workplace safety | Safety Excellence For Business

Building Respect and Trust

December 12, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Why do so many managers and safety professionals keep treating the people in organizations as objects to be controlled so they will work safely?

They seem to assume that the employees can’t or won’t think for themselves and have to be made to work safely. These managers and safety professionals are not bad people, but they are stuck in their basic assumptions about people. So many seem to think that they have the answers and the power to make people do as they are told.

Thinking of the people as “employees” is part of the problem. Thinking of people as “employees” brings different thoughts to mind. The word “employee” is a legal word that defines my relationship with my employer with respect to things like hours of work, pay rates, benefits, etc. It also carries some tough top-down implications. If the boss gives an order, it better be done. The boss and the employee are not seen as equals in terms of respect, hopes, aspirations, good ideas and creative energy.

This has been the approach for generations and yet, there are still over 6,000 people a year getting killed at work and thousands are suffering serious injuries. Just using the same approach, with variations, over and over, and expecting to see real improvements is a problem!

There needs to be a fundamental shift to assumptions like these.

My Safety Focus: Building Respect and Trust.

My basic assumptions are:

We work with people who have brains and can think; their hopes and dreams are similar to my own.
People do want to work safely and not get hurt.
People want to be treated with respect.
The people doing the work have important knowledge and ideas to contribute.
People want to be listened to.
I do not know what they know, so we need to share information together so we can do our best.
Safety is connected to everything we do; it is part of the whole system.
It takes everyone pulling together to achieve excellence.
I do not have a right to make my living at a place where it is okay for people to get hurt.

I did not work on safety as such. My focus was on the people and building trust and a better, safer future. The more I worked this way with the people, the better our performance became. Within 4 years, our Total Injury Rate had dropped by about 97% to a rate of about 0.3. (The rate was only a way to keep score.) The people liked working this way and sustained their performance for 19 years. I wrote about this in my recently published paper in Professional Safety [Knowles, R.N. (2022, Nov.). Leading vs. Managing: A tale of two organizational processes. Professional Safety, 67(11), 42-46].

The importance of building trust and working with people has been known for a long time. Douglas McGregor wrote The Human Side of Enterprise in 1960 about Theory X and Y. Recently the work of others like Rosa Carrillo in her book, The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership, 2020, and even in this current issue of Professional Safety [ Sarkus, D.J. (2022, Nov.). Building community through servant leadership. Professional Safety, 67(11), 24-29.] are emphasizing the importance of respect and trust.

This shift in thinking and working with the people results in a lot fewer people getting hurt or killed at work. Yet why do so many safety people seem to be all wrapped up in chasing injuries and incidents? Some just counting the numbers. Others developing more advanced ways to get employees to work more safely, or to develop better ways to analyze incident situations. Many are just pushing production with little or no regard for safety. Some safety consultants have learned to give great motivational talks that are fun to hear, but have almost no impact in the workplace. The BLS statics on workplace injuries and deaths are not showing much improvement.

The global safety improvement industry was estimated to be over $20,000,000. The trade shows have lots of very fancy safety equipment and the consultants are selling their approaches. Is there a vested interest it doing things like we have always do it and getting the same results?

Many managers think that you can not have excellence in safety and earnings at the same time. That is not what I found at the plant I led where we cut the injury rate by 97% and increased the earnings by 300%.

Conclusion

If the whole safety effort was shifted to treating people with respect, listening and learning together and doing what makes sense, there would be a huge improvement in total safety and a lot fewer people getting injured and killed.

Is the effort to build trust, learn to treat people with respect, to listen more carefully, to build on each other’s good ideas too high a price for saving many, many lives?

What will it take to make the shift?

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership, Safety Partnership Tagged With: building respect and trust in the workplace, creating a safety culture, D.J. Sarkus, Douglas McGregor, leading versus managing, Rosa Carrillo, safety improvement, safety in the workplace, safety leadership, safety management, safety performance, safety practitioners, safety professionals, safety systems, work safely, working safely in the workplace, workplace safety

A Safety Systems View for Organizations

November 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Everything happens through the people and all three phases of safety are interconnected.

Note: Many Safety Practitioners go about their safety work task-to-task without considering the broader “systems” in which they work, nor the people that are impacted by their decisions. This newsletter is intended to help lift up safety thinking and actions to a higher level. A systems approach can have a big impact on improving the total safety performance.

In October, I introduced a new figure showing a whole systems view of safety, where occupational safety, occupational health and process safety management are connected and work together through all the people in the organization.

I have thought a lot about this figure and want to share a new figure with you.

the whole safety system

We all live in a world with dynamic systems moving all around us all the time. When we can see the systems around us, we can be much more effective in understanding how things are interacting and deciding what we need to do. We can become much more resilient and sustainable. This is certainly my own experience when working with organizations. In many ways the safety system behaves like a living system where everything is connected and working together.

The traditional approach I see being taken in most safety work is one where the organization is treated as if it were a machine. The belief is that if we take it apart and fix the parts, that it will work better when we put it all back together. The “master mechanic” comes in, fixes the parts, (the employees) and tells it what to do. Improvement is modest at best, and resilience and sustainability are low.

Taking the “living” safety system apart to fix it, kills it.

In thinking about the living safety system, all the people in the organization are involved and partnering to build a better safety future through continuous conversations in a psychologically safe space, at all levels, about how to improve together, think about new ideas, learn, and do things for improvement. All the people in the organization are the center of it all.

Each component of safety is placed around the people. Each safety component has their own particular technology which needs to be done very well. In doing each part as if they are separate does not result in achieving safety excellence. It is in embracing the whole safety system where everyone wins. Together we co-create a culture that is both resilient and sustainable.

You’ll notice that I have introduced a new term I call “Environmental Safety,” which looks at process safety management in a different way. Environmental Safety relates to impacts on people and the air, water and land from wastes, spills, fires, explosions, leaks, sloppy operations, etc. It includes a lot that is already in process safety management PSM When the PSM is done well, the environmental safety is excellent. When the PSM is neglected disasters like the Deep Water Horizon kill people and create huge messes.

The safety system does not exist in isolation. There are a lot of other systems surrounding it that connect directly or indirectly that can be influenced by how well the safety system performs. A highly effective safety system can have a powerful, positive impact on the larger systems in which is functions. A poorly functioning safety system can negatively impact a lot in the larger systems around it, which can then raise concerns, drive regulations, anger the people, the families, the communities and weaken the business in countless ways.

dig deeper to reach a little higher when it comes to business safety

Conclusion

When we use a systems view and see what is going on around us, we are much more able to make effective decisions. Everything moves through the people. In sharing all information, treating people with respect and trust, and giving people the credit for their learning and accomplishments, we create the conditions where energy and creativity are released. We can effectively move in response to changes and become much more sustainable. The people and the business are winners.

Note: I refer to the people in the organization as “people” rather than “employees.” The word “employee” is a legal term that defines the relationship of the person to the organization with things like hours of work and rates of pay. It also carries strong, negative implications about the boss/subordinate relationship. However, referring to people as “people” implies that we are all in this together coming from different perspectives, bringing different gifts, knowledge and skills which are all needed for shared success.

We all work together with respect and build trust.

Please call me at 716-622-6467 or email me at RNKnowles@aol.com if you would like to talk about these ideas. See also RNKnowlesAssociates.com and SafetyExcellenceForBusiness.com.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: creating a safety culture, environmental safety, occupational health, occupational safety, safety in the workplace, safety management, safety performance, safety practitioners, safety systems, work safely, workplace safety

Respect, Trust, Partnering and Safety…Excellence Emerges…and it Matters!

October 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Safety and Environmental Performance

When I was the Plant Manager of the DuPont Belle, West Virginia chemical plant, I developed a practice of walking around the Plant 4-5 hours a day, every day for almost 8 years, for the safety of the employees. The plant was a mile long and a third of a mile wide, with about 1,300 people working there.

I needed to engage with everyone to get to know them, their work, and to see what I could do to help them. I did not make decisions as I walked around, since that would weaken the line supervision. I would talk about our mission of being the best we could be with our responsibilities for safety, the environment, the people, the quality of our products and work, our customers, our customer service, our costs, and our community. I would share the news of the day, talking openly about things I knew about the plant, our businesses, and the community.

I would also ask if they had any news to share. I would ask for help in how I could improve my own job. There was a lot of give and take; some days were great and some were very hard. My mantra was, “I don’t have a right to make my living at a place where it was okay for you to get hurt. We also need to make a living so let’s figure this out together.”

In our conversations, we talked a lot about occupational safety and occupational health. Many good ideas emerged. I would encourage the people to follow-up on their good ideas and support them. We would also talk about process safety management and the importance of keeping the chemicals in the pipes, improving yields, and reducing waste.

