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Robert Emery, DrPH, CHP, CIH, CBSP, CSP, CHMM, CPP, ARM Vice President for Safety, Health, Environment & Risk Management
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Professor of Occupational Health The University of Texas School of Public Health [email protected]
1
Define “ethics”
Review and discuss the elements of the
ABIH/CBSP ethics codes
Define “dual loyalty” as it applies to
safety professionals
Describe “safety culture”
List examples of ethical decision making
tools that can be used to help address
issues with ethical consequences 2
“a set of moral principles or values”
“the principles of conduct governing an individual or group”
“conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct”
› “If the situation involves risk, then it involves
ethics” Dr. Lawrence Whitehead, UT SPH
3
Be honest -- have you ever read either
the ABIH or CBSP ethical codes of
conduct?
› A. Yes
› B. No
4
Responsibilities to ABIH, the profession,
and the public
› Comply with laws, regulations
› Provide accurate and truthful
representations regarding certifications
› Maintain security of exam information
› Report apparent violations
› Refrain from public behavior that is in violation of professional, ethical or legal
standard 5
(Abbreviated – for full document see: abih.org)
Responsibilities to clients, employers, employees, and public › Deliver competent services with objective and
independent professional judgment
› Recognize your own limitations
› Make professional referrals
› Respect confidentiality
› Properly use credentials
› Provide truthful and accurate representations
› Recognize and respect intellectual property
› Only affix seal to own or supervised work
6
Conflicts of interest › Disclose to clients and employers possible
conflicts
› Avoid conduct that could result in a conflict of interest
› Assure that a conflict of interest does not compromise legitimate interests of a client, employer, employee, or public
› Refrain from offering or accepting payments, gifts in order to secure work or influence judgment
7
8
Word cloud of ABIH Code of Ethics, as produced by Wordle.net
9
Word cloud of BCSP Code of Ethics, as produced by Wordle.net
Industrial
Hygienist/Safety
Professional
Workers
Company
Supervisor
To whom does the Industrial
Hygienist/Safety Professional within an
organization owe primary loyalty?
› A. the workers
› B. the organizational leadership
› C. both
11
Industrial hygiene and safety programs within an organization have simultaneous obligations, both explicit and implicit, to the workers and to the organization
When these loyalties are incompatible, can result in significant ethical challenges
A key consideration: does an environment of trust exist?
12
Recently published study suggests possible link between chemical exposure and specific type of cancer
Chemical is used at your facility
Develop sampling strategy, which consists of personal samplers on certain individuals › Do you tell them why you’re sampling?
Non-sampled workers in same area want to know the results › Who do you/can you share personal sampling results with?
› How would you go about doing this?
› Could this situation be managed differently to avoid ethical dilemmas?
› What if no legal or suggested limit currently exists?
13
Disagreement amongst
experts
Lack of communication, coordination amongst
risk management
organizations
Inadequate risk
communication skills, actions
Lack of exposed
person participation
Apparent mismanagement or
neglect
History of distortion,
secrecy
See: Covello and Sandman 2001
Applying a lesson from business
In contract negotiations, accountability, not
trust, is the dominant value
Accept the obligation to prove contentions to
critics, using methods such as third party sampling, analysis, oversight, or audits
By relying more on accountability and less on trust, safety programs can become more trustworthy
See: Covello and Sandman 2001
Within your organization, are workers
able to speak freely to management
(and be heard)?
How would you know?
Does an absence of voiced concerns
mean there are none?
16
If a typical worker at your facility saw a
co-worker doing something unsafe, he
would:
› A. Ignore it
› B. Approach the worker to stop it
› C. Notify the worker’s supervisor
› D. Notify the safety department
› E. Notify the regulatory agency
17
Heinrich’s Ratio n = 75,000 accidents
1 major injury
29
minor injuries
300 near miss events with no injuries
Historically applied in settings where
the top event was:
› Rare, but
› Catastrophic
Classic example:
› Airline industry
Organizational commitment Worker education – full involvement
encouraged Simple method of reporting unsafe acts or
conditions: “things that almost happened” › Note: may be acute or chronic, existing or evolving
conditions
May be anonymous – no repercussions for reporting
Investigation Intervention Feedback
Near miss reporting systems necessarily rely on open communications between workers and supervision
How workers interact and respond to supervision is critical
Key question: are the workers truly free to question?
