Page 105 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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Identifying the

Critical Work

The ability to transform concepts and slogans into specific tasks is one
of the key characteristics differentiating successful organizations from
those destined to underachieve. In the context of serious incident preven-
tion, concepts and slogans must be transformed into the critical work nec-
essary to sustain safe operations. An organization’s long-term success in
preventing serious incidents will be determined by its effectiveness in
identifying and executing the right preventative actions.

Managing Similar Risks with
Varying Levels of Success

Although many organizations have similar risks to manage, a signifi-
cant variation in outcomes is common. As an illustration, governments
around the world achieve varying levels of success in controlling risks re-
lated to the operation of motor vehicles. Automobiles were introduced in
several countries during the same approximate time period: the late 1800s
and early 1900s. In 1895, horseless carriages in the United States were
limited to about 300, mostly imported. By the turn of the century, however,
automobiles numbered almost 4,000 among the 76 million Americans, and

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