What approach to safety must a company take to ensure continuous improvement?

Proactive, continual line-organization focus on safety as equally important part of the production process as well as all other aspects. Instil the perception that safety is a subset of quality and that it’s everyone’s responsibility to build safety into their processes. And, hold people accountable for it.

Identifying and correcting hazards is merely “putting out fires,” not solving the problem. What must a company do to make sure safety problems are solved permanently?

All you’re doing is removing special causes which is a one-time immediate fix to the problem. As long as common causes remain, special causes will continue to result in accidents. You must go after common (root) causes in the system to effect permanent change in the system.

What must a company do to make sure safety problems are solved permanently?

Go after root causes.



Point 6. Institute training and retraining on the job.

What is the danger in too little safety training or training not conducted by a competent person?

If a worker is not trained properly, it increases variation (common causes) in the process. If training is not conducted by competent person, again variation increases. The errors of the one person are transferred to the next unless the person being trained. Variation continues high with increased chance of accident.

Who should do the training?

Competent person, preferably the supervisor who must also oversee safe work and hold others accountable. If supervisor does not have expertise, he/she should get an expert to train. Supervisor should be involved. Learn how to do the training.



Point 7. Adopt and institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines do a better job, and to increase pride of workmanship. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.

What are the qualities of good leadership?

Human qualities - Care, inspire, motivate, work harder than the rest, etc.

How can managers and supervisors display safety leadership?

Leadership - safety is important - watch me.

Recognition

Supplying best PPE,

High quality training,

safe materials,

properly designed maintained equipment

holding workers accountable - counseling



Point 8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.

Deming wrote that the “The economic loss from fear is appalling.” What did he mean by this statement, and how does it apply to workplace safety?

Management by fear is defeating the purpose of the company. Workers can’t excel as long as they are worried about their very survival. Morale suffers. Production suffers.

Reactive safety incentive programs reward “not reporting” accidents. Negative peer pressure can influence decisions.

What approach to safety is required to drive out fear?

Proactive recognition. An enlightened management should recognize the contribution of workers who report hazards, injuries, and comply with safety rules. Recognize it as professional behavior, desired, helpful to the purpose of the company.

Managers and supervisors must be educated about the costs of accidents so they understand why these behaviors are important.

Managers and workers at all levels must perceive/receive benefit from these behaviors.



Point 9. Break down barriers between staff areas. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of production, product or service.

Cooperation and competition. There’s a place for both. But, why may it be harmful for employers to create a climate of competition among departments?

Internal competition is usually unwanted because it might result in undesired behaviors being played out. One group might sabotage the efforts of another to improve their own numbers. The only group to compete against are your external competitors.

If departments compete against each other in some sort of reactive incentive program, measuring accident rates or time loss (which no one can control), they may not report hazards in other depts.

In regard to safety, why is it important for various departments to communicate and cooperate?

If hazards are detected in one department, all departments should hear about it so the company improves the system, accidents decrease, everyone wins.

What workplace group is specifically responsible to help break down safety barriers?

Safety committee



Point 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

Is it within the power of employees, alone, to achieve zero accidents in the workplace? Why?

No. Because they do not control common causes for accident. They control only their own personal behavior. They make choices about reporting injuries, hazards, and complying with safety rules. They do not generally control policies, expectations, accountability, training, materials, tools, management styles, et.c

Is a “Zero Accidents” policy unrealistic? Why?

Unrealistic in traditional sense. Most companies can never reach it.

The only realistic policy under CSI. If system is set up to improve accident rates by 10% in a year, systems are set up to do just that. If the goal is reached, everyone relaxes. Rates go back up. Get a cyclic rate.

If zero injuries is the goal, systems are set up to reach it. The process (journey) is the important aspect of the system. Contentment is the enemy with it comes to safety.

Why might the commonly seen “Safety First” poster be ineffective in some instances?

Implies safety is a priority - priorities change easily - esp at end of production period.

Want to instil safety as a value - does not easily change - workers will make safe choices when no one is looking if they personally value safety.

Values don’t need to be stated on posters if they are properly internalized.

“You can beat horses; they run faster for a while. Goals are like hay somebody ties in front of the horse’s snout. The horse is smart enough to discover that no matter whether he canters or gallops, trots or walks or stands still, he can’t catch up with the hay. Might as well stand still. Why argue about it? It will not happen except by change of the system. That’s management’s job, not the people’s.” Deming, 1985

“You can beat horses; they run faster for a while. Goals are like hay somebody ties in front of the horse’s snout. The horse is smart enough to discover that no matter whether he canters or gallops, trots or walks or stands still, he can’t catch up with the hay. Might as well stand still. Why argue about it? It will not happen except by change of the system. That’s management’s job, not the people’s.” Deming, 1985



Point 11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce, and eliminate management by objectives. Eliminate numerical goals for people in management. Substitute leadership.

What’s wrong with focusing primarily on numerical goals like accident rates or MOD rates to measure the success of a safety program?

Focusing on results statistics, which we have little control over, causes little improvement. If we look only at results, we can only react to results, we do not continually look at variation in the process to improve the results. We have control over the process. Work on fixing what we can control.

If we focus on continually improving the process, the results will take care of them selves.

If, according to Deming, we shouldn’t measure the safety success of a manager purely on numerical results, what should we measure? (Hint: Read point 11

carefully)

Measure leadership activities. We have control over activities.

Safety meetings

Training

Recognition

Setting proper example

Accountability

Supplying needs

Incident investigations

Inspections

etc.



