Editor's Note: This is a continuation of an excerpt from Wayne Pardy's new book, which we think will be called, Safety Management Systems. . . The New Generation of Safety Improvement Tools. We've edited the excerpt for the SafetyXChange format. We'll tell you more about the book and where to buy it once it's published.

It's not just what we say but how we say it - both verbally and in writing - that spells the difference between clarity and confusion. While many still refer to their safety system as a "program," the safety program is actually just one piece of the system. A system can be added to, subtracted from and otherwise altered to keep up with shifting priorities. In order to define you OH&S system, it's important to first describe exactly what your system will be comprised of, i.e., what are the health and safety "programs" which you will utilize in your system.

Safety & Language

What's in a name? Plenty, especially when you look at the rich jargon that safety professionals have developed over the years to demonstrate to others just how much we know about safety and how much they (the rank and file/management) don't.

All cynicism aside, the language that we use in our day-to-day dealings with others has the potential to speak in a positive way to many of the issues which require special attention. With the world around us becoming more complex and fast-paced, simply keeping up is a major challenge. Keeping up to the point of having some impact on the pace of change is an even greater challenge.

Defining Your Safety Management System

Let's take a quick look at the definition of a system:

• A system is defined by identifying all interrelated processes, and their associated interdependencies.
• A system is managed as a system of interrelated processes.
• A system is improved by continuous measuring and evaluating all related processes.

Applying the Definition

Depending on your industry, its attendant risks and the regulatory environment within which your business operates, your system may look drastically different from that of fellow safety professionals. Generally speaking, part of your OH&S system can be defined to come under a number of headings that help determine which OH&S "programs" fall under the system. For example, one aspect of your OH&S system may be classified under risk management; another may be accident/incident investigating and reporting; and still another may be safety meetings. You can continue to grow and build upon your respective programs until you have compiled for yourself a rather lengthy array of OH&S programs.

Then, you need to break these programs down into their respective system headings. For example, under the corporate heading of the XYZ Company's OH&S Management System, you can identify a Leadership and Administration section, an Investigation and Analysis section, a Compliance section, an Emergency Response section, and so on.

Here's a practical exercise. Underneath these respective sections plot or graph, for visual impact, the various OH&S programs that comprise your entire OH&S management system. This visual depiction of your OH&S system can also be a great tool in explaining to management, or anyone else for that matter, exactly how the pieces of your system fit together.

Conclusion

Next week, I will end the series by discussing the crucial role played by measurement in system performance.

ROAD RAGE

A Growing Problem

By Glenn Demby

Question: What do automobile horns, bumpers and high-beam lights have in common?

Answer: They are all safety devices that are with increasing regularity being transformed from a shield to a sword.

When I learned to drive almost 30 years ago, the talk was defensive driving and courtesy to fellow drivers. Now it's like the Wild West out there. Sure, most people are still courteous and careful. But it also seems that there are ever increasing numbers of jerks - aggressive drivers who don't care about others and who take being honked at like a direct insult to their ancestry.

Documenting the Problem

The new tone on the roads is not just a figment of my imagination. Others have noticed it, too. In fact, the road rage problem has gotten so bad that a Connecticut organization called AutoVantage has begun to publish an annual list of the meanest drivers in America, based on surveys and incidents of road rage. The 2007 list came out yesterday. The 15 cities with the worst road rage problems are in order:

1. Miami
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Phoenix
7. Chicago
8. Sacramento
9. Philadelphia
10. San Francisco
11. Houston
12. Atlanta
13. Detroit
14. Minneapolis-St. Paul
15. Baltimore

Source: AutoVantage

If you don't live in one of these cities and want to know how bad the road rage problem is in your town, you can find a more complete list of road rage scores of more than 100 U.S. cities at a website called Monkey Meter.com. We've printed the entire Monkey Meter list in the Tools section of SafetyXChange.

Staying Safe

The road ragers are definitely out there and I implore you all to be careful. More importantly, I urge you all to be courteous and hold your temper if, heaven forbid, somebody should cut you off or toot their horn at you. To help you out, here are10 Tips on Courteous Driving developed by members of the Coalition for Consumer Health and Safety (CCHS).

1. Concentrate on driving, not on passengers, mobile phones or other distractions.
2. Obey speed limits.
3. Maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.
4. When entering a roadway or changing lanes, allow other drivers to maintain speed.
5. Drive in the right or middle lane. Pass on the left.
6. Signal several hundred feet before turning or changing lanes.
7. Stop at stop signs and red lights. Don't run yellow lights.
8. Respect pedestrian right-of-way in cross walks.
9. Don't block intersections.
10. Use your horn sparingly and only to remind others of your presence.

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