Safety Management by Walking Around

Why Should You Attend:

Managers have an obligation to understand how safely the work they are responsible for, especially safety critical work, is performed. Lack of such an understanding has been a recurrent and principle factor in recent tragedies from the Columbia and Challenger space shuttle disasters to the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Believing (or hoping) that the work is performed safely just because you issued rules and procedures and told everyone to follow them is not enough.

Companies too often fail to know that procedures weren’t used (or weren’t usable), that the lessons from previous events weren’t learned, that corrective actions weren’t implemented, that supervision was AWOL, or that vital equipment wasn’t maintained – until after the tragedy. In legal terms this obligation to understand operational safety (and act appropriately) is known as due diligence.

If you don’t think due diligence is important consider that after the Deepwater Horizon debacle, British Petroleum (BP) plead guilty to manslaughter charges and paid $4.5 billion in government penalties. This fine comes on top of $20 billion that BP has agreed to pay into a trust fund to cover damages. In addition, the two highest ranking supervisors on board the Deepwater Horizon the day of the explosion were charged with 23 criminal counts.

Just 7 hours before the platform exploded killing 11 and dumping millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, four VIPs (2 from BP and 2 from Transocean) were in fact on the Deepwater Horizon conducting “management visibility tours” and inspecting for safety.

Rather than observing the work and actually talking to employees to better understand how the very hazardous well capping operation was going (it was going very poorly with numerous danger signs, procedure violations and shortcuts) they were focused on specific behaviors (wearing hand protection, protection from falling objects) and conditions (slip, trip and fall hazards). These management actions were well intended and more than many organizations get from their managers. On the other hand, the missed opportunity to do something more productive with their time has had historic implications (Hopkins, Failure to Learn).

In this webinar, you will:

• Learn why face-to-face work observations/interactions are such a powerful tool for reducing accidents and unwanted surprises.
• Hear real world examples of disasters that were easily avoidable with a better understanding of how the work was actually performed.
• Learn the principles of successful observation programs.
• Receive detailed guidance on how to perform successful field interactions.
• Learn how to engage workers as partners in continuous safety improvement.
• Understand the value of viewing workers as assets in the safety effort rather than as liabilities.
• Learn the “dos” and “don’ts” of effective work interactions.
• Receive specific guidance on interaction techniques and the importance of a humble “look, listen and learn” approach.
• Recognize the importance of feedback and follow-up to field observations.
• Work with the seminar provider to identify company specific plans to encourage face-to-face work interactions and avoid common pitfalls.

High Reliability Organizations (HROs) with outstanding safety performance have long recognized the need to see what is actually happening in the field “regardless of what we were supposed to do based on intentions, designs, and plans. HROs make an effort to see what people with greasy hands know.” (Weick and Sutcliffe). This webinar is intended to help you learn what many HRO’s already know; how to gain a deeper understanding of work as actually performed in order to proactively avoid disastrous “surprises.”

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

Webinar participants will learn:

• The pressing need for and expected benefits of person-to-person interactions between management and the workforce – at the workface.
• Due diligence and management’s responsibility for organizational and public safety.
• The difference between work as performed and work as imagined/hoped.
• The potential consequences of operational ignorance – safety surprises are costly.
• How humble and respectful workforce interactions build trust and a culture where safety is valued throughout the organization.
• How a “look, listen and learn” interaction maximizes value.
• The importance of interaction follow-up.
• How to becoming a good listener.
• The importance of a learning culture and how work observations contribute.
• How to find the time to interact and other challenges.
• Specific guidance and tips for optimizing the value of your workplace interactions.

Who Will Benefit:

• Managers, from the CEO to front line supervision, are the target audience for this webinar. Safety staff personnel will also benefit as they are the likely program administers. Key workers, such as safety committee representatives, will also benefit from the webinar and help ensure worker buy-in.
• Any company, industry or government entity seeking safety excellence should find significant value in this webinar.

Free Materials:

• Articles
• Presentation slides

James Loud
Safety Management Consultant, James Loud Consulting

James Loud, MPH, MS, CSP. Mr. Loud has over 40 years of hands-on experience in a wide variety of management and Environmental Safety Health positions. Management experience includes direct responsibility for critical organization-wide programs such as worker safety, quality assurance, nuclear safety oversight, training, independent assessment and regulatory compliance. Mr. Loud served as the corporate lead for nuclear safety oversight at the Tennessee Valley Authority and as director of the Performance Assurance Division for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Mr. Loud is a frequent and sought after speaker at national and international conferences, webinars and university classrooms. He has authored numerous articles and papers for professional health and safety and general industry publications on a variety of topics including corrective action management.

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