The idea of Safety First is a noble one. It’s often a workplace culture, and both government organizations and corporations alike have adopted it. As a result, vast improvements have been made to manufacturing techniques, product quality, and laws governing safety. For instance, the semiconductor industry is just such an environment. According to the latest statistics from NIOSH, the semi industry ranks 7th lowest in accidents reported, of all industries surveyed. In the semi industry, meetings at every level begin with the lead slide stating “Safety First”, where safety concerns, such as escape routes and local protocol are expressed. In spite of these changes and survey results, the semi industry still experiences industrial accidents which …show more content…
Firstly, equipment manufacturers design inherently dangerous systems with built-in safety devices known as engineering controls. These are interlocks that are meant to protect the unsuspecting from the dangers that lay inside. Second, all newcomers to the industry are indoctrinated by loads of videos and web-based training, solely dedicated to instill the cultural belief that safety is first. This training is recognized in the industry as an administrative control. Lastly, self-regulation is applied; the individual is trained on specific equipment they will soon be working on, so as to explain the inherent dangers one might face while performing a specific task. Trainees are shown how to use Lock-Out/ Tag-Out (LOTO) to properly control hazardous energies (CoHE). LOTO is a term used when one applies a lock or device on a hazard, along with a tag to identify it is currently unsafe to operate the equipment while under service. The term CoHe is used to identify a force which must be controlled due to its potential to injure, disfigure, maim or kill. The individual who applied the LOTO to a piece of equipment is the sole owner of a key that would unlock said device. In this practice, an individual is protected from an unsuspecting person turning on a dangerous piece of equipment while it is being serviced. Once service has been completed, the technician would unlock the equipment and return it to normal …show more content…
Many of these tasks are quite mundane but well documented, yet still present the same hazards to individuals involved in the maintenance process. If a task becomes so ritualistic in nature, one forgets to practice all aspects of the process at hand, even when it is documented procedurally. Due to the complacency of an individual, a document defining the process is opened quickly, summarily reviewed and immediately becomes a hindrance to the process. By turning a process into a mere act of reflex and extending the time between those reflexes only serves to relax one’s procedural techniques. Compound the mundane routine by adding a variable, such as changing a toxic gas control valve and odds are someone will be visiting an emergency room or worse. This is why the term “specific tasks” has been emphasized previously. Often, the specific task becomes convoluted into a wide-range task. At this point the PTP form should be employed but is often overlooked and, or downplayed in importance by the customer and the technician. Again, the combining factors of stress, lost time and revenue, and complacency often lead to something going
Greer, M. E. (2001, October). 90 Years of Progress in Safety. Professional Safety, 46(10), 20-25. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=5367632&site=ehost-live&scope=site
safety is maintained in the workplace will not jeopardize the company’s bottom line because of how large their profit margins are. As a multinational corporation, fulfilling these duties will shine a positive light on their company’s reputation for reducing the amount of workplace injuries and deaths that occur and also delivering a wage that demonstrates human dignity to abolish exploitation.
In a culture of safety and quality, all employees are focused on upholding quality in providing safe care. In order to promote patient safety in the hospital setting there should be an exhibition of teamwork irrespective of the different leadership positions. However the leaders show their obligation to quality and safety, and set capacities for their employees to perform a committed and critical role in assuring patient safety.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2011). Introduction to the Culture of Safety (Educational Standards). Retrieved from IHI open school for health professions: http://www.ihi.org
A culture of safety requires the commitment of leadership to positively impact outcomes. Recent emphasis on the new CMS guidelines and third party reimbursement initiatives associated with patient outcomes, has grabbed the attention of leadership at all healthcare organizations. Additionally, our system wide organization’s employee culture of safety survey has shown that communication and teamwork are areas were improvements are needed. Years of research on communication and teamwork in highly reliable organizations support a correlation with safety. (XX) One of the most important and highly touted Joint Commission, National Patient Safety Goals is to improve communication across the healthcare continuum. (JC .com) Additionally, the organization’s patient occurrences were reviewed through root cause analysis and the source is often linked to a failure to effectively communicate and role confusion. Well defined roles within the team model can help improve communication, including mitigating variables such as distractions, individual emphasis on the wrong information, and a breakdown in communication. (XXX) Implementation of a formal teamwork program is one way to systematically approach risk reduction within an organization. (Botwinick, L., Bisognano, M., & Harden, C., 2006) (Leonard, M., Frankel, A., Federico, F., Frush, K., & Haraden, C., 2013)
Accidents are an inevitable part of life. Children learn this at an early age by bumping their head, scraping their knees, or falling off the swings. They learn that sometimes painful experiences just happen, seemingly without cause or reason. These children carry these lessons into adulthood, and then project their tolerance for accidents onto their families and occupation. The chemical industry, while one of the safest industries, has the potential for catastrophic accidents. Through experience and renewed focus on the conservation of life, the chemical industry has improved its safety considerably. In 2005, chemical industry fatality rate (the number of fatalities per year per total number of people in the applicable population) was the third lowest when compared to industries such as agriculture, coal mining, and construction1. However, accidents still occur, sometimes with regrettable repercussions. In 2005, Formosa Plastics Corporation in Point Comfort, Texas experienced an accident with severe consequences.
