please respond to scott with 200 words no plagerism no a i no chat bots
As a safety professional working for the Department of Defense, we provide not just oversight of government assets that are undergoing a CNO or non-CNO shipyard availabilities but are also subject matter experts with regards to safety, fire safety, and the industrial environment that is ship repair. Many would assume that our role is simply pointing out discrepancies and walking away, but in fact we more, so much more. Our profession relies on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but also social sciences. Its important in our business to understand types of leadership, and behavioral sciences as it pertains to safety.
Throughout the day our safety professionals wear different hats both official and unofficial within an organization, some official such as responsible for safety and health, compliance, worker compensation, however unofficially they fill roles of marriage counselor, financial researcher, and maybe even the company softball team manager (Schneid, 2016).
Many would think theres no way we could do all of that but walking the deck plates we are often viewed as ears to management or leadership. Some even view us as the enemy, a way to stop production work or tell them what they are doing something wrong, typically these are the deck plate supervisors who see us as a hindrance to production, but to others we are an ear, someone to listen to their problems, or vent concerns.
When incident occurs, we are quick to blame the worker, saying just pay attention, do your job, or just wear your PPE. However, there are times that its just not that simple. We as an organization have an obligation to ensure that we are providing a working environment that is free from known hazards. We must look at the employee wholistically, considering everything that plays a role in keeping that employee safe.
Human error does play a role in incidents but is the error intentional or unintentional? Slips or lapses in memory or incorrect decisions based on inadequate knowledge is an example of unintentional human error. Are we providing the right type of training or providing the right type of personnel protective equipment for the task? When was the last time that operating procedures were reviewed or updated? As industry changes and production methods evolve so must our safety mitigations, new processes require a new risk evaluation to determine the overall impact to the employees. Are the current safety mitigations enough? Not to mention PPE is a last resort. Behavioral Base Safety considers unsafe conditions that influence unsafe behaviors (Kaila, 2013). So again, we must look at the whole employee. As a professional we do our best to separate what is going on in our life from work, however we have all experienced times when home spills into work, such as the loss of a family member, stressor about money or relationships.
The more serious are the intentional errors like purposely deviating from procedure or safety requirements. But again, what drives this decision? Are we placing too much demand on a single employee, an unstaffed job site or just the glare of the all might dollar? That falls on management, by all means complete the job in a timely manner, but pushing and side-stepping safety requirements will have a more detrimental impact on the job and company.
In closing, consider the why behind both what motivates the employee and what were the contributing factors to an incident or near miss. We must take complete ownership of a situation and consider what could we have done differently and not be so quick to take the shortcut and blame the employee.
What do you feel are the largest stressor to a safety professional?
References:
Kaila, H. L. (2013). Behavior Based Safety in Organizations: A Practical Guide. India: I.K. International Publishing House Pvt. Limited.
Schneid, T. D. (2016). Labor and Employment Issues for the Safety Professional. United Kingdom: CRC Press.
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