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Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Relate continuous improvement principles to safety management concepts. 6.1 Detail the link between lean concepts and the safety management system.

7. Examine management tools necessary to implement effective safety management systems. 7.1 Explain how a management of change process can reduce serious injury potential. 7.2 Illustrate how safety design reviews can reduce risks introduced by procurement processes.

Reading Assignment

Chapter 18: Lean Concepts—Emphasizing the Design Process: Section 5.1.3 of Z10

Chapter 19: Management of Change: Section 5.1.3 of Z10

Chapter 20: The Procurement Process: Section 5.1.4 of Z10

Unit Lesson

Business owners and managers are always looking for the best way to run their operations to maximize profits. Many new management systems and processes have been developed and implemented with varying degrees of success in recent years. Regardless of what management system an organization uses, it is critical for safety processes to be integrated into the larger structure of the organization. That is to say, the safety and health management system should not stand alone from the other management efforts put forth by the management of the facility. Integration of the safety and health program with other management systems, rather, is key to successful implementation.

A management concept that has proven successful for many organizations (particularly in the manufacturing sector) is lean management, used successfully for more than 50 years by the Toyota Corporation. The basic premise of lean is to reduce waste in all phases of an operation (Manuele, 2014). What better example of a waste of valuable resources is there than an injury or illness? Recall that the hierarchy of controls tells us the best place to reduce risk is at the design stage of a product or process. It is also at the design phase that lean concepts can be applied for the greatest benefit. Z10 does not specifically address lean, but it does call for processes that prevent or stop hazards at the design and redesign phases (Manuele, 2014).

One of the foundations of lean is the 5S concept (Manuele, 2014).

 Sorting, where everything not needed is removed from the workplace;

 Simplifying, where everything needed has a place and is well marked;

 Systematic cleaning, where orderliness is created and maintained;

 Standardization, where best practices are developed and adopted for efficiency; and

 Sustaining, where the previous steps are maintained.

Anvari, Zulkifli, and Yussuff (2010) propose that a sixth S, for safety, be added between systematic cleaning and standardization, and they found that some organizations have already done so. They feel this gives safety the visibility and integration it deserves as a significant contributor to reduction of waste. Manuele (2014)

UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE

Integrating Safety Management and Operational Management

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warns that representing safety in its own step might signal that safety is not really integrated but still separate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted a 6S model that shows safety as surrounding all the other steps. Organizations must decide what is best for them, and however lean is implemented, it is important for the safety staff to have an active role in the process. Also, as mentioned above, it is important to assure that lean safety initiatives such as 5S (or 6S) are well integrated into the overall management systems.

In contrast to the tenets of the 5S (or 6S) system mentioned above, envision a small manufacturing facility that utilizes forklifts but has unmarked aisles. Metal fabrication dies and punches are stored on shelves in no particular order, and the only way to know if one is damaged if it is not obvious is to ask Bubba the mechanical press operator. Metal banding can be spotted in walkways. Palletized materials are stored in front of exits and electrical boxes. Flammable liquid storage cabinets used to hold toluene and xylenes are left open 24 hours a day, and there is a radio sitting on one plugged into an adjacent extension cord which runs through a hole in the wall and is plugged in somewhere on the other side. There are also racks of dusty unused parts from previously discontinued products that did not sell. The key point here is that thoughtful organization is important when it comes to injury prevention efforts. In this scenario, we have everything from fire, tripping, and electrical hazards to potential projectile hazards from exploding punches. The bottom line is that keeping things in an orderly manner is a good policy when it comes to accident prevention in the worlplace.

Have you ever heard the adage “Nothing is constant except change?” In some organizations, it does seem true: reorganizations, rebranding, reorganizations, new products, reorganizations, mergers, and acquisitions. Did I mention reorganizations? Many books have been written, and many consultants are waiting to guide organizations through the maze of these transformations. In his research into serious injuries and fatalities, Manuele (2014) found that a large proportion of incidents resulting in severe injury occur in unusual and non- routine work, during modification or construction operations, during shutdowns for repairs, during maintenance and startups, and when situations go from normal to abnormal, in other words, when things change. It is no surprise, then, that an entire chapter in the course textbook, Chapter 19, and a section of Z10 deal with management of change.