The Joint Commission. (2008). Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety. Sentinel Event Alert Issue 40, http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/SentinelEventAlert/sea_40.htm.
When it comes to safety most people think they are safe, and they have a true understanding on how to work safe. Human nature prevents us from harming ourselves. Our instincts help protect us from harm. Yet everyday there are injuries and deaths across the world due to being unsafe. What causes people to work unsafe is one of the main challenges that face all Safety Managers across the world.
There are many different systems (communication pathways and subcultures) to address when creating or sustaining a culture of safety. Training professionals working in acute hospitals analyze the subcultures within their organization. A well planned assessment process before implementing any interventions should indicate areas in which additional support is needed. For example, leadership development, front-line staff engagement and empowerment, and cultural performance measures. Training is beneficial when an organization wants to educate their personnel on the expectations, policies, and communication pathways that are available to them (Liane Ginsburg et al. 2005). However, after training hospital personnel should have continuous support to escalate safety issues in real time, leadership should be to visible support their engagement, and physicians are considered partners instead of barriers (Thun et al. 2010; S. J. Singer et al. 2003; Cohn 2009; Bould et al. 2015; Anand et al. 2014). Throughout the assessment process, health care professionals may also need to indicate if nursing staff turnover or shortage is a threat to their organization. Sellgren et al. 2011 and Allen 2008, warn leaders that shortages and high turnover can threaten the culture of safety. The goal of the culture of safety is to decrease the amount of deaths and catastrophic events that occur in health care organizations, thus decreases the cost of health care
Safety within hospitals must be viewed in a holistic way. Patient safety is always prioritized but
Deontological view: It would be the “duty” of each company to come up with the BEST standards of safety for their factories in order to fulfill this approach. Morally driven, there would be no greed, or cutting corners. It would be the obligation of the companies to hold the safety of their employees to the highest standard.
Any work stoppage can affect the production and goals of the company. Imagine an automobile manufacture that has faulty equipment. The faulty equipment could cause serious safety risk to employees and damage to the vehicles being made. One would think that once safety risks has been identified, managers would automatically address the safety concerns and fix the equipment. However, in the automobile manufacturing industry safety is often overlooked.
Effective healthcare organizations often look at safety culture in areas of systems, environments, knowledge, workflow, tools and other stressors affecting behaviors (Carroll, 2009). Incorporating and utilizing benchmarks (or measurements) are proactive tools to institute proactively to forecast and develop solutions for potential situations and circumstances. The Measuring Safety Culture in Healthcare: A case for Accurate Diagnosis by Flin is a resource that stood out to me as well. The Measuring Safety Culture in Healthcare article addressed concerns regarding safety of patients in the U.S. healthcare systems. The article was written to bring forth concerns in safety management techniques that are adopted in the health care industries. The article stated how the use of safety climate questionnaires surveying workforce perceptions and attitudes towards worker and patient safety in healthcare organizations were important. The article found that many psychometric standards were not in place to address healthcare safety climate measures prior to this
Many times the Safety Officer, if you will, is accused of not being a team player. Being chastised for doing ones job is not the most effective way to promote a safety minded environment. Also on the other side of the coin the Safety Officer must implement or correct s...
Regulation compliance, employee safety, fire safety, ergonomics, industrial hygiene, hazardous waste removal, training procedures, and management relations are samples of features taken into consideration during a Safety Major’s day. Though there are numerous specializations safety professions can choose, a base knowledge in all fields is essential for a successful career. Therefore, I intend to pursue a continuation of safety certifications that will demonstrate a persistent ability to learn about my career. For the initial duration of my profession, I hope to obtain an Environmental Health and Safety specialist entry level position for an established organization. If the opportunity arises, I will promote within the same organization until