Page 225 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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Responding to the Challenge 191

leaders, the percentage of clients who reach the summit is a key perform-
ance measure—a measure impacting reputation and the size of client fees.
Under such pressures, the turnaround time has often been ignored when the
summit is in sight—and deaths have occurred.
In more standard workplaces, few decisions are as dramatic as the de-
cisions involving enforcement of the turnaround time on Mount Everest.
Nevertheless, key decisions are made every day that affect an organization’s
capability to sustain incident-free operations. Individuals making these de-
cisions are faced with the challenges of fully satisfying both the short- and
long-term needs of bosses, subordinates, shareholders, and the public, as
well as personal needs. The desire for achievement and recognition can cre-
ate “workplace fevers” that rival “summit fever” in intensity.
Ever-present forces tend to focus management’s attention on reacting to
ongoing, daily problems in the workplace. The proactive actions needed to
address longer-term issues may be sacrificed in such an environment. With
the severe potential consequences of serious incidents, it’s vital that an ef-
fective management process be in place to maintain the constancy of pur-
pose needed for sustained incident-free operations. The need for excellence
is clear.
Companies throughout the world have demonstrated the effectiveness
of performance management techniques in achieving breakthrough levels of
performance. Efforts have typically focused on improving performance in
areas that are highly visible to management, such as cost control, produc-
tivity, product quality, customer service, and prevention of common in-
juries. Similar performance breakthroughs are feasible in executing the
work necessary to prevent serious incidents resulting in fatalities, property
damage, business interruption, hazardous material releases, regulatory vio-
lations, damage to company image, and other losses. The merging of
proven-quality management techniques with sound risk-management prac-
tices provides the basis for a proactive process to achieve these break-
throughs.
Overcoming the barriers to sustaining safe operations requires a com-
prehensive management process. Inclusion of the following elements in the
process will help ensure effectiveness:

Management leadership in maintaining serious incident prevention
as a top organizational priority
Emphasis on employee involvement, teamwork, and empowerment
Understanding of the organization’s significant risks
Accurate identification of the critical work necessary to control the
risks