Many organizations have great safe operating procedures, job hazard analyses, and other safe work systems in use. How many, however, have a plan on how to deal with changes in processes, equipment, procedures, or personnel that may alter the risks previously identified? One place where one is likely to run across a management of change program, as was mentioned in a previous unit lesson, is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management standard which covers employers that process and store dangerous quantities of highly hazardous materials. According to OSHA (2000):

Changes to a process must be thoroughly evaluated to fully assess their impact on employee safety and health and to determine needed changes to operating procedures. To this end, the standard contains a section on procedures for managing changes to processes. Written procedures to manage changes (except for “replacements in kind”) to process chemicals, technology, equipment, and procedures, and change to facilities that affect a covered process, must be established and implemented. These written procedures must ensure that the following considerations are addressed prior to any change:

 The technical basis for the proposed change,

 Impact of the change on employee safety and health,

 Modifications to operating procedures,

 Necessary time period for the change, and

 Authorization requirements for the proposed change.

Employees who operate a process and maintenance and contract employees whose job tasks will be affected by a change in the process must be informed of, and trained in, the change prior to startup of the process or startup of the affected part of the process. If a change covered by these procedures results in a change in the required process safety information, such information also must be updated accordingly. If a change covered by these procedures changes the required operating procedures or practices, they also must be updated. (para. 1-3)

It should be clear by applying common sense that this is a wise approach to take when dealing with highly hazardous substances; however, such an approach is not necessarily limited to companies that are required to comply with the PSM Standard. If you think about it, management of change is in alignment with the PDCA

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cycle philosophy, particularly with respect to the Check and Do phases of the cycle as well as section 6.0 of Z10. Uitlizing such a management tool is clearly useful in helping to address difficult-to-spot hazards resulting from signficant changes in organizational processes. Remember, we want to prevent injuries and illnesses. Why not introduce a process that anticipates problems that might occur as a result of organizational and facility changes earlier rather than waiting for an incident to happen? That is management of change, and it is part of the Do phase and section 5.0 of Z10. Manuele (2014) suggests that for management of change to be effective, it must be a formalized process. Many good examples can be found in safety literature.

Closely related to safety design reviews, reviewing procurement specifications allows the safety professional to reduce risk up front by ensuring risks are identified and addressed. Influencing the procurement process may well be one of the most difficult challenges for the safety professional. This is particularly true when the price of an expensive piece of equipment is considered. Once again, Manuele (2014) looks to ergonomics as a way to get a foot in the door, and just like the design review process, it is important to keep the dollar sign savings in front of management. Consider a situation, for example, where stands that hold raw material to be stamped by a press operator are considered that can be adjusted to the height of the worker but that will cost $47,000 more than non-adjustable stands. It will not take too many costly back injuries to add up to $47,000. As mentioned in a previous unit lesson, speaking the language of business can be quite useful when it comes to advocating safety in the workplace, and it can be used for advocating important safety and health related efforts such as lean-safety-related initiatives and management of change.

Course Project

As in previous units, the non-graded learning activities in this unit contain an exercise designed to help you with the course project that will be due in Unit VIII. By completing this activity and similar ones in other units, you will have most of the data and analysis needed to put together a high-quality report to management on the state of the safety management program.

References

Anvari, A., Zulkifli, N., & Yussuff, R. M. (2011). Evaluation of approaches to safety in lean manufacturing and safety management systems and clarification of the relationship between them. World Applied Sciences Journal, 15(1), 19-26.

Manuele, F. A. (2014). Advanced safety management: Focusing on Z10 and serious injury prevention (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2000). Process Safety Management. OSHA 3132. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3132.html#moc

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2011). 6S (5S+safety). Lean and environment toolkit (pp. 49-60). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/lean/environment/toolkits/environment/resources/LeanEnviroToolkit.pdf