START Work Authority

Stop-work authority is crucial in our industry. Understand me when I say this: If people aren’t using stop-work authority, they don’t have that authority even if it’s promoted on a bulletin board somewhere.

With that said, I want to propose START (self, task, assess, reduce, thrive) work authority to reduce the number of times you’ll need to stop work. I admit this is a play on words and that what I am proposing is very similar to stop-work authority, but I want to challenge the norm of defining “fitness for duty” as someone being present at the work site and “work planning” as being limited to a singular job briefing at the start of the day. We can do that by exercising START work authority.

Self
Safety starts with you. You cannot assume protection from other people or things. Before performing any task, complete a self-check regarding your fitness for duty and focus. Fitness for duty goes beyond showing up and breathing. Assessing your fitness includes considering your levels of rest, hydration and stress; whether you’ve done appropriate stretching; if there are drugs or alcohol in your system; your current mindset; and your task-specific training. To focus means to be as free from distractions as possible. Remember STAR during your self-check: stop, think, act, review.

Task
Identify the specific task to be performed within the scope of the job being completed. We cannot effectively assess and reduce job generalizations. For example, it is a generalization to say we’re setting up our work area and work zone. Part of that job is a task called lowering outriggers, and if we clearly define that task, protection is easy. Here’s a critical point: No 10-minute job briefing before work can cover all the tasks that will be performed. That’s why huddles or two-minute drills (i.e., task-specific discussions about what’s going to happen for the next five to 10 minutes) are essential to thrive.

Assess
Assess hazards as energy sources and risk as how much energy there is or could be along with how long you will be exposed to the energy source. This assessment, coupled with task identification, allows you to perform a key and often missed step in hazard and risk mitigation: reduction of energy and exposure. At this point, you should also assess what tools and equipment you need to perform your task and then make sure you have them readily available.

Reduce
Reduce energy and exposure based on task identification and your assessment of hazards and risks. Common opportunities for reduction include how often you climb ladders, poles or stairs; how many times you back a vehicle; where observers stand in relation to hazards; volume of and distance from noises; weight and distance of loads being lifted by equipment or people; how much traffic you drive or work around; and how long you work in hot or cold weather conditions.

Thrive
We limit ourselves when we define safety as surviving with the goal of no one getting hurt. Preventing harm is important, but let’s add encouraging growth to that and make the goal to protect and improve people. This happens when workers are empowered and continuously improve their technical and life skills. Shift the mindset from compliance and focusing on what could go wrong to ensuring things go right and learning how to make what we’re doing well even better.

Conclusion
My goal with this article isn’t necessarily for you to implement START work authority using this model. It is for every organization, team and individual to assess how ready they are for each task in terms of training, preparation, fitness and planning. Self: What are you doing to ensure your protection? Task: What are you doing for the next five minutes? Assess: What are the hazards and what is my level of risk? Reduce: What can I do to reduce energy and exposure? Thrive: How can I make myself and my team better?

Begin every day and every task safely. Call it START work authority, or maybe “obligation” is a better word, as we are all obligated to ourselves, our teams, our organizations, our families and our friends.

Learn More
You can learn more about this article by reading my book, “Frontline Incident Prevention – The Hurdle: Innovative and Practical Insights on the Art of Safety.” I also invite you to join me for the free July 10 webinar on this topic. I hope to see you there and at other Incident Prevention Institute events. Thank you for reading, stay safe and be well.

About the Author: David McPeak, CUSP, CIT, CHST, CSP, CSSM, is the director of professional development for Utility Business Media’s Incident Prevention Institute (https://ip-institute.com) and the author of “Frontline Leadership – The Hurdle” and “Frontline Incident Prevention – The Hurdle.” He has extensive experience and expertise in leadership, human performance, safety and operations. McPeak is passionate about personal and professional development and believes that intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are key to success. He also is an advanced certified practitioner in DISC, emotional intelligence, the Hartman Value Profile, learning styles and motivators.

About Frontline Fundamentals: Frontline Fundamentals topics are derived from the Incident Prevention Institute’s popular Frontline training program (https://frontlineutilityleader.com). Frontline covers critical knowledge, skills and abilities for utility leaders and aligns with the Certified Utility Safety Professional exam blueprint.

Webinar: START Work Authority
July 10, 2024, at 11 a.m. Eastern
Visit https://ip-institute.com/frontline-webinars/ for more information.