I encouraged them to go after leaks and to talk with the engineers about how they could run the processes better. I encouraged the engineers to teach the supervisors and operators about the theory and processes they were running. I encouraged them to learn as much as they could. I would ask about the safety and environmental maintenance work orders and if they were being taken care of promptly. When people asked me questions I couldn’t answer, I told them I did not know the answer, and promised to get back to them with the answer, which I always did.

We had a Central Safety Committee of about 50 people, which met monthly. People from across the organization participated and led the various committees. We integrated all our discussions, so everyone was thinking about their roles in improving occupational safety, health, and process safety. The 4-person safety group, operators, mechanics, supervisors, and engineers were all involved.

While each of the three parts of safety have their own technology, they all overlap in the people doing the work. We saw all aspects of safety and environmental performance as an integrated whole where everyone could make contributions. As the safety and environmental improvements built, this way of working, sharing information, building respect and trust, and helping people to see the importance of their contributions and to find meaning, spread all across the plant.

Treating the People with Respect and Building Trust

In addition to improving our safety and business performance, we emphasized the importance of treating people with respect and telling the truth. I modeled this as I walked around and visited with the people. I apologized for the mistakes I made. I encouraged them to talk together this way as well. I also worked hard to eliminate any bullying or harassment behavior because it is bad for the people and blocks the open flow of information, greatly hindering any improvement efforts. As it became safer for people to speak up and share their ideas and thinking, our total performance significantly improved. Everything happened through the people giving their energy, creativity, and resourcefulness.

The Integrated Whole

Everyone does some of each of these three phases of safety in their jobs. While each of these has different technologies and requirements, they are all in play all the time. For example, an operator moving a container of chemicals needs to be wearing the correct PPE, lifting correctly and being sure that nothing gets spilled. Or a clerical person needs to be seated properly to take care of their back, handling office equipment like scissors carefully, and putting their trash into the proper containers. Or a truck driver needs to use three-point contact when entering and exiting his truck to prevent a fall, have proper cushioning in the truck to support their back and adhere to speeds that are appropriate for the highway conditions.

All dimensions of safety are taking place all the time, as each person does their work. Each person needs to integrate these as appropriate for their particular assignments and tasks. When these are an integrated whole, their jobs are much easier as they think about them together.

Having them as an integrated whole also goes a long way to preventing disasters like the Deep-Water Horizon where the people on the drilling platform received a safety prize for great occupational safety, and then the platform blew up a day or so later because the process safety was falling apart.

The work of the Belle Plant people clearly shows that if we approach safety as an integrated whole, the total performance of the people improves.

Summary

Trust was built, people opened up, shared their ideas, learned, made decisions about improving their work, and brought occupational safety, health, and process safety management together into an integrate whole. The mood of the entire organization became very positive as things came together. In just four years the people had cut our injury rate by 97% to a Total Recordable Injury Rate of 0.3, reduced our emissions to the air, water, and land by 95%, improved productivity by 45% and increased earnings 300%.

This integrated way of working can happen for your business too. Give me a call at 716-622-6467 for more details. Let’s get started! Please check out our website: Safety Excellence for Business.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: accountability in the workplace, creating a safety culture, embracing safety in the workplace, engaging employees in workplace safety, environmental improvements, environmental safety, improving productivity in the workplace, improving safety performance in the workplace, occupational health, occupational safety, safety performance, workplace safety

Leaders: You Must Understand This in the Workplace!

September 12, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

I’m presenting at the New York State SHRM Conference in Verona, New York, this coming weekend.

That is the state-wide gathering of Human Resource Managers – it is good to be able to return to this big conference (post covid). I’ve also spoken in the near past at Safety Professional gatherings around the fact that it matters what Leaders do or don’t do!

Whether we are HR Managers, Safety Leaders, CEO’s, Supervisors or Managers – the same message applies.

Notes:

I am amazed by how few Safety Leaders understand that the Cultural side of Workplace Violence (which can negatively manifest into bullying, harassment, incivilities, and dysfunction) is part of Safety – having a workplace free of intimidation and abuse is how we eliminate psychological and emotional injuries and incidents.
I am concerned how many Human Resource managers (many of them siloed into various positions, like “I only deal with Benefits; or I only deal with Talent Recruitment; or I only deal with onboarding”), have shunned their responsibility for behavioral dysfunctions within the larger organization. Yet, they do consider themselves Leaders.

Consider this: A Supervisor/Leader walks by an obvious Safety hazard/condition in the workplace, that if not corrected, will likely lead to a physical injury to someone. When that Leader walks by, ignoring it, he/she is telegraphing to the organization what their standard is – it doesn’t matter enough to him/her to take action – it’s okay if someone gets physically hurt.

