Engage Employees In The Safety Process

By Terry McSween, QSE President

Having written on self-observations a few issues back [See “Self-Observation” in QSE newsletter, June 10, 2009], I’d like to discuss different types of peer observations, in particular individual observations versus area observations. The difference between the two is really who is being observed, because both cases involve a single observer. Typically, in individual observations, the observer finds another employee working, observes that employee, and gives the employee feedback.

By Jerry Pounds

Creating a successful Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) process is a challenge, and companies around the world are addressing that challenge as you read these lines. Barriers to success include the following:

E-SAFTE at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility stands for “Environment and Safety Actions for Team Excellence.” Lockheed Martin strives to instill the mindset in all employees that accidents and injuries are preventable and avoidable, which is a mainstay of the behavior-based safety (BBS) initiative started in 2004 as part of the organization’s overall safety initiative. “I volunteered to participate in an E-SAFTE team because I’ve been injured,” explains Lewis Love, the BBS site coordinator. “I wanted to be accountable to myself and my teammates to prevent further injuries.”

When Bob Foxworthy, a behavioral consultant with Quality Safety Edge (QSE), received a year-end request to develop a fully operational behavior-based safety (BBS) process within six days, the “Mission Impossible” theme song began playing in his head. The request came from ICL Performance Products’ phosphate plant in Lawrence, Kansas. The plant had once successfully operated a behavior-based safety process that had gone by the wayside over a decade ago. Now, the facility’s safety team wanted to begin anew with a limited budget, a limited time frame, and an unlimited determination to make it happen.