A couple of months back, one of our clients mentioned that they were reluctant to transfer their safe work procedures to our Safety Management System, because they had a unique system of listing the personal protective equipment (PPE) required at the top of the procedure.  This made for a quick reference and introduced a common element among procedures that could be easily scanned by workers prior to performing the task.

Well as usual, we've taken a client's idea and taken it even further.  The administrator will be provided with 14 PPE pictograms (eye protection, face protection, welder's helmet, head protection, hearing protection, gloves, protective footwear, dust mask, respirator, SCBA, apron, protective clothing, body suit, and high-visibility vest) and checkboxes below each one.  It is simply a matter of selecting the appropriate PPE.  Workers will then see the appropriate PPE pictograms in the Safe Work Procedure.

Although our Safe Work Procedure module presents critical jobs in a simple and effective format, there is still the occasional need to print an old table-style procedure (with columns for Steps, Hazards, Controls, and so on.  So here it is:

Sample procedure printout from SafetySync's safe operating procedure module. 

The "Print Procedure" button at the bottom of the Procedure Details screen will produce a .pdf document that can be saved or printed.

The hazard identification, risk assessment and control process is the foundation of an effective occupational health and safety management system ("OHSMS").  National and International OHSMS standards require this process to be carried out as the basis of an effectively functioning management system.  The rest of the OHSMS cannot function properly without thoroughly and effectively identifying hazards, assessing their risk and implementing controls to minimize their risk.   

For the past year I have been participating in the development of a CSA Standard (CSA Z1002) on this very process.  This is a much needed standard as Canadian legislation in this area is lacking.  Only a handful of jurisdictions specifically require this process to be carried out while legal requirements in most other jurisdictions only imply that this process be carried out. 

For instance, Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act requires supervisors to "advise a worker of the existence of any potential or actual danger to the health or safety of the worker of which the supervisor is aware", which implies that hazards have to be identified.  On the other hand, Part 2 of Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Code, titled "Hazard Assessment, Elimination and Control" requires employers to "assess a work site and identify existing and potential hazards before work begins..."  It goes on to require that employers implement the hierarchy of controls for any identified hazards.  But even this fairly progressive legislation has its faults.  It doesn't provide much practical advice with respect to carrying out this process and even the OHS Code Explanation Guide falls short of describing what I would consider a reasonable hazard identification, risk assessment and control process.  Employers are left to interpret these legal requirements and in my experience it is rare to find two employers who are carrying out this process in a similar fashion.  The result is a whack of spreadsheets and hard copies being stored in all corners of an organization.
 
The most effective method of carrying out this process is through an effective Job Safety Analysis that results in adequate safe work procedures.  The real key with respect to due diligence is to demonstrate that the risk of EACH identified hazard has been assessed and that the risk was minimized by implementing effective controls.  This is something that the safe work procedures provided by SafetySync do an excellent job of displaying visually.  You can't argue with the value of that due diligence evidence.  Be sure to check it out.

We've got a long way to go as far as standardizing this process but SafetySync is a great place to start.  CSA Z1002 should also provide much needed guidance in this area, help get employers on the same page in relation to this process and go a long way in protecting the health and safety of workers.  

Image at Left: Screen shot of sample risk matrix chooser in SafetySync software.  Administrators simply click on the corresponding box for the appropriate Probability and Severity.

On Monday I read an article in OHS Canada Magazine about a 22 year-old worker being killed while replacing an industrial tire, while his co-worker was seriously injured.  This article especially hit home for me as my 19 year-old nephew did the same task last summer while working at a tire shop.
 

The article states, “The subsequent investigation found that the two workers received very little training on the proper procedures for replacing a truck tire, and received no written instructions at any point.”

Although it is obvious from the above statement that safe job procedures training would have helped prevent this accident, it begs the question, how you do you present this information to a young worker so that they want to review it?

Most (well, actually all) of the safe work procedures that I have reviewed are written in a binder in black and white… no pictures and no color… boring.  Not something that would encourage a young worker to stay focused; particularly when compared with the multimedia content young people are accustomed to seeing on the Internet.

There are a few things that we are doing at SafetySync to make safe work procedures a little more interesting for all workers (especially young workers) to review:

1. Pictures – We have added the capability to of add a picture to each step of the procedure.  A picture can show at a glance what might otherwise take paragraphs of long-winded text.  Visual memory is also better for long-term recollection of tasks, objects and situations.  
2. Color – In each step we use colors to give visual clues to ensure the worker understands the material (i.e. hazards are red and the controls are green).   A risk matrix also pops up for each step which presents a risk level in a visual format, ranking the hazard’s probability and severity.
3. Mobile Access – Our software runs on an internet browser, so workers can reference a company’s entire inventory of safe operating procedures right from their smart phones (like the Blackberry Storm or Apple iPhone). Inexperienced employees can spend a few minutes reviewing the task on the way to the job site, or immediately before they perform the work.  

We see technology as a great way to effectively involve workers in safety program requirements, such as reviewing safe work procedures. Not only does it track due diligence, but also is a more interesting and effective way to present the information.

Printed material has been the most efficient means of storing and sharing documents since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440.  Paper documents became even more pervasive when as computer companies like Hewlett Packard made printers affordable enough to be available in every office.

