Page 187 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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156 Serious Incident Prevention

merely compliant support the vision to the minimum level required to main-
tain a politically correct position. When managers are truly committed to a
shared vision for a safe workplace, however, they will do whatever is in
their power to make it happen, including the removal of barriers interfering
with its achievement. Persons who are truly committed bring the energy,
passion, and excitement needed for success to the table. 2
Elevating safety to the status of a core organizational value requires
strong management leadership and communications skills. Achieving the
vision for sustaining a safe workplace requires long-term commitment and
constancy of purpose. To achieve and sustain real improvement, effective
communications will be required to “paint pictures” of what the organiza-
tion’s culture will look like in an incident-free environment. Such pictures
will include the elements of an outstanding safety culture, as described in
Figure 14-1.

Organizational Learning

The application of new knowledge, tools, and behaviors is a priority
through all levels of the learning organization. New knowledge related to
serious incident prevention is highly valued and effectively utilized to en-
hance the process. Organizational learning places a premium on full under-
standing of operating details, potential incident scenarios, causal factors,
and effective preventative actions. As each year passes, the learning organ-
ization applies new knowledge to enhance its safety management process.
Learning organizations realize that without individual learning, no or-
4
ganizational learning is possible. Managers of learning organizations un-
derstand the importance of a supportive environment in promoting personal
growth and individual and team learning. These organizations understand
that learning requires a climate where challenging the status quo is not only
accepted but encouraged. Employees in a learning organization approach
their safety responsibilities in the same manner as a potter, painter, or other
artisan—with a lifelong commitment to continual improvement.

Employee Involvement

Employee involvement helps sustain enthusiasm, pride, and commit-
ment. Involved employees are willing to take the extra steps needed to im-
plement improvements. Involvement is a prerequisite for generating team
synergy and for transforming improvement ideas into reality. Surveys of
American workers have identified “working as a team” as an essential con-