Similarly, when a supervisor or leader observes or overhears harassment or bullying or disrespectful things being said, or gestures being made, and does nothing to stop it – he or she, again, conveys to the organization that it doesn’t matter – in other words, it is okay if someone is being hurt emotionally / psychologically – in effect, the Supervisor by not stepping up, allows the disrespectful dysfunctional behaviors – and because they go unchecked, these behaviors continue.

This begs the question: Why are Leaders timid? Afraid to step in? Lack the managerial courage? Is it lack of skill? Lack of will? Fearful of how they may be seen? Afraid of not being liked? Afraid of not being supported? There is always something underneath that every leader needs to understand about their own Leadership. How about YOU?

At Nagele and Knowles, we teach Leaders HOW TO LEAD. It is about stepping up, stepping in, and staying in the heat. The heat is hottest in the nosecone of the rocket. Do you need to learn more about handling conflict, engaging, and being better at confrontation skills?

Call us at 716-622-6467. We teach Leaders how to Lead effectively.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: business leadership, embracing safety in the workplace, lead effectively in the workplace, leadership, leadership in the workplace, Nagele and Knowles, New York State SHRM Conference, safety in the workplace, safety leadership, workplace safety

Building a Stronger, More Sustainable, Safer Business

August 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to talk with the owner of a small mechanical contracting business.

He is a fine man with a very difficult, complex task facing him every day. He has all the burdens of the financial, business, and safety sides of the business on his shoulders. He markets, works with the bank and his accountant to pay the people, the bills and the taxes to keep everything going with no one getting hurt. He seems to be doing quite well with this, but it is a difficult scramble.

He also needs to be in conversation with the local Craft Union Halls to ensure a supply of trained mechanics, brick layers, and pipe fitters. He has a base workforce of about 10 people and augments this with people from the Union Hall as the level of the business projects fluctuate. But the Unions are having trouble getting people to train so the supply of trained craft people is limited, and this causes a lot more strain on him and the business.

He does residential and commercial work of all varieties and complexity, so the people need to know what they are doing and do it safely. As various jobs come up, he has to send the right craft people, with the right skill levels to staff the jobs. He has a central office, a large storage area, and a truck garage, but the work is all scattered across a wide geographical area, so he is highly dependent on the people doing the jobs well and safely.

Since some of the newer craft people from the Union Halls are not highly skilled, he also has to do specialized training to bring them up to speed. But discipline is lax; some people come to work late, holding up jobs, while others spend their time on their cell phones rather than paying attention to training videos. This is highly frustrating.

With the wide-spread use of cocaine and other drugs, he is also constantly worrying if the people are mentally ready to do their work. He tries to visually assess the people, but it is very hard to judge drug impairment, so this is a constant worry.

His mind is constantly racing.

Are they setting up the work area so it will be safe? If they are going to use a high-lift, are they setting it up properly with the out riggers properly positioned? Are they lifting properly so they do not hurt their backs? Do they have the right glasses, gloves and other protective equipment and are they using them? Are they looking out for each other? The questions race through his mind.

So here is a good man with a vast array of priorities trying to cover and manage it all. I was impressed at how well he actually was doing.

We then talked together about how he manages and leads all this. Mostly, his approach is to tell the people what to do and remind them to work safely. Several times a week he goes out to see the various jobs and check on their safety. But mostly the people work alone or in pairs and self-manage themselves. He hopes they are always working safely but is concerned that too many of the people may be cutting corners. Several years ago, they did have a very serious injury so that is heavy on his mind.

As we talked, it became apparent that he and his 10-person core team had to change their working relationship from one of top-down orders to one with everyone pulling together so the business can really succeed, be sustainable and no one gets hurt. This core group would all share the leadership responsibilities and ensure that everyone was working at the highest level of safety and fulfilling the demands of their particular jobs.

A Half-Day Workshop

We talked together about bringing them all together for a half-day workshop to talk together about doing things differently. We’ll begin to build the trust they need, to share the information about the need to keep the business profitable, to improve customer relations, to work safely, and keep paying good wages. We would draw out good ideas and insights from everyone and build on these to get better. The collective intelligence of the whole group will rise as we work together in this workshop.

We decided to use the Cycle of Intelligence tool to hold and guide the workshop conversation. We’ll begin with the question “How can we build a stronger, safer business together?” As we talk together, everyone will get a better view of what is going on and see the whole business as well as the parts and the interaction of the parts.

