Episodes
Wednesday May 20, 2015
De-mystifying Safety
Wednesday May 20, 2015
Wednesday May 20, 2015
It is amazing how many workers view safety as a form of Voodoo. They know they can do a job hundreds of times accident-free, then suddenly get injured. What is the difference, and how can you prevent such random events?
To begin de-mystifying safety, you must first define it. Safety has three parts: 1. Identifying and recognizing risks, 2. Addressing risks through conditional changes or behavioral precautions, and 3. Developing consistency in risk control. In short, workers have to know what can hurt them, know how to keep these things from hurting them, and consistently do those things.
Internalizing such a definition tends to take the mysticism out of safety. Each time an accident happens, workers analyze which of the three steps didn’t happen, and understand the causation of accidents. There is no Voodoo, only cause-and-effect.
-Terry L. Mathis
For more insights, visit
www.ProActSafety.com
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS three consecutive times. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence (2013, WILEY).
Wednesday Apr 01, 2015
Probability: Group Experience
Wednesday Apr 01, 2015
Wednesday Apr 01, 2015
A worker using the wrong tool for a job injures his hand. Another worker has used the same wrong tool numerous times with no injury. One worker retires having used this tool his whole career with no injury and another retiree has had three injuries related to using that tool. Each experience is different, and thus, each perception of the risk is different. Some think the practice is dangerous and some think it is not. Who is right and who is wrong?
We express a range of experience mathematically by calculating probability. With enough data points we can establish a pattern to this risk that may not be obvious to anyone who is a data point, but is accurately describing the experience of the large group. Sharing the findings of a probability study can actually change and norm the perceptions formed by differing experiences within the group. This new perception can more accurately describe the risk and encourage taking precautions against the risk even among those whose experience hasn’t detected the possibility of accidental injury. Perceptions, if not thus managed, will vary by experience. Managing the accuracy of perceptions is a powerful tool for improving safety performance that many organizations have not utilized.
-Terry L. Mathis
For more insights, visit
www.ProActSafety.com
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS three consecutive times. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence (2013, WILEY).
Monday Mar 16, 2015
379 - Thinking Steps Ahead
Monday Mar 16, 2015
Monday Mar 16, 2015
Wednesday Feb 11, 2015
Winning in the Post-Season
Wednesday Feb 11, 2015
Wednesday Feb 11, 2015
Many sports teams who have a good season develop high hopes for a good play-off performance only to be badly disappointed. It seems that play intensifies in the post-season when only the best teams are left and winning is contingent on more than the basics. Safety has some similarities: going from poor performance to better performance comes with the basics and reasonable effort. But when only a few accidents remain per year, preventing them takes a whole new level of effort.
The biggest mistake in both these scenarios is assuming that the strategy that got you to this point will get you the rest of the way to top. The problem is that the tools of “bad-to-good” don’t work on “good-to-excellent.” That game plan and those tools must form the basis of your effort, but winning will take a dose of “above and beyond.” The last remaining risks aren’t always visible to the naked eye and a whole new level of analysis is needed. When you get rid of the obvious risks, the next level is less obvious. When you eliminate the high-probability risks, the remaining ones are lower probability and harder to detect. Excellence is a whole new game overlaid on the old game. When you get to the playoffs, develop a new game plan.
-Terry L. Mathis
For more insights, visit
www.ProActSafety.com
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS three consecutive times. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence (2013, WILEY).
Monday Jan 19, 2015
371 - Misunderstanding Hazards and Risks
Monday Jan 19, 2015
Monday Jan 19, 2015
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
Root Cause Analysis is Machine Thinking
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
Wednesday Sep 10, 2014
Reporting Accident Investigation Findings
Wednesday Sep 10, 2014
Wednesday Sep 10, 2014
When you discuss the findings from recent accident investigations either in safety meetings, stand downs, or via email, what is the focus? Do you determine the root cause and describe the corrective action taken by the organization to avoid repeat injuries? If so, that is good but incomplete. You should also discuss risk awareness techniques to help workers recognize developing at-risk situations and precautions that workers can take to minimize the probability of such accidents.
It is not enough that organizations learn from their accidents; workers should learn as well. When root causes lead to corrective action, risk awareness should also lead to safer behaviors and better hazard recognition. If you only do one of these, you are missing half or more of the potential improvement that could result from your findings. Don’t settle for simply improving conditions or improving behaviors. Always look for opportunities to improve both!
-Terry L. Mathis
For more insights, visit www.ProActSafety.com
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
The Danger of Relying on Awareness
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Awareness is an important part of safety, but it is not the only part. Awareness is simply a step in the right direction that produces nothing without the other steps. Further, there are also two types of safety awareness: awareness of risks and awareness of how to manage those risks. So, when people say that safety is all about awareness, they are missing the big picture.
Consider the following illustration: Two people are traveling in a car and one is aware of the need for seat belts and the other is not. Neither of them buckle their seat belts. They have a head-on collision. Which person hits the windshield hardest, the person who is aware or the person who is not?
