The Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto (see below for more about Pareto) crafted a powerful rule: 80% of your achievements come from 20% of your efforts.  Actually, the rule was only named for Pareto. Its true author was the industrial efficiency expert Joseph Juran who exported it to Japan with great results. But I’m here not to talk about the history of the rule but how well it works in safety.

The Power of the Critical Few as Safety Concept

I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that the things that you can do to achieve an 80% improvement in your own health and safety program would take 20% of your efforts. This 20% is known as the critical few.

The key is to find those elements that will improve your program. Think logically and start by making a list of the improvements you think offer the greatest potential. Will the most significant impact come from enhancing training, improving communication between all levels of employees, etc.?

Finding Your Own Critical Few

As with any other principle, execution is key. Here are some pointers:

Drill Down Listing: In forming your list of improvements, break down abstract items into components. Don’t simply list “more training” but identify the type of training, the level of employee to which it’s targeted—management, supervision, worker, etc., and the person’s function—truck driver, forklift operator, etc.

Target Influential Individuals: Consider whether the person who receives training is an influencer who will spread the word readily. In this way, you can multiply the effect of your efforts and achieve your critical few. Accordingly, you should concentrate on getting certain key individuals on your side such as the CEO, union president and anybody else who carries significant influence in your workplace.

Consider Changes to the Physical Environment: Consider changes to the physical environment that will affect your program the most, e.g., improving ventilation, reducing noise, modifying temperature extremes. For example, reducing storage may have the greatest positive impact on safety in areas of your facility that are congested. Think of creative ways to achieve the goal of reducing congestion such as using just in time storage.

Consider the Materials: Next, think about how use or non-use of particular materials will most affect safety. For example, instead of the harsh solvent varsol, which can harm the skin and lungs and requires PPE, use the water soluble Safety Kleen to clean machine parts.

Consider the Equipment: In the same vein, think about the kind of equipment that would have the most impact on safety and efficiency. Identify tasks or parts of tasks that can be automated, streamlined, eliminated or otherwise improved. Maximize synergies.

Conclusion

Pareto’s rule works in all aspects of business, including safety. It’s also an effective principle for organizing your professional and personal life. If you don’t believe me, create a list of the most important and achievable things you want to accomplish during the day. You can likely achieve those “critical few” objectives with 20% of your effort but in the process improve your efficiency 80%. Trust me, it works!

Story Tools:  E-mail this to a friend  Print This Post Top