Trust will build and together they’ll develop a plan to move forward transforming the business and safety to much higher levels of performance. The key parts of the conversation will be written onto a big wall chart as we go so everyone can see it and keep track of what they see and decide they need to do. This chart will be used as their strategic plan and guide going forward.

I have done many workshops using the Cycle of Intelligence, and improvement always emerges as long as the people are willing to talk together, listen and learn. This is going to be a fun project to see develop. I’ll keep you posted.

If you find that your business can relate to this situation, give me a call at 716-622-6467.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: accidents in the workplace, Cycle of Intelligence, higher levels of safety performance, leadership, leadership responsibilities, strategic planning for safety, sustainable business, working relationships for safety, working safely, workplace safety

Process Safety Management (PSM)…

May 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Why Process Safety Management is needed and everyone needs to be Involved!

Week after week I read of explosions and fires at refineries, chemical plants and dust-producing operations like sawmills and grain elevators. There are usually people hurt or killed. Communities are forced to shelter in place or evacuate. Families suffer great loss. There are always estimates of the loss of money and the difficulty of getting back into production.

These are sad situations that are usually avoidable if the managers and engineers would only do their duty to conduct strong process safety management (PSM) work. PSM does require having trained engineers to do the work. It may require money when a defect is found the needs repair. It is often routine and boring work as in inspecting relief valves, for example. It often is narrowly focused on just the specific process without taking the whole system into mind. This is critical work that responsible managers and engineers need to conduct rigorously. It is a necessary discipline. (Process Safety Management came about as OSHA’s response to prevent a disaster like Bhopal).

When I read the reports of these disasters, there are often long explanations about things. There was one I read about where the fluctuating liquid levels in distillation columns were unstable and causing the operators continuous problems. The instruments were not showing the full nature of the problem of the rising liquid levels which, one day, got so out of control that the distillation column overflowed, releasing a flammable cloud which ignited and killed a lot of people. The incident investigation discussed all sorts of technical problems which were not addressed since they did not look too serious. But they did not include the whole system.

Nowhere was there any discussion mentioned about what the operators were experiencing each day and struggling to control. It was clear that they had a serious problem, but no one asked them about it. Why do the technical people treat the men and women who operate the facilities as if they did not know anything. These people live with the processes! They have a lot to offer!

When I was the Plant Manager of the big DuPont Belle, West Virginia plant, we brought occupational safety, occupational health, and PSM together as a whole safety system effort where each part helped the other parts. We created the conditions where people felt it was okay to talk openly together about the problems and address them. Where they helped each other. Trust was built so people could be able to do their best. The people came together enabling us all to perform much better.

Our Total Recordable Injury rate dropped by 97% to ~0.3 and our total emissions to the environment dropped by 95% in just 3 years. I look at total emissions to the environment as a key PSM metric since there is less waste from poorly running processes and fewer upsets or failures blowing stuff into the air.

Building trust and interdependence among the people is a very important part of management’s work. It is easy to do this using the Cycle of Intelligence, listening and learning together. Rosa Carrillo has written a fine book about the importance of the Relationship Factor entitled “The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership.” This is easy to do if we just go into our organizations, share information, listen, and learn together. It would have avoided the disaster I mentioned earlier in this newsletter.

Yet most managers do not get out of their offices, talk with the people sharing information, listening, and learning together. Why is this? Rosa’s work and my work clearly show the great benefits to safety and productivity, yet managers shy away from this.

WHY????

In your own organization, what are you doing to open up and share information? What are you doing to open up a safe space where it is okay for people to talk and share? Are you bringing a diverse group of people together to talk and learn?

Each of us can make a positive difference. Will you?

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: Cycle of Intelligence, engage employees in workplace safety, occupational lhealth, occupational safety, OSHA, process safety management, Rosa Carrillo, safety in the workforce, safety leadership, The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership, workplace safety

Artificial Intelligence – Breakthroughs Come with Risks

April 11, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Artificial Intelligence … Technological Breakthroughs Come with Risks … What You Need to Know!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. Leading AI textbooks define the field as the study of intelligent agents: any system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals. In this technologically advanced era, we experience AI all around us – from using ATMs, using a kiosk, using a self-check-out counter, even ordering from Amazon.

In the workplace, the impact of artificial intelligence on workers includes both applications to improve worker safety and health, and potential hazards that must be controlled.

One potential application is using AI to eliminate hazards by removing humans from hazardous situations that involve risk of stress, overwork, or musculoskeletal injuries. Predictive analytics may also be used to identify conditions that may lead to hazards such as fatigue, repetitive strain injuries, or toxic substance exposure, leading to earlier interventions. Another is to streamline workplace safety and health workflows through automating repetitive tasks, enhancing safety training programs through virtual reality, or detecting and reporting near misses.

