Chapter 8 Management Leadership and Employee Participation: Section 3 of Z10 The Significance of Management Leadership and organizational Culture Management owns the culture of its business. In many definition of safety culture, a subset of overall culture, terms such as shared beliefs, attitudes, values, norms and behaviors, shared assumptions, individual and group attitudes about safety are all commonly used. As management provides leadership and makes decisions, the outcome of those decisions establishes the safety culture. The culture of a business is represented by its goals, performance measures, and sense of responsibility to its employees, customers, and its community. All of which are translated into a system of expected performance. What is a system of expected performance? Emphasis is put on this phrase because it defines what the staff believes: what management wants done. It is the staff’s perception of what is expected of them from management and the performance that is being measured. This system may differ from what is written due to the culture that management establishes. The roll of Safety and Health Professionals with Respect to the Safety Culture What is this role? The role of the S&H professional in this regard is the role of a culture change agent as they give advice that supports and maintains a superior culture. With a majority of organizations lacking an advanced safety culture, the role has greater significance and requires much more diligent work to influence management to move towards achieving that ideal culture. While convincing management to value safety as a core value may be difficult, it is important to approach it in the status of a business team member, with wellsupported and convincing risk reduction advice that serves the business interest. Absolutes for management to attain superior results ● An effective performance measurement system is in place ● All levels of personnel are held accountable for results ● Management must establish open communication so that knowledge of hazards and risks flow upward to decision makers Superior results cont. ● Safety professionals should be working toward convincing management that it is in their best interest to have processes in place to find, face, and act on hazard and the risk that derive from system shortcomings. ● Realism in some companies must be acknowledged The business environment ● It is possible that the prevailing business environment makes It more difficult for safety professionals to influence its safety culture favorably ● Drift ○ ○ The systematic organizational performance deteriorating under competitive pressure, resulting in operations outside the design envelop where preconditions for safe operations are being systematically violated It was generally agreed as being a far too common occurrence in the current business environment The business environment cont. ● Other references in the OECD report indicates ○ The effects of pressure to maintain high profit levels and reduce costs may be among the contributing factors for incidents that have low probability but result in serious consequences. ● Safety requirements may be compromised, but the safety culture my deteriorate. OHS Policy ● An organization’s top management should establish a documented occupational health and safety policy ● Policy statement should be tailored to organization’s needs and written in the language the issuer would normally use ● Also needs to be believable OHS Policy The policy statement should ● State clearly management’s position on safety, health, and the environment, and indicate that avoiding injury and illness to employees and to the public from operations or from products sold, as well as damage to the environment are organizational values ● Bear the signature of the senior executive or manager ● Be appropriate to the nature of the organization’s operations and their scope. Policy Cont. ● ● ● ● ● Be current, reviewed at least annually, and prominently displayed 5. State a commitment to comply with all applicable legislation and standards 6. Affirm that all safety,health, and environmental policies that are in place are to be followed 7. Make clear that all employees are to participate actively in all elements of the safety and health management system Pledge to a continual improvement process to reduce risks further Responsibility and Authority ● According to Z10, management is required to define roles,assign responsibilities, provide necessary resources (financial and human), and establish accountability ● Management responsible for “integrating OHSMS into organization’s other business systems and processes and assuring the organization’s performance review,compensation,reward and recognition systems are aligned with the OHS Policy and the OHSMS objectives” Responsibility and Authority ● Employees also have responsibilities to safety by adhering to the organization’s health and safety rules and requirements ● Defining responsibilities and establishing authority must be done for health and safety management systems to be effective ● Also provides a basis for performance and accountability reviews Employee Participation Slide(s) Employee Participation Slide(s) Relating Management Leadership to Serious Prevention Relating Management Leadership to Serious Prevention Case of Inadequate Management 2005 BP Texas City 15 Deaths 170 Injuries Many Problems Which Included: Eroded work environment, Poor communication, Poor level of hazard awareness, No early warning system, Many changes, Lack of clear accountabilities Causal factors were many years in the making and will require concerted and committed actions to address Internal Analysis of Safety Culture Surveys and Interviews Gather perceptions at all levels of employment Taken seriously Perceptions = Reality Provides data on positive and negative effects of: Management, Leadership, Employee participation, Operating Practices, Near misses Resources: SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Paper Case Study From a High Hazard Industry whose work sees fatalities and numerous severe injuries 70% response rate Safety was not a high-value Senior Executive found out it fell back on him Now this same company: holds employees accountable, has vastly improved communications, Safety is valued Conclusion References Manuele, Fred A. Advanced Safety Management: Focusing on Z10 and Serious Injury Prevention, 2nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2014. O OF Z10 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: SECTION 3.2 147 ements of the found in the rategy.aspx protection every vlenviron- provide a basis for performance and accountability reviews. It must be done for safety and health management systems to be effective and to Defining responsibilities and establishing accountabilities is an important step. EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: SECTION 3.2 which they have control, but they are also to have an opportunity to participate in Not only are employees to assume responsibility for aspects of health and safety over mechanisms, time, and resources necessary to participate. aspect of the occupational health and safety management system. They are to have the tion is close to one that I have made and believe to be fundamentally true. If an A statement made in the standard's advisory column next to employee participa- employer does not take advantage of the knowledge, skill, and experience of workers systems and reduce injury and illness potential. close to the hazards and risks, opportunities are missed to improve safety management Employers improve their prevention efforts if they recognize the creativity of the workers doing the jobs. The purpose of reducing risk is