Continuous safety improvement

OR-OSHA 110 Continuous Safety Improvement 1
This material is for training use only
Introduction
Although Total Quality Management (TQM) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) ideas
have been around for many years, their concepts and principles have not been generally
applied to continuous safety improvement (CSI) as a management strategy in occupational
safety and health. This workshop introduces CSI and helps you gain insight about how to
successfully apply it to improve the effectiveness of your company’s injury and illness
prevention program.
Workshop Goals:
At the end of this workshop you should:
1. Be familiar with the origins of the Total Quality Management
movement and W. Edwards Deming’s contributions.
2. Be able to apply Deming’s 14 Points to workplace safety.

Form Safety Improvement Teams!
Introductions
Elect a Team Leader __________________
Select a spokesperson __________________
Name your Team __________________
Part I: CSI ConceptsPart I: CSI Concepts
Traditional safety management philosophy and practices have resulted in some
reductions in accident rates nationally over the years, but it appears that further
reductions will require new ideas. A shift in the way we think about safety is the
answer.
As you might guess, the concepts and principles of continuous safety improvement find
their home in the Total Quality Management movement and Continuous Quality
Improvement. In Part 1 we discuss some of the very important concepts and principles
that make up continuous safety improvement.

Thinking in terms of process is crucial to quality leadership
W. Edwards Deming’s Safe Production System
1
2
Suppliers
Cross Function Safety Review
Consumer research
on safety
Product
safety
Distribution
safety
Production Processes Customers
1
2
3
4
Equipment and
materials safety
Process
safety
Plan
Study
Act
Do
Study the process flow and any
existing data. Formulate possible
improvements, experiments or
decide on methods you can use to
gather data.
Implement the improvement effort
you’ve planned. Use a small-scale
test to implement. Train those
responsible for implementation.
Measure the results of the
improvement by analyzing the
data collected. Study to see if
the process was improved.
If the result was a clear
improvement, make the
change permanent.
Standardize and document all
actions. If the result was not
an improvement, determine
what needs to be done to
improve: Go back to the plan
quadrant and start over.
The Shewhart Cycle

External customers
Customers outside the organization
Internal customers
Customers inside the organization
Directly receives your process outputs
Why are we customers and suppliers at the same time.
As workers we receive inputs from internal suppliersna d produce outputs for our
internal customers.
No employee is independent of suppliers/customers
We are all interdependent.
Customer focus
Inputs Process Outputs

Typical top-down hierarchy to control. Communication mostly directive from top
to bottom. Management does all the thinking. Worker input is not requested.
Suppliers/customers are external to the organization. No internal
customer/supplier mentality.
Each position is both customer and supplier. As supplier, the goal is to provide quality
service/product to immediate customer. As customer, the goal is to use service/product
to best of ability, add value to it, supply it to next customer. External suppliers and
customers viewed as partners within the company. Communication is two-way.
Management relies on workers to help do the thinking. Teams continually improve by
making small changes to their processes.
CEO
Manager
Supervisor
Worker Worker Worker Worker
Supervisor
SUPPLIERS
SUPPLIERS
CUSTOMERS
CUSTOMERS
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
Supplier
Customer
ReliableSupplier
LOYALCUSTOMERS

Deming’s 14 Points applied to safety
Point 1. Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of
product and service, with the aim to become competitive and
to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
What is the purpose of business?
Traditional - short term shareholder profits
According to Deming, what is the purpose of business?
TQM - develop loyal customers, increase market share, stay in business, provide jobs.
How can management create a constant sense of
purpose?
Formally - vision and mission statements, objectives, strategies, policies, plans,
meetings, presentations, education and training
Informally - conversation, actions, follow-through
W. Edwards Deming was an internationally renowned consultant who work led
Japanese industry into principles of management and revolutionized their quality and
productivity. He is author of Out of The Crisis and many other books and articles.
What might W. Edwards Deming say about safety and the part
it plays in the “new management philosophy?”
Part II: Deming
on Safety
Part II: Deming
on Safety

Point 2. Adopt a new philosophy. We are in a new economic age.
Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities,
and take on leadership for a change.
What are the characteristics of a traditional (reactive)
safety philosophy?
Purpose of safety program is to control accident costs
Profits more important than people
Emphasis is on taking the risk. Not worrying about it till an accident happens.
Reacting to accidents - crisis management. Use facts to place blame.
Heavy reliance on accident investigation to discover hazards reduce costs
Heavy reliance on early return to work to reduce costs
Management style: controlling
What are characteristics of the “New” (proactive)
approach to safety?
Purpose of safety program is to prevent accidents in the first place
Emphasis is on zero-tolerance. Always anticipating possible accidents.
Responding in a coordinated manner when accident to happen. Use facts to
find root cause.
Management style: caring
Heavy reliance on proactive programs, training, accountability, instilling
safety as a value in each worker.
Heavy reliance on proactive methods to prevent injuries and reduce costs.