Robotics is one very useful place where machines and activities can be automated using AI. Precision can be gained, and human error eliminated. We see robots used extensively in production lines like automobile assembly plants, and bottling operations, in the medical and beverage industries. There is a lot of talk about eliminating jobs like cooking french fries in McDonalds Restaurants, for example. In all these activities there is a lot of feedback enabling the systems to be optimized and eliminate any unintended consequences. Lots of hazardous activities can be eliminated through the use of robots. Robots themselves have safety hazards so there is a need to keep people from getting tangled up in the machines.

There is also good use of AI in searching for best practices and searching the literature for possible solutions to our problems. However, it is important to personally evaluate the output of AI systems to be sure the suggested answers make sense, and unintended consequences are avoided. People need to get involved and evaluate the AI solutions to be sure that they really make sense and are workable. Algorithm bias is real. The algorithms are made by unknown people, some place. Hopefully they are competent and careful, but the algorithms are hidden to most users, and the thoroughness in developing them is unknown to most users. Blindly using the AI output can get people into a lot of trouble. AI does not replace good thinking and judgement by knowledgeable people who know the work that needs to be done. Never underestimate the valued knowledge of those closest to the work – their input is critical.

AI is also being used to develop safety training programs and messages. These efforts to control the people in automated training can get way off the tracks. Again, the algorithms are opaque. The companies producing them can be ethical or they can cut corners and mislead the people being trained. Are the algorithms being designed to sell a particular piece of equipment which may or may not be the best solution to the safety problem. Who is paying the algorithm developer? Are their goals really aligned with your needs?

Blindly accepting the output of an AI program will get a lot of people into trouble and hurt. There is no replacement for skilled, knowledgeable people evaluating the AI output. This takes time and effort, and many organizations are understaffed so the temptation to just take the unquestioned, AI output is high.

Please use AI with a high level of maturity, look carefully at the output and make the best decisions you can. If things don’t add up or look strange, challenge the output, and do what makes the best sense. Call me at 716-622-6467 if you’d like to explore this further.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: Artificial Intelligence, enhancing safety training programs through virtual reality, impact of artificial intelligence on workers, job safety, machines in the workplace, robotics, robots in the workplace, safety in the workplace, safety professionals, streamline workplace safety, workplace safety

A Time for Extra Alertness and Caution for Workplace Safety

March 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

It is hard to remember a time like this with so much serious stuff going on.

The COVID questions linger, the war in Ukraine is of huge concern, supply chain problems mess up schedules and production plans, the shortage of computer chips, the shortage of people to fill the jobs which forces excessive overtime and stress, inflation rising, and the move into Spring. All these distractions can cause major problems in the workplace ranging from the shortage of supplies, people, the time to get the work done, and workplace safety.

for safety protocols stay alert

There are also many problems that have an impact on our families and cause us stress. It is hard to leave these problems at home when you go into work. These can be quite distracting leading to mistakes, incidents, and injuries.

More than ever, we need to be working in ways that will relieve some of these problems, but the answers are neither simple nor easy to implement. It is important to share information so that everyone is on the same footing and knows what is needed and going on. Doing things the same old way may not be the best approach. Get together and talk about things and see what is best. As you talk, new ideas will emerge which may be useful and apply to your own situation.

There’s a big difference to note: When you are open to other’s ideas, to discussing pros and cons, to seeking new ways for doing things, to listening to others…(rather than to doing things my way or the highway…) then good things happen…effectiveness rises! And so does your team’s attitude, and in turn, safety.

As you ponder what you will need going forward, do not forget the daily tasks relating to doing your jobs safely. Be careful with hurrying. Resist cutting corners. Don’t pencil-whip your audits and other reports. Follow up on near misses. Take the time to really talk together about what is happening and how you can best work together to get things done.

Many of the things I have been reading indicate that all these distractions are causing real problems with increased injuries and incidents. These are real situations in which we are all trying to work safely.

New Days Ahead of Us for Workplace Safety

So much of our traditional approach to improving workplace safety is based on mechanical ideas about how our organizations work to get things done. In the past, the predominant approach has been based on seeing the organization as if it is a machine and the people as interchangeable parts. This goes all the way back to Frederick Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911. Rules are issued by Management or OSHA and everyone is expected to follow them. Things are driven from the top of the organization with little feedback up the line.

workplace safety is based on mechanical ideas

We live in a world of work-as-imagined, often instructed by people who have never done that work! Most people will try to do the work well, but it is hard to sustain. There are many safety professionals who are stuck in the old way of doing things, writing procedures from their office without input from the person needing to do the job. This is, sadly, still the basic top-down approach of most of the people in the American Society for Safety Professionals – with engagement and involvement of people doing the job lacking.