Or are we in a situation of “organizational silence?”
Study by Stanley Milgram
Interest stemmed from Nuremberg Trials after WWII
Goal: to understand how people are affected by authority
Study participants to teach a student
Variable electrical shocks provided when errors occurred
Students actually actors who faked errors and being shocked
Authority figure provided instruction to study participants
24
Wrong
Answer!
Zap him! Person portraying a study participant, but actually an actor
Unwitting actual research subject, relaying commands and applying electrical shocks if wrong answer given
Supervisor
63% of study participants provided shocks to students knowingly above the lethal level
Although the study is now noted today for its ethical problems, it did reveal issues inherent to certain organizational environments
Organizations must hold safety as a core value, visible to all
Need to encourage input through word and deed –do we say one thing and do another?
Eliminate even the notion of intimidation – acknowledge and reinforce positive acts
Actively solicit input, listen, act, respond
Many definitions exist, most exhibit similar themes such as
› “the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions shared by natural
groups as defining norms and values which determine how they act and react in relation to risk and risk control systems” (Hale 2000)
› “Culture” (a noun) is linked inextricably to “behavior” (a verb). Culture can’t be directly measured, but behavior can. Behavior, good or poor, can be an indicator of culture “Safety Climate” a snapshot indication of overall “Safety
Culture”
› In short: safety culture is how people behave when no one
is looking
27
U.S. Chemical Safety Board
› Investigation into 120 lab accidents – noted
absence of culture of safety
› Deepwater Horizon accident noted to be similar
to Texas City Refinery event – absence of culture
of safety
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
› Focus on safety culture at reactors
American Board of Industrial Hygiene
› New ethics continuing education requirement
28
Consider this paradox: Addressing the most
frequent workplace injuries experienced by an
airline – namely injuries to baggage handlers – in
no way provides assurance that a plane crash will
not occur
Such assurance is achieved only when everyone in
the organization is attentive to safety at each step
of the process – particularly in highly complex risk
settings See: Prof. Andrew Hopkins remarks in US
CSB video “Anatomy of a Disaster”
29
30
Catastrophic Event
31
Catastrophic Event
Safety
Culture
32
Catastrophic Event
Safety
Culture
Individual
Ethical
Decision Individual
Ethical
Decision
Individual
Ethical
Decision
Individual
Ethical
Decision
The existence of an EH&S program, while important, does not ensure a viable safety culture
A true culture of safety requires commitment across the organization – with a particular emphasis on the front line supervisor as they are primarily responsible and accountable for the safe conduct of workers and operations
› But are the front line workers equipped with the tools to
make ethical decisions regarding safety?
Important for EH&S to function as a role model and in a service capacity, perceived as providing a collegial and valuable service to the organization
33
Safety’s focus › Hot works permit, portable fire extinguisher, fire
watch
› Protective equipment for eye’s lungs, skin
› Curtains, barriers
› Confined pace, elevated work surface
But was the weld done correctly? How do we
know? › Welder proficiency, professionalism
› Knowledgeable supervisor who verifies work
› Worker empowered to voice concerns
› Management commitment/support
34
“Many of the definitions of safety culture present a view of workers having a shared set of values and beliefs regarding safety”
“However, the presence of subcultures within an organization suggests an absence of a cohesive safety culture”
“Therefore, it is questionable whether a culture change program can be designed for any large organization without taking into account the subcultures in place, how they interact and the power relations between them”
CSHEMA’s pilot work on measuring safety climate on campuses suggests recognition of safety performance (both good and bad) warrants attention
Pidgeon, 1998
35
Gutierrez, et al. In revision
36
1
2
3
4
5
Perceptions of Risks Being Managed
Employee's Safety
Commitment
Administration's Safety
Commitment
Department and Supervisor's Commitment
Recognition of Safety
Performance
Sa
fety
Cli
ma
te
Safety Climate Dimensions
Figure 2: Five Dimensions of Safety Climate (Means and Standard Deviations) for the Five Universities on a Five Point Likert Scale†, n=971
Institution 1 Institution 4 Institution 2 Institution 3 Institution 5
very low
perception of
safety†
low
perception of
safety†
neutral
perception of
safety†
high
perception of
safety†
very high
perception of
safety†
Real culture change requires a long term view and
commitment
Not an engineering solution – it’s an organizational
solution
Recently published report on a grassroots led,
management supported change at a major utility
that took 9 years to fully implement
Simon and Cistaro, Prof Safe April 2009 37
Principle
› Autonomy
› Non-maleficence
› Beneficence
› Justice
› Truth-telling
› Promise-keeping
Duty
› Respect self governance
› Do not inflict harm on others
› Promote the good of others
› Give others what is owed or due them, give others what they deserve
› Disclose all relevant information honestly and intelligibly, do not intentionally deceive
› Be faithful to just agreements, honor contracts
38
Junior pipefitter notices what appears to be excessive corrosion within a critical pipe, but supervisor says sign off on it. Within your organization, what would the junior pipefitter do?
