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Strategic Map for Change and Continuous Improvement for Safety and Health
The following strategic map describes major processes and milestones that need to be implemented to successfully
implement a change process for safety and health. This strategy is intended to help you focus on the process rather than on individual
tasks. It is common for most sites to have a tendency to focus on the accomplishment of tasks, i.e., to train everyone on a particular
concern or topic or implement a new procedure for incident investigations. Sites that maintain their focus on the larger process are
far more successful. They can see the "forest" from the "trees" and thus can make mid-course adjustments as needed. They never lose
sight of their intended goals, and tend not to get distracted or allow obstacles to interfere with their mission. The process itself
will take care of the task implementation and ensure that the appropriate resources are provided and priorities are set.
Process Implementation Strategy:
- Obtain Top Management "Buy-in"
- Continue Building "Buy-in"
- Build Trust
- Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking
- Initial Training
- Establish a Steering Committee
- Develop Site Safety Vision
- Align the Organization
- Define Specific Roles
- Develop a System of Accountability
- Develop Measures
- Develop Policies for Recognition
- Awareness Training and Kick-off
- Implement Process Changes
- Continually Measure performance, Communicate Results and Celebrate Successes
- On-going Support
- Obtain Top Management "Buy-in" - This is the very first step that
needs to be accomplished. Top managers must be on board. If they are not, safety and health will compete against core business issues
such as production and profitability, a battle that will almost always be lost. Management needs to understand the need for change
and be willing to support it. Showing the costs to the organization in terms of dollars (direct and indirect costs of accidents) that
are being lost, and the organizational costs (fear, lack of trust, feeling of being used, etc) can be compelling reasons for doing
something different. Because losses due to accidents are bottom line costs to the organization, controlling these will more than pay
for the needed changes. In addition, as you are successful you will eliminate organizational barriers such as fear and lack of
trust - issues that typically get in the way of all of the organization's goals.
A safety and health change process can very effectively drive change and bring an organization together due to the ability to get
buy-in from all levels. This stems from the fact that most people place a high personal value on their own safety. They view the
change efforts as things that are truly being done for them.
- Continue Building "Buy-in" for the needed changes by building
an alliance or partnership between management, your union (if one exists), and employees. A compelling reason for the change must be
spelled out to everyone. People have to understand WHY they are being asked to change what they normally do and what it will look like
when they are successful. This needs to be done upfront. If people get wind that something "is going down" and haven't been formally
told anything, they will tend to naturally resist and opt out.
Identify key personnel to champion the change. These people must be visible and are the ones to articulate the reasons for the
changes. The reasons need to be compelling and motivational. People frequently respond when they realize how many of their co-workers
or subordinates are being injured and that they may be next. Management and supervisors also respond when they see the money being lost
due to accidents and they realize that their actions toward safety truly influence and define the employee safety culture.
- Build Trust - Trusting is a critical part of accepting change and management
needs to know that this is the bigger picture, outside of all the details. Trust will occur as different levels within the
organization work together and begin to see success.
- Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking - In order to
get where you want to go, it is essential to know where you are starting from. You can use a variety of self-audit mechanisms to
compare your site processes with other recognized models of excellence such as Star VPP sites. Visiting other sites to gain first hand
information is also invaluable. You can use perception surveys to measure the strengths and weaknesses of your site safety culture.
These surveys can give you data from various viewpoints within the organization. For instance, you can measure differences in
employees' and managers' perceptions on various issues. This is an excellent way to determine whether alignment issues exist and, if
so, what they are. One example is the Safety and Health Program Check-Up.
At this stage, it is important to look at issues that surface as symptoms of larger system failures. For example, ask what major
system failed to detect the unguarded machine, or why the system failed to notice that incident investigations are not being performed
on time, or if workers are being blamed for the failures. Your greatest level of success will come when these larger system failures
are recognized and addressed.
- Initial Training of management-supervisory staff, union leadership (if
present), and safety and health committee members, and a representative number of hourly employees. This may include both safety and
health training and any needed management, team building, hazard recognition, or communication training. This provides you with a core
group of people to draw upon as resources and also gets key personnel on board with needed changes.
- Establish a Steering Committee made up of management,
employees, union (if present), and safety staff. This group's purpose is to facilitate, support, and direct the change processes. This
will provide overall guidance and direction and avoid duplication of efforts. To be effective, the group must have the authority to get
things done.
- Develop Site Safety Vision, key policies, goals, measures, and
strategic and operational plans. These policies provide guidance and serve as a check-in that can be used to ask yourself if the
decision you're about to make supports or detracts from your intended safety and health improvement process.
- Align the Organization by establishing a shared vision of safety and
health goals and objectives versus production. Upper management must be willing to support by providing resources (time) and holding
managers and supervisors accountable for doing the same. The entire management and supervisory staff needs to set the example and lead
the change. It's more about leadership than management.
- Define Specific Roles and responsibilities for safety and health at
all levels of the organization. Safety and health must be viewed as everyone's responsibility. Clearly spell out how the organization
deals with competing pressures and priorities, i.e., production versus safety and health.
- Develop a System of Accountability for all levels of the
organization. Everyone must play by the same rules and be held accountable for their areas of responsibility. The sign of a strong
culture is when the individuals hold themselves accountable.
- Develop Measures and an ongoing measurement and feedback system. Drive the
system with upstream activity measures that encourage positive change. Examples include: the number of hazards reported or corrected,
numbers of inspections, number of equipment checks, Job Safety Analysis (JSA), prestart-up reviews conducted, etc. While it is always
nice to know what the bottom line performance is, i.e., accident rates, overemphasis on rates and using them to drive the system
typically only drives accident reporting under the table. It is all too easy to manipulate accident rates, which will only result in
risk issues remaining unresolved and a probability for future, more serious events to occur.
- Develop Policies for Recognition, rewards, incentives, and
ceremonies. Reward employees for doing the right things and encourage participation in the upstream activities. Continually re-evaluate
these policies to ensure their effectiveness and to ensure that they do not become entitlement programs.
- Awareness Training and Kick-off for all employees. It's not
enough for a part of the organization to be involved and know about the change effort. The entire site needs to know and be involved in
some manner. A kick-off celebration can be used to announce "It's a new day," and seek buy-in for any new procedures and programs.
- Implement Process Changes via involvement of management, union
(if one is present) and employees using a "Plan To Act" process such as Total Quality Management (TQM).
- Continually Measure
performance, Communicate Results and Celebrate Successes. Publicizing results is very important to sustaining efforts and
keeping everyone motivated. Everyone needs to be updated throughout the process. Progress reports during normal shift meetings
(allowing time for comments back to the steering committee) opens communications, but also allows for input. Everyone needs to
have a voice, otherwise, they will be reluctant to buy-in. A system can be as simple as using current meetings, a bulletin board,
or a comment box.
- On-going Support - Reinforcement, feedback, reassessment, mid-course
corrections, and on-going training is vital to sustaining continuous improvement
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