Now our understanding of how organizations work is changing. When organizations are seen as if they are living systems and people are vital parts, new opportunities open for success. Organizations are complex, adapting, self-organizing networks of people who come together in vital new ways.

Rather than thinking of the organization as if it were a machine with the parts grinding away, we can think of it as a vital, active network of people, self-organizing and doing excellent, sustainable work together.

A useful metaphor is to think about the sport of soccer. Everyone knows the dimensions of the field and the out-of-bounds lines. Everyone knows the rules of the game. At work in our conversations together, we co-create these boundaries and rules, so we try to live by them. In the game, the referees are like the first line supervision who are making sure everyone is playing by the rules and staying in bounds. The coaches are like the managers who are supporting, training, and helping the players be their best. The top managers are like the general managers who are setting the strategy for the game.

The players in the game are self-organizing and making decisions all the time as the game unfolds. If the coaches try to micromanage the game, the players get bogged down and that team usually does not play very well. On the other hand, when the coaches support the players and give them the space to play their best and make the decisions on the field as the game unfolds, those teams usually are the winners.

workplace safety starts with the team

I have used this approach when I was a Plant Manager and the people achieved excellent results. Injury rates and emissions to the environment dropped by over 95%, earnings rose by 45% and earnings rose by 300%. As I have worked around the world with all sorts of organizations using this approach, similar results have been achieved, often quite quickly.

If you would like to learn more about this, please give me a call at +1-716-622-6467. The first consultation is free.

Filed Under: Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: American Society for Safety Professionals, attitude of teams in the workplace, distractions in the workplace, job safety, OSHA, Principles of Scientific Management, safety documentation, safety in the workplace, safety professionals, shortage of supplies, stay alert in the workplace, supply shortage, workplace distractions, workplace safety

Doing Safety Right in the Workforce!

February 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

So much of our safety efforts are aimed at trying to get the people to do safety right.

Photo Credit: OSHA.gov/Safety

There are lots of good ideas, new techniques, slogans, better equipment, PPE and so on. When I go to an American Society for Safety Professionals Conference, I am awed by the beautiful displays of new and better equipment and supplies. A lot of safety people are trying to improve safety in the workplace. It is hard work, and progress in reducing injuries and incidents is slow.

My Earlier Years

Over my 20+ years in managerial positions, working to improve the performance of organizations, I have found that the way I worked in my early years of pushing, pushing, scolding, blaming, looking for root cause, etc. was not very successful. I did not listen well and did a lot of arguing. I took an approach of trying to take things apart, thinking that if I understood the parts I could fix things. I felt that I had to know everything and fix the problems and the people. But the same problems kept popping up and no one seemed to learn or care. Trying to catch people doing something wrong, sets us up for a lot of arguments and struggles. Many organizations where I worked were not happy places. (And I learned that it didn’t have to be that way – old school management certainly had its flaws!)

Growing Up

However, when I began to realize that almost all people are smart in their own ways, things began to change. As I learned to purposefully go into the workplace, sit down with the working people, and listen to what they had to say, I found that most people are doing things quite well. They wanted to help to make things better. Most people do not want to get hurt or cause a problem. Rather than treating them as if they just did not care, I realized that they had a lot to offer and wanted to contribute. I just had to ask them, listen, and create the conditions where they could be their best. (They had so much information and innovations to offer!)

At first, I found the people frustrated and unhappy that no one had ever listened to them. When I first began to walk among them, there was a lot of fear and little trust. What was I really doing? Was I really trying to engage with them and learn? Was I just trying to find something wrong in a sneaky way? As I kept trying, kept listening and learning to talk with the people, and not at them, things began to shift. Each conversation was a little step, so I had many conversations. When I was the Plant Manager at the DuPont Belle, WV Plant, I did this for 4-5 hours a day for over 7 years. (Yes, I kept long work hours!)

In talking with the people, building trust, and helping them to see that they were an important part of our total success, our performance improved. In the first 4 years, our injury rate dropped by 97%, emissions dropped by 95%, productivity rose by 45% and earnings rose by 300%. We kept getting better. I did not do this by myself, the people, all of us together did this. I found that in all these conversations that the collective intelligence of the whole organization went up and kept going up as we all talked and learned together. We all became partners in building a successful business.

