Boy, you’re a generous group of people.

A few weeks ago, I told you about a safety manager whose workplace was experiencing a high rate of injuries as the result of workers tripping over materials in the lumberyard and  at building sites hundreds of miles away. Last week, we published four of your suggestions. But wait … you had more. One of you even had a policy to share.

#1 Fix the Root Cause and Hold Employees Accountable for their Own Safety

I was away from the office when your first article came out, and just saw the responses you posted in today’s edition. As a Safety & Health Consultant & Trainer, I see two problems in the scenario described. Neither seems to have been addressed in the responses you have so far.

The first problem is in the Problem-Solving Process: no Root Cause has been identified. In the Safety field in general, a tremendous amount of time and resources are spent trying to solve the wrong problem because we haven’t done our investigations properly. Injuries are not the problem; they are the result of the problem. Housekeeping is not the problem; it is a symptom of the problem. What is the Root Cause that is producing the Housekeeping issue?  Why is Housekeeping an issue, and what needs to change (management level) to correct that underlying issue?  Fix the root cause and the symptoms (and resulting injuries) will go away.

The second problem seems to be in the philosophy of the Safety Manager: he seems to think he is responsible for employee performance. HE IS NOT. The Safety Manager is an Investigator and Researcher; a Technical Specialist in the field of safety; and a Trainer providing knowledge and skills training. None of those roles gives him either authority or responsibility for employee performance to standards: that is a direct supervisory responsibility.

“A man cannot serve two masters”: most employees will do exactly what they think their supervisor wants, because they want to keep their job. If they believe their supervisor wants Good Housekeeping, they’ll do it. But they must have a concrete, measurable standard of performance. If we put them in the situation where a performance expectation conflicts with what the Safety Manager wants, then the only choice we’ve given them is who is going to fire them. ALL performance expectations come to employees from their direct supervisor, including Safety expectations. If the supervisor is not holding them accountable for performance to standards, then we don’t have a Safety problem, we have a Supervision problem manifesting a Safety symptom.

Hank Roberts
Senior Safety Manager
Environmental Management Services

#2 Train Workers to Conduct Risk Assessments

The four ideas you posted would work well in the company controlled facilities and areas, but the problem indicated that injuries are also occurring in workplaces under the control of other employers.

I would suggest involving the employees that travel to other work sites in performing hazard and risk assessments as part of their tasks at that other work site. A program such as a Field Level Risk Assessment (Listed as a Best Practice by the Government of Alberta) requires employees perform, prior to starting their tasks, the following four steps.

• Identification of work tasks being performed
• Identification of 'day-of-the-job' hazards associated with work tasks
• Assessing the risks
• Controlling the hazards to an acceptable level of risk

This process should be documented and the paperwork returned to the supervisor/manager when the employee returns to the company facilities.

The Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA) has developed a great form for this. ACSA representatives have told me that employers report the form has also saved time by reducing the amount of go-ferring (returning for tools and supplies). By requiring the employees to consider their tasks and hazards associated prior to starting their work, these employees are better prepared when they start work and are more efficient in the use of their time.

Jean-Pierre (JP) Mainville
Manager of Safety and Security
Morningstar Air Express Inc.

#3 Watch for Boredom and Complacency

I totally agree with the behavioral theory outlined in the second segment of The Construction Industry Experience. It has been my experience over the last 2 to 3 years as the Health and Safety Training Coordinator for a manufactured housing company that the root cause of most of the incidents – 90 to 95 %, from minor to serious in nature –  could be related directly back to the individual involved in the incident.

We have our workers on crews – framing, drywall, roofing and other crews – performing all aspects of new home construction. The worker stays on a crew until they either request transfer or the company needs them to work on an alternate crew, so boredom becomes a factor. They perform the same work tasks repetitively, which makes them very skilled at their given tasks but also not normally challenged after mastering the tasks,  which I believe leads to some workers becoming complacent, which in turns leads to injuries.

We use all the tools found in construction and most injuries from these tools are worker errors in judgment & lapse in concentration or lack of maintenance because a worker just could not be bothered to get the tool fixed, which I will never understand!

We hire many younger workers when our company’s need for workers grows and the “ten foot tall and bullet proof” attitude some of these personnel bring to the work place is hard to address and change. It takes many, many safety chats and occasionally some first hand experience to make these workers realize that YES it very well could be them who forgets where they are on a ladder and fractures an ankle because of it.

Of course there is equipment failure, weather & ergonomic issues. These are addressed to the best of our ability as reported and normally corrective action is taken in a short period of time, without incident re-occurrence – but these are a very small portion of the incidents incurred.

I personally am starting to think we should be teaching our children to think more about safety at a much younger age. Perhaps schools should be developing programs related to home safety, playing safely, working safely. We might start our next generations of workers off to a safer start!

Carolyn Golar
H & S Coordinator
Triple M Housing Ltd

#4 The Discipline Process for Safety Infractions Should Not Fall Solely on the Safety Supervisor

I agree with your article but had a comment. You seem to indicate that the Safety Supervisor or director be the person responsible for discipline. I agree that the safety supervisor set the policy, lead the way and be one of the many persons in Management that should be involved in the discipline process. Far too many companies shift the discipline for safety to the safety supervisor, which in my opinion leads to making safety a satellite function rather than an integral part of managing the whole spectrum of production, quality, safety, environment and cost. I have attached a copy of our policy for your perusal.

Happy New Year! Regards,

Roy

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