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Safety by Design Archive

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Safety By Design: Implementation and Operation

| Pam Tompkins, CSP, CUSP | ,
The first four articles in this six-part series outlined the significance of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that involves all employees. They emphasized effective risk mitigation through a well-developed plan for continuous improvement, with a focus on human and organizational performance. This article highlights critical operational processes that must be thoroughly assessed and refined to support organizational safety. Every operational unit must take proactive ownership of its safety protocols and practices, actively integrating safety measures into all aspects of its operational processes. By integrating safety into daily routines, each unit fosters a culture of responsibility and prioritizes employee safety. This art…
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Safety By Design: Human and Organizational Performance

| Pam Tompkins, CSP, CUSP | ,
The first three articles in this six-part series addressed the critical nature and value of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that engages all employees and effectively mitigates risks through a developed plan for continuous improvement. This article focuses on human and organizational performance (HOP), an operational philosophy that utility organizations must incorporate into their SMS to achieve organizational safety success. Over the years, traditional safety programs have primarily focused on managing employees, often overlooking the crucial systems designed to support them. Employees are expected to consistently make the right choices and adhere to safety rules 100% of the time, relying on the training they have receiv…
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Safety Management

Safety By Design: Safety Management System Planning

| Pam Tompkins, CSP, CUSP | ,
In the first two parts of this six-part series, I discussed the importance of creating and implementing a safety management system (SMS) that actively involves all employees. This part will focus on (1) identifying and prioritizing an organization’s safety needs based on specific hazards and risks and (2) developing a plan with clear objectives and targets to meet those needs. Without a solid plan, it’s difficult to assess whether the SMS is effective and adds value to your organization. Early in my career, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of having a safety plan. I often experimented with new safety trends without understanding what the organization I worked for would gain from them or how success would be measured. Much like a New Y…
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Safety By Design: Leadership and Employee Involvement

| Pam Tompkins, CSP, CUSP | ,
In the first part of this six-part series, I discussed the reasons why it’s important for utility organizations to develop safety systems that align their safety initiatives. This article will address employee involvement, an often overlooked yet fundamental component of any effective safety system. According to ANSI/ASSP Z10, “Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems,” the phrase “employee involvement” refers to the active participation of workers in the planning, implementation, evaluation and improvement of an organization’s occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS). The OHSMS is a key element of the Z10 standard, highlighting the value of worker input and engagement to appropriately manage workplace risks and pr…
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Safety by Design

Safety By Design: A System Approach to Organizational Safety Initiatives

| Pam Tompkins, CSP, CUSP | ,
Let’s kick off this new series by considering a simple question: Why do we need safety? Here’s my answer: Safety is a must because hazards and threats exist in our work environments that could cause harm to both our employees and our organizations. Any initiative designed to protect workers from danger falls under the umbrella of safety. If we were to use minimum approach distances as an analogy, safety is the air gap that insulates an organization. When severe injuries and fatalities occur in our industry, weak safety initiatives – that is, initiatives that do not provide the insulating value needed to appropriately address an organization’s hazards and threats – are often the culprit. Too many organizations invest their resources in “bus…
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