Page 226 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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192 Serious Incident Prevention

Standards for performing the critical work
Measurement and feedback systems for monitoring and communi-
cating performance in executing critical work
Reinforcement and corrective action contingent upon performance
A systematic method for continually updating and improving the se-
rious-incident prevention process

Keys for Successful Implementation

Successful implementation of the serious incident prevention process
will require more than good intentions—a sound plan and the commitment
to transform concepts into actions is a necessity. Each of the eight-elements
must be firmly in place to ensure that the process is successfully imple-
mented and that the desired results are achieved.
In planning for implementation of the serious incident prevention
process, organizations may decide to proceed with a full facility-wide im-
plementation or a more focused pilot effort in one or more units within a fa-
cility. A facility-wide implementation has the obvious advantage of
ensuring that the entire facility benefits from the improved process in the
shortest practical time frame. A facility-wide approach is particularly ap-
propriate if implementation of the improved incident prevention process is
actively endorsed and supported by the organization’s top management.
Even when top managerial support exists, it may be advantageous to
implement the improved safety management process on a pilot basis in se-
lected units of a facility or company. The resources required for such a pilot
effort will be less intensive compared to implementation on a broader scale.
The focusing of resources will help assure that the initial effort is well or-
ganized and that the desired results are achieved. Getting the implementa-
tion effort off to a good start is essential for generating the enthusiasm and
encouragement needed to ensure that other organizational units will be re-
ceptive to adopting this more effective management process.
In selecting specific organizational units for participation in a pilot pro-
gram, managers should remember that the serious incident prevention
process is applicable not only to operating units but also to HSE depart-
ments and top-level management teams. To help ensure that initial imple-
mentations achieve levels of improvement that will shine as a beacon to
others, management should strongly consider initial implementations in
units where there is the most concern for the occurrence of a serious inci-
dent. Such concern may be based upon the following factors: