Page 53 - Serious Incident Prevention How to Achieve and Sustain Accident-Free Operations in Your Plant or Company

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A Proven Process Improvement Model 31

With the presence of conflicting priorities and other organizational bar-
riers, a proactive, disciplined approach is required to sustain serious-inci-
dent-free operations. An effective management system is needed to help
shape a new mindset—one recognizing that incident prevention is much
more than simply maintaining a high level of awareness. Successful inci-
dent prevention requires an understanding of risks specific to the organiza-
tion and the execution of critical work to minimize the risks.
Performance management principles have been effectively applied in
many organizations to improve key results. The quality management focus
within these organizations has typically been on visible opportunities for
improving the current year’s bottom line. Opportunities to improve per-
formance in high visibility areas, such as product quality, cost control, and
customer service, have been abundant. Many companies have also applied
performance management techniques, typically in the form of behavioral-
safety initiatives, to achieve breakthrough improvements in injury rates.
With the quality revolution still in its infancy—or perhaps in its adoles-
cent stage—applications of performance management principles to less vis-
ible opportunities, such as sustaining serious incident-free operations, are
not as firmly established. However, it’s clear that these proven management
principles have great potential for driving breakthrough performance im-
provements in the prevention of serious incidents—an opportunity waiting to
be seized by proactive managers interested in making a true difference.
Quality management process models typically have some differences in
emphasis—often traceable to the quality gurus utilized by various compa-
nies. However, at their core, successful improvement models typically have
many elements in common. The safety management process reviewed in the
chapters that follow is a proven approach for preventing serious incidents
with its core elements rooted in proven performance management
processes. These core elements critical to successful safety management
processes include:

1. A high level of management leadership.
2. Active employee participation in leadership roles.
3. A firm understanding of what must be managed for successful
achievement of safety and other organizational objectives.
4. An accurate identification of the critical work that, when executed,
will provide the conditions and practices necessary to achieve and
sustain a safe workplace.
5. A common understanding of performance expectations.
6. Effective measurement and timely feedback of performance in meet-
ing objectives.