I saw an article recently about Kindle, Amazon.com's electronic book.  Newsweek calls it "the iPod of reading".  It can download any book from a catalog of 240,000 titles in just 60 seconds.  And it can store 1,500 books!  Amazon has already sold over 500,000 of the electronic books, and they can't keep up with demand.  This trend has enough momentum that I think kids growing up 30 years from now will have to go to a museum to see a printed book.

Paper is still ingrained in our business culture though, and safety departments are one of the heaviest users.  I've seen companies that have an administrator in the safety department dedicated to printing, binding and distributing paper full time.  Just think how much paper is generated for policy manuals, procedure binders, Material Safety Data Sheets and the dozens of types of safety forms.

It's hard to imagine now, but I see paper use steadily falling over the next few decades, as more and more companies realize that storing documents online is more reliable, secure and cost effective than paper.  This transition will happen sooner in organizations with dispersed workforces; nearly all workers now have (or will soon have) access in the field to a computer (or similar device) and the Internet.  With the right software (ie. an online Safety Management System like SAFETYSYNC), a company will have all it needs to make the move to electronic documents.  Solutions that offer the ability to print and sign a document will be the ones that are adopted first, since this practice is still important for due diligence purposes.

Our Form and Recordkeeping components are going to be released soon in Beta for testing.  If you're interested in moving some or all of your forms online, give us a call!

Health and safety regulations require companies to document the steps, hazards and controls associated with a job so that workers can complete the task safely.  Most companies refer to these documents as Safe Operating Procedures or SOP's.  What I've come to discover as we help companies manage their safety programs with our online Safety Management System, is that very few companies have a complete job inventory, and in most cases, the existing procedures are incomplete or vague.

There are three reasons managers, supervisors, lead hands and other key personnel do not fully buy into Safe Operating Procedure documentation:
     1.  "It would take me 50 minutes to show a new hire something that I could do in 5 minutes";
     2.  "If you want something done right, you should do it yourself"; and
     3.  "Nobody reads those binders anyway".

The first two issues are philosophical.  Teaching new hires how to do procedures properly is simply part of the mentoring process, and is what differentiates growing companies from stagnant ones.  Young people deserve the chance to learn how to do new tasks properly.  The knowledge they gain will keep them safe and will improve their value as employees.

The third reason, "Nobody reads those binders anyway" has been a hard problem to overcome for most companies.  Procedure binders are tucked away on bookshelves and are full of procedures that may not be applicable to every worker.  Online safety management systems, like SAFETYSYNC are helping companies overcome this problem.  Simply key in the steps, hazards and controls, then choose severity and probability levels from the risk matrix, and finally assign it to employees based on their positions.  We even offer clients the ability to attach pictures to each step, which dramatically improves the workers' level of understanding and retention.  Employees are automatically notified of their requirements for reviewing the SOP's.  Compliance is automatically monitored, and changes are rolled out instantly.

We've seen the importance of Safe Operating Procedures improve dramatically when our clients sign up on our system.  They see the potential improvements in the way SOP's are delivered and administered.  I expect this investment in better Safe Operating Procedures will quickly translate to safer and more productive worksites.

 

[This blog entry is likely going to get me in a whole heap of controversy, but it's something that's been eating me up inside for some time...]

Nearly every company I've been involved with and done business with here at SafetySync has two binders.  One labeled "JHA's" and the other labeled "Safe Work Procedures"; and they both contain almost exactly the same information:  A bunch of tasks broken down into steps, hazards, risk levels, and controls.

Invariably, the people in operations (the ones who are meant to benefit from the binders) get confused by the apparent duplication, and ask the question... What's the difference between a JSA and a Safe Work Procedure?  And why do we have both?

[Editor's note:  JHA is an acronym for Job Hazard Analysis or Job Hazard Assessment, which is also commonly referred to as a JSA, meaning Job Safety Analysis.]

My answer:  They are the same thing, but represent different stages on a timeline.  JHA is the process, and the Safe Work Procedure is the outcome.  Let me explain each element in more detail...

The Job Safety Analysis is the act of getting a group of qualified individuals (supervisors, senior employees, safety personnel) together to:
    1.   Observe a task being performed.
    2.   Identify the potential hazards for each step in the task.
    3.   Assess the risk potential and severity of each hazard.
    4.   Brainstorm appropriate controls according to the risk levels identified.

[Editor's note:  JHA is not a one-time event.  It can (and probably should) occur simultaneously at a number of different locations.  I recall an oil company representative once demanding that all its rigs stop work immediately to perform JHA's after an incident.]

Naturally someone should be taking notes during each JHA to satisfy due diligence requirements.  More on this later.

The JHA development team should then take the information gathered from conducting the Job Hazard Analysis (or Analyses), and write an official Safe Work Procedure.  This Safe Work Procedure will in all likelihood be an exact copy of the latest iteration of the JHA.  It is the document that should be approved by senior management and circulated among the workers.  It is the roadmap for performing a task safely.  It remains unchanged until a subsequent JHA (which should be conducted regularly) identifies a new hazard or comes up with a better control.

Once the Safe Work Procedure is in circulation, the JHA record should be filed away for reference and due diligence purposes only.  Maintaining and circulating both binders will only lead to confusion, frustration, and inconsistencies.

If you have questions about how these systems differ, please give me a call at (403) 668-6402 ext. 111, and I'd be happy to demonstrate how we manage each of them in our software.