The true definition of safety includes two types of awareness and one type of action. Awareness of risks is first. In business we call this risk assessment. Awareness of the ways to address and reduce the risks is second and we call these mitigation and precautions. The third step is the action step. Awareness does not improve safety unless it results in action.
Leaders must mitigate risks where possible. Workers must take precautions where risks still exist. Failure to be aware results in inaction. But inaction can occur even with awareness and can render awareness inadequate to prevent accidents.
-Terry L. Mathis
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Injuries Aren’t the Only Kind of Accidents
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
Wednesday Dec 04, 2013
When you think about the title of this piece, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is an accident that produced property damage but no injuries. While that is a common example of this principle, it is not the only one. Virtually any undesired, unplanned, unexpected result of a work process is accidental. It could be argued that anything that did not turn out as planned is an accident.
When you think about it this way, people invest in the wrong stocks, elect the wrong people to office, and marry the wrong spouses from time to time. We don’t blame such accidents exclusively on the stock market, the government, or dating services. Likewise when an organization has a rash of injuries, it might not be exclusively the fault of the safety programs and specialists.
The real key to understanding and applying this principle is simply that good management must anticipate the multiple ways that processes can produce unwanted results and prevent them from doing so. When you think this way, safety is not a touchy, feely specialty to be delegated. It is a principle of good management.
Managers must constantly be on guard against the ways in which their processes can fail or go awry. Such events can be caused by people, machines, conditions, process flaws or combinations of these. Designing and constantly improving all the aspects of business processes is the job of leaders, managers and supervisors. Blaming workers or delegating problem areas seldom creates organizational excellence. It is crucial to remember that when the goose quits laying golden eggs, you need better goose management: not an egg specialists.
-Terry L. Mathis
Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.
Thursday Oct 31, 2013
Distracted Driving - Mitigating the Most Likely Halloween Risk
Thursday Oct 31, 2013
Thursday Oct 31, 2013
Today at work, employees and leaders alike will work hard to control risk exposure on the job. Hazard identification training will take place, new risks will be identified and barriers to safety excellence removed. The vast majority of these same individuals will leave at the end of their day to return home to go trick-or-treating with family members, or stay home to hand out candy. We are increasing our ability to identify hazards and control risks on the job, how well are we doing with Halloween?
My earliest memories of the joys of Halloween are also coupled with the horror stories of apples with needles in them, pixie sticks with PCP (Phencyclidine) or cyanide, child predators, and blades in lollipops. Many of these were myths, but there were truths as well. In 1964, a woman in Long Island, New York, frustrated with the increasing age of trick-or treaters, handed out items containing steel wool, dog biscuits and ant buttons. Thankfully she was prosecuted. In Detroit the same year, lye-filled gum made the news, along with rat-poison as treats in Philadelphia.
Today these stories persist and a new risk has emerged as the top danger of Halloween, distracted driving. According to the article, “Halloween is ‘Deadliest Day’ Of The Year For Pedestrian Fatalities” (http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/halloween_deadliest_day.aspx) some concerning details were revealed based on an analysis of more than four million records in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 1990 – 2010 for children 0-18 years of age on October 31.
- “Halloween Was Deadliest Day of the Year for Child Pedestrian Accidents
- Nearly one-fourth of accidents occurred from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Over 60% of the accidents occurred in the 4-hour period from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.”
- Over 70% of the accidents occurred away from an intersection or crosswalk.
- Most of the fatalities occurred with children ages 12-15 (32% of all child fatalities), followed by children ages 5-8 (23%).
- Young drivers ages 15-25 accounted for nearly one-third of all fatal accidents involving child pedestrians on Halloween.”
Several sources recommend the following tips to help keep children safe this Halloween from the most likely risk:
- If wearing a mask, make sure it doesn’t limit vision
- Wear bright enough clothing or reflective items and carry a flashlight – and turn it on!
- Make sure clothing or costume accessories do not limit mobility
- Cross at crosswalks and intersections, not in the middle of the street
- Trick-or-Treat in larger groups to increase visibility
- If you need to drive, take a cab if consuming alcoholic beverages or are tired
- Do not operate a phone while driving (Teen age drivers more prone to distracted driving)
During this work day, please take time to discuss this risk and prevention options. Share these facts and tips with your work colleagues and most importantly, your family. Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.” Give the power to those you care about, to help them mitigate the most likely risk they will encounter this Halloween, distracted driving.
- Shawn M. Galloway
Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and the coauthor of two books, his latest published Feb 2013 by Wiley is STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence. As an internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture. He has been listed in this year’s National Safety Council Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazine’s 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS and ISHN Magazine’s POWER 101 – Leaders of the EHS World and again in the recent, elite list of Up and Coming Thought Leaders. In addition to the books, Shawn has authored over 300 podcasts, 100 articles and 80 videos on the subject of safety excellence in culture and performance.