well served if the that they are to participate in the ownership of the safety management system. culture makes it clear that the knowledge of workers is valued and respected and substantially from the earlier issue: Although the provisions in the standard for employee participation are not changed ibilities stablish viron- sults is to be ction. ating ther iew, • Comments in the advisory column are more extensive, including reference to and ent. ive eliminate exhortations. W. Edwards Deming's principles : drive our fear; break down barriers; and Contents of Appendix C, “Encouraging Employee Participation,” fills about These topics are covered in Appendix C: twice as much space as was given to this subject in the earlier version of Z10. Introduction Organizational Readiness and Effective Leadership Employee Participation • Other Issues to Consider for Effective Employee Participation • Barriers to Participation. rd er y Extensions made in the advisory material for employee participation are a major change in the standard. The material provided is a good reference source. Two examples of outstanding contributions to risk reduction made by hourly workers come to mind. In a maker of heavy machinery, the innovations of tool and die makers in rede- signing work situations to reduce ergonomics risks were so creative that visitors to the plant were often shown their inventions as a matter of pride. In a space industry location, it became the standard practice for design engineers to seek the opinions of hourly workers before proceeding to manufacture what A CASE OF INADEQUI 148 MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: SECTION 3.0 OF 210 was designed. They learned through experience that the suggestions made errors, and resulted in improved efficiency in the production process. hourly workers resulted in risk avoidance, particularly human factors design Comments made in the advisory column (E3.2C) on obstacles or barriers meaningful employee participation include lack of response to employee impa or suggestions, and reprisals that penalize or discourage participation. Both of these automation, shor may be present f and active failu from strategic a tors, manufactu these decisions corporate culti workplaces. (I As the impac throughout an o culture that dev once recognize examples define a negative safety culture. RELATING MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP TO SERIOUS INJURY PREVENTION reduce the pro large share of incidents resulting in serious injuries and fatalities occurs: My analysis of over 1,800 incident investigation reports indicates that a significantly • When unusual and nonroutine work is being performed • In nonproduction activities become a princ Although n to recognize action to redu low-probabil culture chan change agen • In at-plant modification or construction operations (replacing a motor weighing 800 pounds to be installed on a platform 15 feet above the floor) During shutdowns for repair and maintenance and during startups • Where sources of high energy (electrical, steam, pneumatic, chemical) are present • Where upsets occur: situations going from normal to abnormal A CASE C AND EMF It was also determined that: Data follo leadership safety dec involve e A pos produce ask whe • Causal factors for low-probability/high-consequence events are seldom represented in the analytical data on accidents that occur frequently. (Some ergonomics-related incidents are the exception.) BLOOD • Many incidents resulting in serious injuries are unique and singular events, having multiple and complex contributing factors that may have technical, operational systems, or cultural origins. 20 These studies reveal that often, over time, there had been an accumulation of shortcomings in safety and health management resulting from decisions made that reflected adversely on the safety culture. Other writers have written similarly. Incidents that result in serious injuries are often low-probability events that result from what James Reason refers to as an accumulation of latent technical conditions and operating practices that are built into a system and shape an organization's culture. He discusses the long term impact of a continuum of less-than-adequate management leadership and decision making in Managing the Risks of Organiza- A Cat Excery March and e repor Texa lead tional Accidents, from which the following excerpt is taken. is li Latent conditions, such as poor design, gaps in supervision, undetected manufacturing defects or maintenance failures, unworkable procedures, clumsy exc an 3.0 OF 210 149 7s made by ors design r barriers to loyee input oth of these workplaces. (p. 10) A CASE OF INADEQUATE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION may be present for many years before they combine with local circumstances automation, shortfalls in training, less than adequate tools and equipment, and active failures to penetrate the system's layers of defenses. They arise from strategic and other top-level decisions made by governments, regula- tors, manufacturers, designers and organizational managers. The impact of these decisions spreads throughout the organization, shaping a distinctive corporate culture and creating error-producing factors within the individual As the impact of less-than-adequate decision making by management spreads throughout an organization, employees at all levels respond to the negative safety culture that develops, and risky work practices become common. Such a situation, once recognized, presents a challenge to safety professionals in that giving advice to become a principal goal for them. reduce the probability of incidents occurring that result in serious injuries must Although not easy to do, they must prepare data to try to convince management to recognize the possible systemic causal factors that have accumulated and take action to reduce them. Thus, to achieve a significant reduction in the potential for low-probability/serious-consequence incidents occurring, a different mindset and a culture change have to be achieved. In that respect, safety professionals are culture nificantly eighing change agents. AND EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION A CASE OF INADEQUATE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP esent ated ted Data follow to illustrate a situation in which deterioration in safety management leadership and employee participation resulted in a catastrophic incident. Negative safety decision making resulted in a deteriorating safety culture, failure to adequately involve employees in the safety process, and poor communication. A positive safety culture results from management leadership and direction that produces the opposite of what is described in this case. It is suggested that readers ask whether similar situations occur in the operations to which they give counsel. ng al A Catastrophe in Texas City, 2005 Excerpts are taken from an internally produced report on an incident that occurred on March 23, 2005 at a BP Products North America owned and operated refinery. A fire and explosion resulted in 15 deaths, 170 injuries, and extensive property damage. The report, Fatal Accident Investigation Report, Isomerization Unit Explosion Final Report, Texas City, Texas, USA, was approved for release by J. Mogford, the investigation team leader and an employee of BP. The website through which this report can be accessed is listed in the reference section of this chapter. The Executive Summary highlights the content of the report. As the following excerpts from it are read, keep the safety culture, management leadership, accountability, and employee participation implications in mind.
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