Simple Secrets to Success

By Jerald Wright, Jr.

Two men aloft in a hot air balloon were lost and were trying to find their location. They floated over a golf course and shouted to a foursome on the green. "Where are we? We have lost our bearings and need some assistance." The answer quickly came from the ground." You are in a hot air balloon." The two in the basket just looked at each other and then one said, "They must be safety professionals. The information was totally correct and totally useless."

Too often people forget who the real customers are and become infatuated with hearing themselves talk often in code. Systems are created that are so complex the ultimate customer cannot understand them or adhere to them for more than a few months. There are debates over the proper approach to safety and the creation of various investigation models that eventually fills the leader with confusion to the point they create their own system or do nothing.

The ultimate customer is the person doing the task and the person most at risk for injury. They are often found when the train jumps the track even though they have little control of the train or the tracks. Having systems in place that are so complex or misplaced that the worker cannot understand the importance of them does nothing to control the risk and often increases it. It is like the safety beliefs and systems are not firmly rooted in solid values, foundations, or principles.

Leaders struggling to do the right thing become lost in a quagmire of concepts without the understanding, direction, or training to identify the course needed to control risk and loss. Just like the croquet game in "Alice in Wonderland" as soon as the rules or principles are understood they change which often sends the leaders reeling to meet the new concepts, regulations or standards. They question if they will ever succeed and become world class. And right when they feel they are in control, loss occurs which again makes them question their direction.

What is needed are environmental safety and healthprocesses firmly rooted in proven concepts and principlescomplete with clear concrete examples that give positiveresults instead of just giving advice. Systems based on ISO14001 and ANSI Z10 must lead to compliance modelswhile addressing the real needs and values of the organization.

What adds to the value of such systems is their ability to be transferred to people at all levels in an organization. With the reduction of resource roles and levels, the need for common systems and frameworks are paramount for long-term success of the business, the systems and the control of risk. Incorporating the requirements of ISO 14001 and ANSI Z10 into our daily operation instead of creating separate systems requiring extra effort is the true sign of success.

Too often systems take on a life of their own with the majority of the effort placed on maintaining the system rather than its intended purpose of controlling risk. Systems are created on top of systems to attempt to address 100 percent of problems instead of the 20 percent of the opportunities that can give 80 percent of the results. People confuse complexity with effectiveness. Some clear indicators of ineffective systems are:

• The flowchart of the system resembles a road map of Boston.

• It has been modified numerous times in attempts to improve it.

• You must assign additional people to drive it and make sure that it works.

• Time is regularly spent in safety meetings discussing how to fix the system.

• You continually try to sell the systems to users.

• The results become lost in the system.

Have you noticed that simple systems require less training time, can easily be transferred, are more robust, and are more effective? The secrets to long-term success are basic management principles including identifying the needs, developing standards and systems, monitoring the results for continual improvement, then taking action to improve or recognize the results.

Systems can just fade away due to neglect of the users and owners especially when leaders spend most of the time trying to get people to use the system. Ask some basic questions about your safety systems:

• What need does it address and will it impact loss?

• Does it support our other values, objectives, systems and processes?

• Will the results be measurable, obvious, and perceived as positive?

• Is it worth the effort and can the objectives be achieved with a simpler approach?

• Is there a process to periodically review the systems and celebrate the results or change it as needed?

Whether regulatory or management systems these same principles apply. Spending time reducing the complexity of systems and identifying the 20 percent of the key activities that will give us the 80 percent of the results, allows us to be effective and eliminate loss while achieving compliance with standards such as ISO 14001 and ANSI Z10.

At the heart of this effort is ensuring that all leaders in the organization have the information, knowledge, and skill required to consistently and confidently lead the safety effort. These allow the leader to form the foundation and beliefs required to create effective safety systems and meet the needs of the ultimate customer.

The role of the safety professional is to make that happen.

Jerald Wright, Jr is a senior principal trainer/assessor with Det Norske Veritas Certification Inc. in Atlanta. He has more than 40 years of industrial experience and has seen loss control systems both succeed and fail due to their design and implementation.

He has designed safety systems that have been successful in controlling loss to people, property, process and the environment. Det Norske Veritas Certification Inc., 3805 Crestwood Parkway, Suite 200, Duluth, GA 30096; telephone: 770-279-0001; fax: 770-279-7177; e-mail jwright @safetysys.net 

 Published in Environmental Systems Update

Environmental Systems Update is published monthly by QSU Publishing Company, 3975 University Drive, Suite 230, Fairfax, VA, 22030. The annual subscription rate is $375.  Volume discounts are available. ISSN: 1091-2681

The Journal for ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, RC14001 and Environmental Professionals Volume 11, Number 1 2006