Alive and Well at the End of the Day, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 7RECOGNIZING HAZARDS AND MANAGING RISK

As ever, Watson, you see but do not observe.

—Sherlock Holmes

In the preceding chapter, “Following All the Rules … All the Time,” we examined the challenge of following the rules. To achieve compliance a leader faces a brutally tough set of challenges that will never end. The fact that everyone follows all the rules today doesn’t guarantee everyone will do that again tomorrow. Or immediately comply with the new policy rolled out in the morning safety meeting.

But what if you were able to accomplish the goal of full compliance: everyone under your supervision followed every safety rule every working day? And they didn’t just “tick the boxes,” but fully and faithfully followed both the letter and spirit of the requirements. If that happened, safety performance undoubtedly would be fabulous. But would following all the safety rules all the time guarantee that nobody would ever get hurt?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. There are plenty of ways to get hurt that don’t involve breaking the rules. If your goal is to see to it that every follower goes home safe every single day, your challenge goes beyond following all the rules all the time. You face a second challenge that might be the equal of the challenge of full compliance: you and your followers must be able to recognize what can hurt them. That recognition needs to be done in real time and in the dynamic world of your operation. And as a result of recognizing what can hurt them, ...