a. Sign off as instructed
b. Ask why is it ok to sign off
c. Refuse to sign off
d. Report to the company?
39
Contractor junior pipefitter notices what appears to be excessive corrosion within a critical pipe, but supervisor says sign off on it. Within your organization, what would the contractor junior pipefitter do?
a. Sign off as instructed
b. Ask why is it ok to sign off
c. Refuse to sign off
d. Report to the host company?
40
Budget constraints have resulted in reduced workforce, placing more demands on remaining workers. Impossible to do all required maintenance. Within your organization, what would the front line workers do?
› A. keep quite and do the best they can
› B. voice concerns to supervisors
› C. voice concerns to management
› D. voice concerns to regulatory agencies
41
How much longer should this
presentation last?
› A. Stop now – I can’t take any more
› B. A bit longer, but please wrap up soon
› C. Please don’t stop
› D. Too late, I’m already asleep
42
1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Create a guiding coalition
3. Develop a vision and strategy
4. Communicate the change vision
5. Empower broad-based action
6. Generate short-term wins
7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
8. Anchor new approaches in the culture
Kotter, 1995
43
Instilling a true culture of safety is a long term process requiring commitment and involvement at all levels of the organization
The issue of ethical decision making that leads to a culture of safety goes far beyond the traditional boundaries of typical safety programs
Safety can seize the leadership role in educating the organization about the need for ethical decision making at all levels to instill a true culture of safety
It is our professional obligation to do so!
44
American Board of Industrial Hygiene, Code of Ethics. Available at: http://abih.org/sites/default/files/downloads/ABIHCodeofEthics.pdf
Covello, V. and Sandman, P. Risk communication: evolution and revolution. In Wolbarst A. (ed) Solutions to an Environment in Peril. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press (2001): 164-178
Gutiérrez, JM, Emery, RJ, Whitehead, LW, Burau, KD, Felknor, SA. A multi-site pilot test study to measure safety climate in a university work setting. In revision.
Kotter, J. Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review. PN4231, March-April; 59-67. 1995.
London, L. Dual loyalties and the ethical and human rights obligations of occupational health professionals. Amer J Industrial Med 47:322-332, 2005.
Patankar, MS, Bown, JP, Treadwell, MD. Safety Ethics: Cases from Aviation, Healthcare and Occupational and Environmental Health, Ashgate Publishing 2005.
Pidgeon, NF Systems, organizational learning, and man-made disasters. In A. Mosleh and R. Bari (Eds.) Proceedings of International Conference on Probabilistic Safety and Management - PSAM IV, London, Springer-Verlag, 2687-2692, 1998.
Pidgeon, NF Stakeholders, decisions and risk. In A. Mosleh and R. Bari (Eds.) Proceedings of International Conference on Probabilistic Safety and Management - PSAM IV, London, Springer-Verlag, 1583-1590, 1998.
Simon S, Cistaro PA. Transforming Safety Culture: Grassroots-Led/Management-Supported Change at a Major Utility. Prof Saf April 28 -35; 2009
US CSB Anatomy of a Disaster (video) Available at: http://www.csb.gov/videoroom/detail.aspx?vid=16&F=0&CID=1&pg=1&F_All=y
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I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today.
Your comments and questions are welcomed!