Point 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve
quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into
the product in the first place.
Some corporate safety systems depend solely on regular walk-around
inspections by the safety director, supervisors and safety committees.
Why is reliance on walkaround safety inspections not
an effective strategy?
Uncovers hazardous conditions...not procedures
Inspectors must be properly trained
What can a company do to improve safety without
relying on walk-around inspections?
List and describe your ideas:
Proactive activities:
training,
meetings,
job hazard analysis,
recognition programs that reward appropriate behavior (reporting,
complying)
incident investigation,
safety improvement teams in each department,

Point 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis
of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any
one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
Where does the safety process begin?
Purchasing safe materials, equipment, tools, etc. Helping the supplier design
safety into their products/services.
Why does quality suffer sometimes when companies do
business with a large number of suppliers?
Each supplier might make the same product, but with varying degrees of
quality. Your end product is dependent on the quality of the materials you
receive from your suppliers.
What policies regarding the purchase of safety products,
materials, equipment, and tools might a company adopt
to improve safety?
Develop a close long-term working relationship with one or two suppliers.
Help them improve their product in quality so that it meets your high
standards. Have the supplier come out to your workplace to better understand
your needs. Have the supplier do some training if needed. Go to supplier’s
workplace, see how product is being made. Insist on high standards.

Point 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of
production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and
thus constantly decrease costs. Improving quality and safety is not a one-
time effort with a narrow focus on a limited number of corporate functions.
What approach to safety must a company take to ensure
continuous improvement?
Proactive, continual line-organization focus on safety as equally important part of
the production process as well as all other aspects. Instil the perception that
safety is a subset of quality and that it’s everyone’s responsibility to build safety
into their processes. And, hold people accountable for it.
Identifying and correcting hazards is merely “putting out
fires,” not solving the problem. What must a company do
to make sure safety problems are solved permanently?
All you’re doing is removing special causes which is a one-time immediate fix to
the problem. As long as common causes remain, special causes will continue to
result in accidents. You must go after common (root) causes in the system to effect
permanent change in the system.
What must a company do to make sure safety problems are
solved permanently?
Go after root causes.

Point 6. Institute training and retraining on the job.
What is the danger in too little safety training or
training not conducted by a competent person?
If a worker is not trained properly, it increases variation (common causes)
in the process. If training is not conducted by competent person, again
variation increases. The errors of the one person are transferred to the next
unless the person being trained. Variation continues high with increased
chance of accident.
Who should do the training?
Competent person, preferably the supervisor who must also oversee safe
work and hold others accountable. If supervisor does not have expertise,
he/she should get an expert to train. Supervisor should be involved. Learn
how to do the training.

Point 7. Adopt and institute leadership. The aim of supervision should
be to help people and machines do a better job, and to increase pride of workmanship.
Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of
production workers.
What are the qualities of good leadership?
Human qualities - Care, inspire, motivate, work harder than the rest, etc.
How can managers and supervisors display safety
leadership?
Leadership - safety is important - watch me.
Recognition
Supplying best PPE,
High quality training,
safe materials,
properly designed maintained equipment
holding workers accountable - counseling

Point 8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively
for the company.
Deming wrote that the “The economic loss from fear is
appalling.” What did he mean by this statement, and
how does it apply to workplace safety?
Management by fear is defeating the purpose of the company. Workers can’t
excel as long as they are worried about their very survival. Morale suffers.
Production suffers.
Reactive safety incentive programs reward “not reporting” accidents.
Negative peer pressure can influence decisions.
What approach to safety is required to drive out fear?
Proactive recognition. An enlightened management should recognize the
contribution of workers who report hazards, injuries, and comply with safety
rules. Recognize it as professional behavior, desired, helpful to the purpose
of the company.
Managers and supervisors must be educated about the costs of accidents so
they understand why these behaviors are important.
Managers and workers at all levels must perceive/receive benefit from these
behaviors.