Point 12. Remove barriers that rob people of their pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. Remove barriers that rob people of their right to pride of workmanship. Abolish the annual merit rating.

What is “pride of workmanship”?

A desire to put you name on the product or service you provide.

How may supervisors help increase pride of workmanship?

By supplying the highest quality leadership and resources available.

Worker can’t have pride in the quality of work they do if materials, equipment, tools, leadership is inferior. Workers don’t control any of that. Can be very frustrating, demoralizing.

According to Deming, why might annual performance appraisals that rate or rank employee performance be ineffective?

Should be providing feedback about quality of work continually, year-round. There should be no surprises in an annual performance session. If employees are rated, half are above average, half below. In reality, all are meeting criteria. Variation most probably do to common causes (lack of supplies of one kind or another).

Performance appraisal assumes workers work independently. This is never the case. All workers/managers are interdependent upon each other as suppliers/customers for quality/safety.

It also assumes workers are provided with everything they need to do the job. This is usually not the case.



Point 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.

What would a vigorous program in safety education and self-improvement look like?

Thorough initial orientation that includes clearly stated accountabilities.

Rules are discussed. Workers learn WHY the rules are important.

On-the-job training and retraining on a regular basis. If procedures is done frequently, supervisor feedback is needed. If procedure is done infrequently, practice is needed.

Workers are expected to become expert in safety

Workers learn hazard ID and control principles

Workers attend external training

Workers participate in safety improvement teams

Workers do training

Workers are recognized for safety expertise

Point 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everyone’s job.

How can you get everyone to participate in the transformation to continuous safety improvement?

Top manager communicates expectations

Set up recognition, benefits

Educate, educate, educate

Walk the talk



CSI is a management approach that:

Focuses on meeting or beating customer expectations for process and product safety.

Rigorous use of facts and analysis in everyday safety decisions.

Benchmarking against “World-Class” safety performance.

Effective teamwork across the organization.

Recognition for outstanding safety performance.

Information that helps people and systems continuously improve.

A culture that fosters continuous improvement in workplace safety.

Focuses on effective hazard identification, correction, and accident prevention efforts.

Key Elements:

• Customer focus

• Facts and analysis

• Benchmarking

• Cross Function Teamwork

• Recognition

• Information and measurement

• Continuous improvement

• Identification, correction, prevention

Key Paradigms of Continuous Safety Improvement

CONTINUOUS SAFETY IMPROVEMENT

Quality leadership demands continuous improvement in both the product or service,

and the process that produces it.

CSIMaterials

EquipmentProcesses

People

SafetyFocus on customersImprove all safety processes Involve employeesUse data & knowledge

Presented byThe Training Section

Oregon OccupationalSafety and Health

Division (OR-OSHA)

Introduction to

OR-OSHA 1109808

OR-OSHA ServicesOregon OSHA offers a wide variety of safety and health services to employers and employees:

Consultative Services (At all field offices)

* Offers no-cost on-site safety and health assistance to Oregon employers for help in recognizing and correcting safety and health problems in their workplaces;

* Provides consultations in safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, programs and business assistance;

Training (Portland, Salem Central, Eugene)

* Conducts statewide training classes and workshops in a wide variety of safety and health subjects;

* Conducts conferences, seminars and satellite (Oregon ED-Net), and on-site training;

* Provides assistance to companies in developing safety and health training programs;

Standards and Technical Resources (Salem Central)

* Provides technical advice on and interpretations of codes;

* Provides copies of all OR-OSHA codes;

* Publishes booklets, pamphlets, and other materials to assist in the implementation of safety and health codes and programs; and

* Operates a resource center containing books, topical files, technical periodicals, video and film lending library, and more than 200 technical data bases.

Enforcement (At all field offices)

* Offers pre-job conferences for construction employers;

* Provides abatement assistance to employers who have received citation, and compliance and technical assistance by phone;

* Inspects places of employment for occupational safety and health rule violations, and investigates workplace safety and health complaints and accidents.

OR-OSHA ServicesOregon OSHA offers a wide variety of safety and health services to employers and employees:

Consultative Services (At all field offices)

* Offers no-cost on-site safety and health assistance to Oregon employers for help in recognizing and correcting safety and health problems in their workplaces;

* Provides consultations in safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, programs and business assistance;

Training (Portland, Salem Central, Eugene)

* Conducts statewide training classes and workshops in a wide variety of safety and health subjects;

* Conducts conferences, seminars and satellite (Oregon ED-Net), and on-site training;

* Provides assistance to companies in developing safety and health training programs;

Standards and Technical Resources (Salem Central)

* Provides technical advice on and interpretations of codes;

* Provides copies of all OR-OSHA codes;

* Publishes booklets, pamphlets, and other materials to assist in the implementation of safety and health codes and programs; and

* Operates a resource center containing books, topical files, technical periodicals, video and film lending library, and more than 200 technical data bases.

Enforcement (At all field offices)

* Offers pre-job conferences for construction employers;

* Provides abatement assistance to employers who have received citation, and compliance and technical assistance by phone;

* Inspects places of employment for occupational safety and health rule violations, and investigates workplace safety and health complaints and accidents.

Giveus

acall

Salem Central Office 378-3272Portland Field Office 229-5910Salem Field Office 378-3274Eugene Field Office 686-7562Medford Field Office 776-6030Bend Field Office 388-6066Pendleton Field Office 276-9175

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