Safe and I Know It: Safety through Story

Arnold Marsden

Safe and I Know It

Improving Hazard Controls at the Front Line, Where it Matters Most

First published by Striving for Safety LLC 2024

Copyright © 2024 by Arnold Marsden

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

The scenes in the story that accompany the main text, as well as many of the examples and personal anecdotes, were inspired by a compilation of actual experiences with many companies around the world, but the locations, personal characteristics, and specific circumstances have been changed such that they are fictional. They have also been embellished with additional details to help drive home key concepts. Any resemblance of the characters or worksites to actual persons or locations, respectively, is unintentional and coincidental.

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Contents

Author’s note

Prologue

1. Introduction

2. Measuring safety

What is safe, anyway?

Exposure versus incidents

Get these two things right

The technical integrity analogy

Safety metrics are not the enemy

Why wouldn’t you want to know?

Self reflection

3. Frontline Control Verification: Overview

Summary of the process

But I already do that

Benefits

Obstacles

The credible safety leader’s role

Are you ready?

Self reflection

4. Frontline Control Verification: Step-by-Step

FOCUS on a critical hazard

DEFINE the controls to be used as leading indicators

OBSERVE the controls during work

ANALYZE the data as a team and commit to actions

ACT quickly and appropriately

COMMUNICATE results and progress

REPEAT and improve

5. Moving on

When

How

The next hazard

Self reflection

6. Other considerations

Causes

Contractor involvement

Different work types and settings

Reconciling overlapping systems

Limitations

Self reflection

7. Other applications

Setting priorities

Work planning

Performance monitoring

Program improvements

Contractor evaluation and selection

Hazard identification

Self reflection

8. HOP (Human and Organizational Performance)

Self reflection

9. Roles and responsibilities

Top leader(s)

Middle managers

Frontline supervisors

Frontline workers

Safety leader

Process owner

Inspectors

Commitment meeting participant

Self reflection

10. Safety moment

11. Conclusion

Author’s note

Acknowledgements

About the author

Author’s note

The scenes in the story that accompany the main text, as well as many of the examples and personal anecdotes, were inspired by a compilation of actual experiences with many companies around the world, but the locations, personal characteristics, and specific circumstances have been changed such that they are fictional. They have also been embellished with additional details to help drive home key concepts. Any resemblance of the characters or worksites to actual persons or locations, respectively, is unintentional and coincidental.

The scenes occur in different countries, but for simplicity and clarity, I have written them in one language and one voice. Nearly all the scenes involve engagements between individuals, including frontline workers. I have generally not captured the entire engagement, so they may not represent optimal engagement techniques.

The story and some examples in the main text are focused on the hazard of objects at height for continuity within this book and with my first book, Don’t Let It Fall: Stop Dropped Objects and Save Lives. However, as I explain throughout, this process can be applied to most other operational safety hazards, and its concepts can be applied even more broadly.

I have mostly presented one way to implement this process, one that I have seen work, one which evolved as I learned about the obstacles and opportunities. Your organization, work, and culture will be different, so you may need to modify the process accordingly.

Prologue

March 4, 2022, China

Gus and Heather scrolled through the emails that had piled up during their fifteen-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean while being driven to their hotel. Being the project manager on a multi-billion dollar chemical plant expansion project, Gus had a much longer backlog than she did as the safety manager. An old-fashioned ring tone interrupted Gus’s scrolling. The sudden noise caused Heather to drop her phone on the seat between her legs.

What’s up, Zach? said Gus.

Heather clenched her jaw. This hastily arranged trip to the fabrication site that Zach oversaw for the project had been triggered by a second dropped object incident in less than a week. The first one, a blind flange, hadn’t hit anyone, but was heavy enough and fell far enough that it could have killed someone. Then just a few days later, a construction wedge, dropped from the third deck of a module, hit a pipefitter on the second deck. The young man’s hard hat left a small gash on his forehead as the wedge slammed into it and knocked it off of his head. He was stunned, but would be OK, but she and Gus were both concerned. Actually, scared!

Gus squirmed in his seat. Again! Gus exclaimed, glancing at Heather.

Oh no! Not another one. Somehow, she just knew. Hopefully, only a near miss, not a hit.

* * *

After being briefed on the third dropped object incident in ten days, the site safety lead for the project, Jonathan, led her to the fabrication area. A three-pound hammer had been kicked off of a scaffold platform which was missing a toeboard, landing ten feet from the entrance to the main access stairway. Jonathan pointed out the white divot in the concrete where it had landed. Heather bent over and swiped crumbs from the one-inch-deep divot with her finger, then wiped the white powder on her coveralls.

