Profit isn't everything, it’s the only thing.
Safety programs keep the D’s aka Death, Disabilities, Disaster’s, Dilemmas, Disgust, Despair, Disputes, etc. at bay.
The D’s are always finding liability for the lazy company to destroy the works that you will ultimately be judged by – for the next opportunity. Not establishing an effective safety program means you are inviting financial deficits. Many say safety regulations drive safety programs. RIGHT…did you catch my sarcasm there…let me try again…RIGHT… Ahhh that’s better… That is like saying speed limit signs keep you from speeding. It’s not the responsibility that keeps you from speeding it’s the flashing lights of an officer holding you to some accountability.
It’s not hard to see success as failures tied end to end. Business failures are studied and exploited every day by successful and profitable businesses. There are plenty of business scenarios happening in real time all around us to use as case study examples. Let me ask you a rhetorical question, When do you think bigger jobs happen for safety consultants; before the accident or after? MMhmm it’s after…
Company owners look at maximizing word of mouth business, bidding solicitations effectively, production techniques, marketing savvy and logistics to make business altering decisions that positively affect profit.
Yet when it comes to effective programs for health and safety in the workplace, the same great minds toss their financial security and business acumen to a template stamping safety department with little or no experience within the “business of business”. Sure they had spelled the industry of their prospective employer correctly on their resume and know the buzzwords, but where is the day to day grit to "Git-R-Done"… MAKE A DECISION …and GO in the name of safety!
Want to know the truth? Real-time decision making is subject to a RAC that means a Risk Assessment Code. This is a system which enables prioritizations of safety concerns; a rare quality in any safety director. RAC training needs to be a function of the field manager who hires and fires workers. The RAC training is carefully crafted by management instituted by the Corporate Safety Officer and lived by in the field every day.
Simply put it is the 80/20 rule. 80% of your safety concerns can be illuminated by carefully identifying the 20% of project hazards that out rank in probability and severity all the other hazards to be considered on a job. If I were to write 80/20 on a bean counters tablet, they would quickly re-write it as 4. If I was a president of a company, I would say that was a 400% improvement in the effectiveness of my safety program.
HEY…That’s a good start right? Continue Reading.
