Built In, Not Bolted On: Using Safety to Drive Operational Excellence

Employers in the electric utility industry are currently working on initiatives in various areas of their businesses, including safety, quality, production, leadership, and human and organizational performance (HOP). These are important programs, but it’s unlikely they’ll fully achieve their intended objectives if employees don’t have a firm grasp on how these various aspects of work impact one another – and the ideal order in which they should be addressed.

As someone who has spent a great deal of time studying HOP and teaching its principles to others, I understand that part of the philosophy is building an organizational system that enables employees to complete their work using processes that make sense to them, are easy to follow and can be done by virtually anyone with the appropriate skill set.

It’s important to recognize, however, that safety should be the first consideration in any work we do and any initiative we develop and roll out. Additionally, safety-motivated workers are more likely to ensure adherence to organizational system protocols when there’s someone or something at stake for them, whomever or whatever that might be.

Examining Safety Culture
Here’s a personal story to help you better understand where I’m going with this.

Years ago, I was asked to attend some lean training, which centered on continuous organizational improvement to minimize waste and maximize efficiency or value. The lean philosophy places a great amount of emphasis on standardization, production and quality.

I consider myself a safety culture champion who primarily concentrates on the human aspect of safety, including motivating people to see the value in doing the right things for the right reasons. When employees are effectively motivated, safety becomes much more than basic compliance to avoid trouble with regulators, safety leaders and your direct supervisor. Compliance should never be the only thing your workforce focuses on; instead, strive for continuous improvement.

Consider a lineman’s PPE, for example. The type and rating of the gear to be used must be determined by the hazards the lineman could be exposed to in the work area. Typically, we strictly adhere to PPE protocols when we know we’re being observed in the field, but that’s not necessarily the case every day. If a worker sometimes dons the incorrect PPE or improperly wears the right equipment, or if another employee must tell them to use it, that’s an indication the worker does not see PPE’s value. A worker who does see the value will ensure they’re correctly wearing the right gear based on their hazard exposure.

Essentially, an employer can create the best work rules, policies and procedures the world has to offer, but to truly have a shot at being effective, they must be easy for employees to understand and follow. When no one is around to observe field employees, peer-to-peer support will be the voice of leadership. Will your workers make the right choices?

Speaking Up for Safety
So, why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to understand that an organization must create this type of culture on some level to successfully move forward in addressing quality, production and other aspects of the business.

That brings us back to the lean training story I’d started to share. The trainer was a former Toyota employee who spoke in part about establishing standards to improve production, which he said would improve quality. I asked him where safety fit into the process, to which he replied, “You must be one of the safety people who I was told would be in this training. I want you to know that safety is a given for this process, not for the individual parts.” In other words, according to the trainer, safety protocols are required to comply with rules and regulations, but they have no effect on production or quality outcomes.

That was an interesting statement. But then things got really interesting.

Seeing the conversation as an opportunity to appeal to everyone in the room, I stood up and asked various other trainees to tell me who or what they valued most in life. The majority said they cared most about their families, pets or free time away from work. These responses helped to underscore the point I wanted to make.

Next, I asked everyone to imagine building a child’s bicycle, perhaps as a birthday gift. The child would ride the bike to school and pedal around their neighborhood, so I explained that we’d want to carefully assemble it to minimize the risks of breakdowns and injuries, particularly when the child would be riding in areas with vehicle traffic. Caring about someone, I said, means you want to ensure their continued safety. Because you care about the child whose bike you’re building, it’s highly likely that you’ll follow the assembly directions (rules) so that the bike works properly or fails safely (quality) when the child is riding it (productivity). In short, I told the class that making safety a true organizational value – not just a priority – will motivate employees to adhere to standards, build with quality and be more productive.

The room was silent when I finished speaking and sat down. I knew it might appear that I was giving the training instructor a hard time, but that wasn’t my intent. I wanted to help him understand that in terms of achieving common organizational goals, it’s significantly more impactful to view and approach the various aspects of business operations – including safety – as one entire interrelated group or system rather than in silos.

As I fielded some of the instructor’s questions, I could feel senior leaders in the room beginning to understand my point. They began discussing the potential development of a system to help the workforce understand each aspect of the business and what’s needed to continuously improve operations.

Again, as I noted earlier, part of the HOP philosophy is creating an organizational system that enables employees to complete their work using specific processes. By creating clear policies and procedures that are easy to follow, workers who see their value will likely abide by them – even when no one is watching.

Conclusion
Have you ever wondered why we can always find time to do a job over again but never time to do it correctly the first time around? What I’ve presented in this article can help organizations conduct safer, more efficient operations without having to do rework.

Here’s one final thought: HOP is about learning and improving, not blaming others or mandating retraining every time a failure occurs. Keep in mind that learning from success is just as important as learning from failure, if not more so; after all, we succeed far more often than we fail. When we discuss our successes – always being sure to include the people closest to the work – our conversations tend to be more positive and productive, empowering us to better identify improvement opportunities when evaluating safety, standards, quality and productivity each day. Let’s challenge ourselves to continue finding ways to improve business operations for the greater good of the entire workforce.

About the Author: Doug Hill, CUSP, is a retired lineworker and safety culture champion with nearly 40 years of utility industry experience. For the last 12 years, he’s represented the Michigan State Utility Workers Council in electric operations safety. Among other activities, Hill currently delivers training through the Incident Prevention Institute. Reach him at doug@utilitybusinessmedia.com.