They left the stairway at the top, the fourth deck. The silence was eerie, as the work crews were gathering for their morning mass toolbox meeting. Jonathan allowed her to survey the site without small talk or excuses. But despite the silence, Heather’s heartbeat raced. A lump rose in her throat, so she swallowed hard and pinched her lips tight. A pile of lumber scraps surrounded a piping penetration through the grating. Fine mesh netting, intended to cover the guardrail, flapped in the brisk morning breeze like a flag. She kicked a socket wrench across the grating when she turned toward Jonathan. He grabbed her elbow before she could fall face first onto the metal grating.

Jonathan spared her the question. I know, I know. We coach the workers. They seem to get it. But then they get in a hurry–

How did we not see this coming? Heather mumbled, mostly to herself.

Excuse me? said Jonathan.

Heather tried to reply, but she was interrupted by a man yelling over a PA system. She and Jonathan walked to the guardrail with the loose netting. Hundreds of workers dressed in four different colors of coveralls stood still in straight lines. Heather recognized the man’s voice from the project kickoff meeting, but she hadn’t seen him since. He waved an arm above his head as his volume increased. The PA system squealed. Many of the workers flinched; some covered their ears.

Gus and Zach stood at his side.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Heather and Gus joined Zach and Shawn, the project’s overall construction manager, in Zach’s office.

Zach, was the area where the hammer fell barricaded off? Heather asked.

No, said Zach, as he lowered his head.

Shawn clarified his answer. But it was during the night shift when fewer people were around.

So, we were lucky, Gus said with a sneer.

Zach sunk into his chair. Shawn said, But–

Gus held a palm up toward Shawn. No ‘buts.’ This has to stop. Someone will be hurt badly. He turned his attention to Heather. I don’t know what else to do. I thought we were doing a lot already, more than any other project has. We bought all those tethers and netting. We trained everyone …

When Gus paused for a second, Heather said, Gus, have you been outside?

No, no, not yet. Zach, Shawn, and I will go after lunch.

* * *

At four o’clock, Gus, Shawn, and Zach walked through the office door in their coveralls. Zach’s brown hair was matted against his forehead. His long face brought her out of the stupor caused by jet lag. Gus waved Heather toward Zach’s office. When she entered behind them, he waved her in and said, Close the door.

Zach, he said. I want you to shut down work until we clean up the site and figure out our next steps. We can’t roll the dice any longer.

OK, said Zach. I don’t know what else to try, but–

Wait a minute, Gus, said Shawn. We’re already behind schedule. The contractor will only rush even more to catch up. How about this? We’ll clean up tonight, then we start back up in the morning.

No, Shawn, there’s more to it than housekeeping. I want Zach and Heather to give me a plan. Something to stop the DROPS before we hurt someone. I thought we were doing enough, but our performance clearly shows we’re not. Let’s meet tomorrow afternoon.

Zach nodded, but Shawn glared at Heather.

1

Introduction

I have to admit the title is a bit click-baity, and I generally hate click bait. You’ll never really KNOW it’s SAFE. But you probably already understood that, didn’t you? People make mistakes, conditions change, and new hazards emerge. However, you can MAKE the workplace SAFER, much safer. You can observe how effectively hazard controls are implemented at the front line during the work. And if hazards are controlled effectively, workers are unlikely to get hurt seriously. With ongoing feedback, you can continuously improve safety at the site. I know. I’ve been a part of it. I learned the hard way. I witnessed teams dramatically reducing potentially serious incidents–saving lives!

Whether safety is your first priority or third or fourth, wouldn’t you want to know if your workplace is safe, or at least as safe as it can be? Why not? You know your balance sheet backwards and forwards. What about the safety of the people who deliver the value shown there?

This book presents a simple and effective process for a leader to know how safe their work is and how to make it safer; put simply, how to verify effective hazard controls are in place at the front line during the work. I call it Frontline Control Verification (FCV). Simple in concept, but not so easy to do. Implementation is filled with tempting shortcuts. I know from experience. But there are no shortcuts to safety. That’s why I wrote this book. First, to show you how to know your workplace is safe. Second, to describe how to overcome the obstacles you will face; in other words, how to shorten your learning curve so fewer people get hurt along the way.

Isn’t it worth a few hours of your valuable time to learn more? And then all the hard work to put the concepts into practice? After all, I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, nothing worthwhile comes easy. And I’d say preventing serious injuries, even just one, is worthwhile. Wouldn’t you? Keeping your balance sheet healthy can’t be easy either. A credible safety leader can do this!

Injuries occur when one of two things occurs: (1) a hazard is not identified, and therefore the corresponding controls are not identified and implemented, or (2) the hazard is identified, but the necessary controls are not in place or not effective. Technically, there is a third, acts of God, but I won’t address that here. This book focuses on the second, though I will address the first one briefly toward the end.

Frontline Control Verification includes the following steps:

FOCUS on a critical hazard.

DEFINE the controls and leading indicators.

OBSERVE the controls during work.

ANALYZE the data as a team and commit to actions.

ACT quickly and appropriately.

COMMUNICATE results and progress.

REPEAT and improve.

The bulk of this book