Page 57 - 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 35

cording to plan, however, the organization’s efforts will simply become an-
other initiative with “good intentions” rather than a “milestone initiative”
with major benefits. Success requires that organizations develop and main-
tain measurement systems to monitor performance in executing the actions
required to fully implement the serious incident prevention process.
Effective feedback systems must be established to communicate progress
on key initiatives to personnel accountable for performance.
The serious incident prevention process model requires that effective
measures of performance be established—measures not only of results but
for upstream performance indicators, as well. Effective feedback systems
must be established that keep personnel informed and allow for timely ad-
justments to the safety process—proactive actions taken prior to the occur-
rence of an incident rather than reactive actions taken after the damage has
been done.

Element 7: Reinforcement and Corrective
Actions

People tend to sustain activities where they feel positively reinforced,
either through internally generated personal satisfaction or through external
reinforcement originating from family, friends, coworkers, bosses, or other
sources. Neither effective reinforcement nor proactive corrective action can
be carried out without knowledge of performance. The communication of
such performance information requires effective measurement and feed-
back systems.
The serious incident prevention process model utilizes measurement
and feedback systems as the basis for establishing effective reinforcement
and corrective actions. Reinforcement actions help ensure that employees
feel genuinely appreciated when performance meets or exceeds expecta-
tions—a simple but powerful concept. In addition to making reinforcement
opportunities visible, measurement and feedback of upstream performance
indicators provides an early warning of potential deficiencies in the safety
process and the critical opportunity to initiate preventative actions before
serious incidents occur—rather than on an after-the-fact basis.

Element 8: Improve and Update the Process

Like life itself, the workplace is ever changing. Changes in raw materi-
als, equipment, facilities, organization structure, and other factors continu-
ally impact the organization and the actions required for safe operations.
The serious incident prevention process model recognizes the impor-
tance of organizational changes and provides a systematic method for as-
suring that the actions required for incident-free operations remain current,
up-to-date, and effective.