The Ingenieur Vol 59 July-Sept 2014 The Ingenieur Vo. 59, July-Sept 2014 | Page 41

We end up writing regulations,
rules and procedures for almost
anything imaginable, and some of
us still do.
Systems
Well, why not put in a system?
This was the start of the EHS
Management System that we see
in sound organisations today.
However, it is only as good as
the purpose of the system. This
is probably the most important
foundation in the evolution of
safety. Now we have a proper
way to Plan, Do, Check and Act
on safety. But, we still write too
many procedures…
Risk Based
The logical next step is to
move to a Risk Based model
where those who create the
risk need to manage the risk.
Basically this calls for a proper
identification and control of risk.
It actually brings us back to the
original intention of “safety”. It
is about risk management. So
now we need to put in place
proper processes where they
were not previously stated
in the regulations, rules and
procedures.

purported solution to bridge the
gap and move the organisation
to a better culture. After years
of implementation, most find
themselves trapped in the tick
the box syndrome of “Behavioural
Observation” and “percentage of
safe acts”. Some organisations
made safety so painful that even
a small infringement might lead
to dismissal. The end result
sometimes lead to an excellent
lagging indicator and an under
reporting culture.
So what else can we do?

Locking up Our
Gains
Before we proceed further, let’s
have a look at how we can lock
up our gains. After all the effort
(it is many years of hard work)
let’s make sure we can keep the
foundation solid.
Let’s imagine that the
safety journey is like trying to
push a ball up a slope. The
steepness of the slope depends
on various factors: management
involvement, organisational resistance, change management

process, the safety department’s
drive, the climate, etc.
As we move up the slope,
we really do not want the ball to
slide back. In real life we use
a wedge to stop our ball from
sliding back. There are wedges
that we can use in locking up our
safety gains.
For simplicity, let’s imagine
we need to move three steps.
1. Green – at this stage we
meet all our minimum
requirements including the
law. Performance is, at best,
at the expected minimum.
2. Gold – this is where the top
performers are placed and
the numbers look good. But
this group still has some
way to go.
3. Platinum – this is where we
find the top performers who
lead in implementing best
practices.
It is taken as a given that
we do not want to fall below the
minimum standards. Therefore,
we need to start locking our
gains by preventing the ball from
rolling back. Let’s start to apply
our wedges.

Behaviours
Realising
that
changing
behaviour
is
important,
organisations attempt to embed
safety into everyday activities.
The common phrase “Safety is
Your Responsibility” and “Safety
is Everybody’s Responsibility” is
enough to make any employee
confused. Whose job is it
anyway? The safety officer?
Mine? Or yours? This is the
nascent stage of moving into
behaviours (and accountability).
Behavioural Safety came in as a

39

ingenieur 2014-July-FA.indd 39

7/9/14 10:37 AM