Point 9. Break down barriers between staff areas. People in
research, design, sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of
production, product or service.
Cooperation and competition. There’s a place for both.
But, why may it be harmful for employers to create a
climate of competition among departments?
Internal competition is usually unwanted because it might result in undesired
behaviors being played out. One group might sabotage the efforts of another
to improve their own numbers. The only group to compete against are your
external competitors.
If departments compete against each other in some sort of reactive incentive
program, measuring accident rates or time loss (which no one can control),
they may not report hazards in other depts.
In regard to safety, why is it important for various
departments to communicate and cooperate?
If hazards are detected in one department, all departments should hear about
it so the company improves the system, accidents decrease, everyone wins.
What workplace group is specifically responsible to
help break down safety barriers?
Safety committee

Point 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the
work force asking for zero defects and new levels of
productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk
of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie
beyond the power of the work force.
Is it within the power of employees, alone, to achieve
zero accidents in the workplace? Why?
No. Because they do not control common causes for accident. They control
only their own personal behavior. They make choices about reporting
injuries, hazards, and complying with safety rules. They do not generally
control policies, expectations, accountability, training, materials, tools,
management styles, et.c
Is a “Zero Accidents” policy unrealistic? Why?
Unrealistic in traditional sense. Most companies can never reach it.
The only realistic policy under CSI. If system is set up to improve accident
rates by 10% in a year, systems are set up to do just that. If the goal is
reached, everyone relaxes. Rates go back up. Get a cyclic rate.
If zero injuries is the goal, systems are set up to reach it. The process
(journey) is the important aspect of the system. Contentment is the enemy
with it comes to safety.
Why might the commonly seen “Safety First” poster be
ineffective in some instances?
Implies safety is a priority - priorities change easily - esp at end of production
period.
Want to instil safety as a value - does not easily change - workers will make
safe choices when no one is looking if they personally value safety.
Values don’t need to be stated on posters if they are properly internalized.
“You can beat horses; they run faster for a while. Goals are like hay somebody ties in
front of the horse’s snout. The horse is smart enough to discover that no matter whether
he canters or gallops, trots or walks or stands still, he can’t catch up with the hay. Might
as well stand still. Why argue about it? It will not happen except by change of the
system. That’s management’s job, not the people’s.” Deming, 1985
“You can beat horses; they run faster for a while. Goals are like hay somebody ties in
front of the horse’s snout. The horse is smart enough to discover that no matter whether
he canters or gallops, trots or walks or stands still, he can’t catch up with the hay. Might
as well stand still. Why argue about it? It will not happen except by change of the
system. That’s management’s job, not the people’s.” Deming, 1985

Point 11. Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce, and
eliminate management by objectives. Eliminate numerical
goals for people in management. Substitute leadership.
What’s wrong with focusing primarily on numerical
goals like accident rates or MOD rates to measure the
success of a safety program?
Focusing on results statistics, which we have little control over, causes little
improvement. If we look only at results, we can only react to results, we do
not continually look at variation in the process to improve the results. We
have control over the process. Work on fixing what we can control.
If we focus on continually improving the process, the results will take care of
them selves.
If, according to Deming, we shouldn’t measure the
safety success of a manager purely on numerical
results, what should we measure? (Hint: Read point 11
carefully)
Measure leadership activities. We have control over activities.
Safety meetings
Training
Recognition
Setting proper example
Accountability
Supplying needs
Incident investigations
Inspections
etc.

Point 12. Remove barriers that rob people of their pride of
workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer
numbers to quality. Remove barriers that rob people of their right to pride of
workmanship. Abolish the annual merit rating.
What is “pride of workmanship”?
A desire to put you name on the product or service you provide.
How may supervisors help increase pride of
workmanship?
By supplying the highest quality leadership and resources available.
Worker can’t have pride in the quality of work they do if materials, equipment,
tools, leadership is inferior. Workers don’t control any of that. Can be very
frustrating, demoralizing.
According to Deming, why might annual performance
appraisals that rate or rank employee performance be
ineffective?
Should be providing feedback about quality of work continually, year-round.
There should be no surprises in an annual performance session. If employees
are rated, half are above average, half below. In reality, all are meeting
criteria. Variation most probably do to common causes (lack of supplies of one
kind or another).
Performance appraisal assumes workers work independently. This is never the
case. All workers/managers are interdependent upon each other as
suppliers/customers for quality/safety.
It also assumes workers are provided with everything they need to do the job.
This is usually not the case.

