Almost every seasoned safety professional knows that process predicts performance. Some processes are designed to succeed and some are designed to fail. Even those that are well designed will fail if those in charge of implementation do not have an attitude that facilitates effective application. So the root cause of losses is found in the social sciences not in the natural, physical, or even behavioral sciences. We must gain a greater understanding of safety culture and then how to measure and manage it if we are going to make progress on reducing losses.
Several case histories are instructive. The readers of this paper probably have many similar stories they could tell. I would encourage them to document those "cases" and I would welcome them being shared with me.
History can be a way to learn lessons and avoid mistakes of the past. It is said that those who refuse to learn from their mistakes are condemned to relive those failures. Unfortunately, learning often doesn't take place, because history is not properly documented or the lesson learned is not properly understood or interpreted; but that is no excuse for ignoring history.
A noted historian said, "Apparently our present-day education has forgotten the ancient world, to our loss, for theirs is the history we are even now repeating."
Values-Driven SafetyTM is based on a foundation of the historical teachings in theology, philosophy, psychology, and - notably - sociology. The concept is rooted in sociology but draws on the other social sciences as well.
These case histories supplement timeless truths revealed in the social sciences with more modern day examples that confirm what we have known for centuries.
As Values-Driven SafetyTM is applied, we are confident that stories will continue to emerge that validate the core concepts in the process.
A major wood-products Company believes they are best in class with regard to safety performance but recognize a disparity between their best and worst operations in harvesting, milling, and papermaking. They desire to bring all their operations up to the performance of their best performers in each business sector.
A consulting project is undertaken to benchmark world-class safety in industry in general and then specifically in the wood products industries and then to analyze best and worst performers in each business sector of the client company and suggest how over-all performance could be improved by adopting world-class methods from all viewed sources.
First, it was determined that the first-in-class claim was probably over stated with the possible exception of the best units in each business sector. Those best units were visited to assess their methods for consistently leading their sectors in safety performance. Although they were in vastly different businesses, planting and harvesting, milling, and papermaking, they had several characteristics in common.
