Page 33 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2017

inspections to ensure good coverage across many days and shifts, as well as when infrequent work occurs, such as entering a confined space or performing lockout on energized equipment.
■ What is to be observed? This involves the task or category of hazard. If the purpose is to prevent injuries, as defined in our Plan phase, then it is important to ensure each risk is observed enough to allow for trending and ultimately evaluation of risk. Typically, observers focus on the easier things to see, such as PPE, while the more difficult categories to evaluate receive fewer inspections. The fewer the inspections, the harder it is to evaluate risk, which ulti- mately leads to a diminishing ability to prevent those injuries.
■ Where it is to be done? Each project or location should be broken up into manageable areas and work groups to ensure each unique entity is observed. Ideally, each observation should be linked to both a location and a work group. In addition, each location and work group should have an expected number of inspections and/or observations within a given time period based on manpower and risk—the more manpower and the higher the risk, the more inspec- tions necessary to ensure a safe working environment.
Study
Collecting data in the previous stage is simply the beginning. Once data has been collected, the next step is to review the data. A data use plan is necessary to ensure that data are reviewed at a frequent and periodic basis and actions are taken to drive improvement. Think of it like this—if I stand on a scale and collect my weight
each day and record it, will I lose weight? No! I must take the data, compare it against expectations, and then drive actions that will help improve the risk. The idea is to look for gaps and trends in the data. A gap is something that is not being done that should be, such as observations in a particular category (e.g., electrical, confined space) or in a particular area. A trend is something that is seen over and over and will continue to repeat until the causal factors for the system are identified and remedied.
Act
Action drives accountability. Action can include simple things, such as providing feedback or sharing information on trends that have been seen. It can also involve more complex solutions, such as a revision to the way in which work is performed or a pre-incident investigation based on at-risk trend information. It could even drive utilization of data as evidence in a data-driven decision, such as a request for a large capital expenditure.
Creating a Continuous Improvement Cycle
Too often safety programs have elements that are done because “That’s the way we’ve always done it” or, worse, ‘”Because we have to.” Build into your program elements a noble purpose, and people will do them because they want to. Your inspections and observa- tions allow the continuous improvement cycle to keep going.
Cary Usrey is Process Improvement Leader at Predictive Solutions.
www
JUNE 2017 | Occupational Health &
ety
U
.
o
h
s
o
nli
ne.com
n
ti
Workers who wear our gear refuse to be out-performed and so do we.
For more than 40 years we have proven to be a leader in gloves, glasses and garments.
All new offerings meet the ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 Type R,
Class 3 standards for retro-reflective high visibility garments. • Big Jake heavy duty PVC/Nomex rainwear is ARC
and Flame Resistant.
(ASTM F1891 HRC2/CAT2 - ATPV 8.9 cal/cm2).
• UltraTech rainwear is made of a breathable Polyester/PU
material that is waterproof and wind resistant.
We Protect People with Gloves, Glasses and Garments.
We are MCR Safety. www.mcrsafety.com 800-955-6887
tle
d
-2
1
4/2
Circle 18 on card. See us at ASSE, Booth 1467
S
29
4
a
/1
f
7
3:21 PM