Point 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-
improvement for everyone.
What would a vigorous program in safety education and
self-improvement look like?
Thorough initial orientation that includes clearly stated accountabilities.
Rules are discussed. Workers learn WHY the rules are important.
On-the-job training and retraining on a regular basis. If procedures is done
frequently, supervisor feedback is needed. If procedure is done infrequently,
practice is needed.
Workers are expected to become expert in safety
Workers learn hazard ID and control principles
Workers attend external training
Workers participate in safety improvement teams
Workers do training
Workers are recognized for safety expertise
Point 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation. Put
everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The
transformation is everyone’s job.
How can you get everyone to participate in the
transformation to continuous safety improvement?
Top manager communicates expectations
Set up recognition, benefits
Educate, educate, educate
Walk the talk

CSI is a management approach that:
Focuses on meeting or beating customer expectations for
process and product safety.
 Rigorous use of facts and analysis in everyday safety
decisions.
 Benchmarking against “World-Class” safety performance.
 Effective teamwork across the organization.
 Recognition for outstanding safety performance.
 Information that helps people and systems continuously
improve.
 A culture that fosters continuous improvement in
workplace safety.
 Focuses on effective hazard identification, correction, and
accident prevention efforts.
Key Elements:
• Customer focus
• Facts and
analysis
• Benchmarking
• Cross Function
Teamwork
• Recognition
• Information and
measurement
• Continuous
improvement
• Identification,
correction,
prevention
Key Paradigms of
Continuous Safety Improvement

CONTINUOUS SAFETY
IMPROVEMENT
Quality leadership demands continuous
improvement in both the product or service,
and the process that produces it.
CSI
Materials
EquipmentProcesses
People
SafetyFocus on customers
Improve all safety processes
Involve employees
Use data & knowledge
Presented by
The Training Section
Oregon Occupational
Safety and Health
Division (OR-OSHA)
Introduction to
OR-OSHA 110
9808

OR-OSHA Services
Oregon OSHA offers a wide variety of safety and health services to employers and employees:
Consultative Services (At all field offices)
* Offers no-cost on-site safety and health assistance to Oregon employers for help in
recognizing and correcting safety and health problems in their workplaces;
* Provides consultations in safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, programs and business
assistance;
Training (Portland, Salem Central, Eugene)
* Conducts statewide training classes and workshops in a wide variety of safety and health
subjects;
* Conducts conferences, seminars and satellite (Oregon ED-Net), and on-site training;
* Provides assistance to companies in developing safety and health training programs;
Standards and Technical Resources (Salem Central)
* Provides technical advice on and interpretations of codes;
* Provides copies of all OR-OSHA codes;
* Publishes booklets, pamphlets, and other materials to assist in the implementation of safety
and health codes and programs; and
* Operates a resource center containing books, topical files, technical periodicals, video and
film lending library, and more than 200 technical data bases.
Enforcement (At all field offices)
* Offers pre-job conferences for construction employers;
* Provides abatement assistance to employers who have received citation, and compliance
and technical assistance by phone;
* Inspects places of employment for occupational safety and health rule violations, and
investigates workplace safety and health complaints and accidents.
OR-OSHA Services
Oregon OSHA offers a wide variety of safety and health services to employers and employees:
Consultative Services (At all field offices)
* Offers no-cost on-site safety and health assistance to Oregon employers for help in
recognizing and correcting safety and health problems in their workplaces;
* Provides consultations in safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, programs and business
assistance;
Training (Portland, Salem Central, Eugene)
* Conducts statewide training classes and workshops in a wide variety of safety and health
subjects;
* Conducts conferences, seminars and satellite (Oregon ED-Net), and on-site training;
* Provides assistance to companies in developing safety and health training programs;
Standards and Technical Resources (Salem Central)
* Provides technical advice on and interpretations of codes;
* Provides copies of all OR-OSHA codes;
* Publishes booklets, pamphlets, and other materials to assist in the implementation of safety
and health codes and programs; and
* Operates a resource center containing books, topical files, technical periodicals, video and
film lending library, and more than 200 technical data bases.
Enforcement (At all field offices)
* Offers pre-job conferences for construction employers;
* Provides abatement assistance to employers who have received citation, and compliance
and technical assistance by phone;
* Inspects places of employment for occupational safety and health rule violations, and
investigates workplace safety and health complaints and accidents.
Give
us
a
call
Salem Central Office 378-3272
Portland Field Office 229-5910
Salem Field Office 378-3274
Eugene Field Office 686-7562
Medford Field Office 776-6030
Bend Field Office 388-6066
Pendleton Field Office 276-9175

Continuous safety improvement

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