The people running operations – making the product, delivering the service, handling the materials – really are world class when it comes to measuring how well their business is performing. They’re all over all the important details of how much, how well, how often.
The management team has gathered around the conference table in an emergency meeting. The urgent topic: what to do to stanch the rising tide of accidents and injuries?
In his years of working with industrial clients, Deming built what many of us in the manufacturing management business would learn as his “14 Absolutes of Quality.” In the middle of his list of Absolutes was the proviso to “Drive out fear”, fear of getting in trouble for making defective products and reporting quality problems was a major roadblock to progress.
Good questions can do the heavy lifting for managers. A question starts by getting someone else talking. For all of the sophisticated theories that have been offered about the art of interpersonal communication, doesn’t communication fundamentally boil down to someone speaking, and others listening to what is being said?
Of all new assignments we encounter in the course of our career, no one is bigger than the change from managing yourself to managing others. When our new assignment and responsibilities were described, we were reminded “you are also accountable for the safety of those assigned to you.”
Over the first decade of manned spaceflight in the US, no human life was lost in space. In managing risk, there no greater success story…
Imagine your momentary queasiness as you start reading…US Airways 1549. You immediately know what that is about and have a pretty good idea Captain Sully has something to do with it. This month Paul examines the human factor when things go bump in the night…or the Hudson River.
Being sure. Thinking you’re sure. Acting as though you are sure. We do it all the time. In one sense, it’s impossible not to. To live a normal life, you have to….
This month Paul examines the power of example, the power of the examples of leaders. Mimicking or copying the behaviors of others is inbred in us from the time we are young. We do it almost without thinking. If that is true then as a leader it is a powerful way to get people doing what you want them to do.
The five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Together they form the foundation of hazard recognition, done real time where we live and work. There is also the notion of a sixth sense…
This month Paul looks at the challenges of creating the culture you want. Said another way, culture change. It is rare for me to have an initial conversation with prospective and existing clients without them using the term “culture.” Two calls already this morning and it is early. In Changing the Culture Paul provides some brilliant insights while cutting through all the culture change clutter. There is a lot in this one and worthy of multiple reads. This one is brilliant and important! He also will have everyone pulling out their old Geometry text book.
Every industry has its own set of hazards. In the construction business, one of the biggest is trenching and excavation. To insure that work is done safely there is a rigorous set…
How many safety rules are there? Nobody knows for sure. But one thing is for sure: every rule exists for a simple reason…
In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News, Paul examines defining moments of some amazing leaders. Paul discusses the key lesson to be learned from their “defining moments.” It would be nice if all defining moments were also shining moments.
There’s always a reason for every safety rule, and it’s not the least bit difficult to figure out what the reason is for that piece of advice.