My Consulting Experiences in Safety

Over the last 28 years of consulting with organizations around the world, to help them improve their performance, I have used and taught this approach. I have developed a focused tool for our conversations that helps to make this work focused, effective and fast. It helps the people to see what they are doing, breaks down barriers, builds trust, enables them to solve complex problems, and make decisions close to their work. In these conversations the collective intelligence of the groups always goes up. All dimensions of their performance improve, often quite quickly. They sustain this work for years by continuing these conversations among themselves. I call this tool the Cycle of Intelligence. It is simple to use, requires no new capital investment and helps the people, all of them from the top down, to sustain and improve progress in their continuous conversations.

Invitation:

If you want to learn more about the Cycle of Intelligence and how this process works, please give me a call at 716-622-6467 or contact me at richard@rnknowlesassociates.com. We can set up a Zoom call if necessary. (Yes, we do “Train the Trainer” sessions.)

Perhaps you have a story you want to share. It is so important to establish your credibility as a manager or supervisor who is committed to improving safety and to respect your people – because worker participation, involvement and enthusiasm is a treasure. Hope to hear from you!

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business Tagged With: American Society for Safety Professionals Conference, business safety, Cycle of Intelligence, reducing injuries in the workplace, respect others in the workplace, safety efforts, talk with employees about safety, workforce leadership, workplace safety

Peeling the Onion: Exposing the Various Layers of Safety in the Workforce

January 10, 2022 By Richard N. Knowles Leave a Comment

Let’s peel back the onion on some recently published Safety Stats.

The number of people killed at work dropped in 2020 – Good News!

The Year 2021 was full of changes and challenges. Much of the news was pretty negative. But, one piece of good news was that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of fatal occupational injuries in 2020 dropped from 5,333 in 2019 to 4,764 in 2020. This is the first drop in fatalities since 2014. This is good, but no one knows why this happened. There are many possible things that could have had an impact. We must peel back the onion and look deeper.

Here are some stats:

Did the COVID epidemic have an influence? Probably.
Were there fewer businesses operating? Yes.
Were fewer people actually at work? Yes.
The pressures of excessive overtime were up as businesses began to expand again but could not get enough people to fill all the positions. Did this have an impact? Maybe.
Were the numbers unclear because there were more part-time workers? Probably.
Was management actually doing a better job in the safety arena? I hope so!
Even though there was a lot more stress among the people with all the COVID worries, the number of murders dropped by 14.5%. Women made up 16.3% of workplace homicides. Maybe people were handling the stress better than usual. I hope so!
Exposure to harmful substances went up, including overdose of drugs. Was this from increased workplace pressures. Maybe.
Fatal injuries among law enforcement people went up 18.6% to 115 people. Thank you for your courage!

This is a complex problem with which all of us in safety are working to improve. The number of fatal injuries in 2020 was lower than it has been (and that is a good thing!), but the reasons are multifaceted. Please keep up the safety work you are doing and we’ll see if the 2021 numbers improve again.

What Do Workers Want?

American workers want better stability, safety, and leadership.

Randstad, USA, a large professional and commercial staffing organization, recently conducted a survey of their clients, finding that the COVID situation had an enormous impact in raising the workers’ concerns for safety. Workers want their leaders to clearly take the lead, making and acting on decisions to improve their safety and the stability of the workplace environment. Workers want clear standards on vaccinations and working conditions like spacing and overtime considerations. This is a big challenge since guidance from the Government, OSHA, the CDC and the courts is in such flux, and the shortage of skilled workers complicates this even further. This is a huge source of stress on everyone. It is critical that there is open, honest conversations among all the people so the best, most logical decisions can be made. This is really the work of leaders and the people want them to step up and lead.

Getting back to the onion metaphor…the Leader needs to be rooted (strength of conviction, knowledgeable) and have a strong inner core…yet be flexible, able to listen, communicate and most importantly, to be able to step up and lead.

Call to Action: As you peel back the onion around the safety performance of your workplace during this past year, what will you find? Contact me (716-622-6467) and I’ll share with you the “Layers of Safety” I use when speaking to Leaders on becoming the most effective they can be in leading Safety in the Workplace.

Filed Under: Safety Excellence, Safety for Business, Safety Leadership Tagged With: business safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, communication in the workforce, leadership in the workforce, leading safety in the workplace, organizational success, safety, stability in the workforce, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, workforce leadership, workplace safety