Last week, in Part 1 of this series, I outlined a six-step process that JHSC members can use to decide which solutions to recommend to management to address health and safety problems. Let's now look at a case study showing the process in action.

A Brief Review

As you recall, the six steps JHSCs should take to implement effective decision making are:

1. Defining the problem
2. Diagnosing its cause
3. Free and open brainstorming of solutions by committee members
4. Solution selection
5. Solution implementation
6. Evaluation of outcome

Case Study - The Setting

Here's a hypothetical scenario we can use to examine each step of the process within a specific context.

A construction company with 55 workers including trades and subcontractors is repairing a cooling tower. The project is being undertaken during the winter. There have been five different fall accidents at the project in the past two months. Fortunately, none of the victims suffered serious injury. However, each injury did involve lost time.

Investigations have been done and reveal that all the accident victims were wearing the required personal protective equipment. But investigators also found that there was no clear understanding about keeping the surface in question clean.

The JHSC has noted the problem and placed it at the top of its agenda for its next monthly meeting.

Case Study - The Decision-Making Process At Work

Let's now look at how the JHSC applies the decision-making process:

Definition of the Problem

Five falls have occurred inside the west entrance of Tower A. Employees have missed 10 days of work. This is the most urgent problem faced by the committee right now and it needs to be solved before more accidents occur.

Diagnosis

When there is a snowfall the area inside the west entrance to Tower A becomes slippery. Five cases of employees slipping and falling in this area were reported between December 1 and February 28, 2006. Accidents occurred both at the beginning of the work day and at the end. As a result of these falls, employees missed 10 days of work. It appears the accidents occur because the floor surface inside the door entrance is covered with smooth tile, the floor is cold and the snow remains in the form of water or snow, creating a slippery surface.

Possible Solutions

A brainstorming exercise produced the following "possible" solutions:

• Build a roof over the entrance so there is no snow outside the door
• Shovel the snow more frequently
• Replace the tile floor
• Heat the floor from underneath
• Install carpet inside the door
• Put up a warning sign or light
• Send employees a memo or e-mail asking them to use the east door and lock the west door when there is a snow storm

Selected Solution

Some of these solutions are more practical than others but even the less practical ones helped the group come up with better ones. In sifting through the list, the committee decided that the most practical short term solutions would be to shovel the snow more frequently, and to lay down a carpet inside the door, especially when snow was forecast. They also decided to recommend to management that signs be made to be placed on a stand during winter months warning people to exercise caution. These foregoing proposals were made to management, and approved.

Implemenation Plan

See the table in the Tools section of SafetyXChange.

Conclusion

After decisions are made they should be evaluated for effectiveness. Returning to our case study, the first task would be for the JHSC members to evaluate the effectiveness of the problem-solving and decision-making process they used under criteria such as: understood? worked well? Where could they improve it next time? Next, it would evaluate the solution that was chosen. Criteria would include: Was recommendation adopted? If no, why not? If yes, did it work?

LAWYER-TO-ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Indemnification

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How It Comes Up: Many contracts include indemnification clauses. If you're a safety professional, you're most likely to encounter one in an agreement between an owner and a contractor or a general contractor and a subcontractor.

What It Means: Indemnification is a promise by one party to repay the other for any financial losses suffered by the latter as a result of something the former does or omits to do. Although indemnification clauses can be mutual, they usually run in one direction: in favor of the party with the upper hand in the contract negotiation. Generally, that's the owner in owner-contractor agreements, and the general contractor in contractor-subcontractor agreements.

Example: A factory hires a contractor to service its boilers. The agreement requires the contractor to indemnify the factory for any losses arising from the contractor's performance of its duties under the agreement. The contractor's carelessness causes a boiler explosion. OSHA investigates and cites the factory for violations. The factory can use the indemnification clause to recover from the contractor the amount it paid to replace the boiler and pay the fines.

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