The Dilemma:

Compliance with federal

and state regulations
does not insure lack of
injury or death of our
employees.
The Dilemma:
Are we complacent
believing that our
compliance protects us?
Consider:
Legal issues and safety
management can be
highly intertwined.

Are we prepared to cope

with the adverse
publicity of a lawsuit?
Consider:
If an unsound safety
management practice is
uncovered, is our organization
(and individual managers)
prepared to deal with charges
of “willful violation” of safety
standards?
Consider:
What is the potential in
our organization to have
a serious accident, a
fatality, an explosion, a
catastrophe?
Summary of Safety Assessments:
Average Score
( 0 To 10)

Indicators of Impending Doom

The Criteria for Safety Excellence
The Likert Climate Survey
The Perception Survey’s 20 Categories
Safety as an Organizational Priority
How do we compare with
our competitors? Our Company Industry Avg.

Total Incidence Rate xx xx

Loss Time Rate xx xx
Our potential savings if we
better control our workers
compensation costs: ________
We need to shift our focus
from measuring accident
statistics to measuring
safety activities at each level
of the organization.
Safety in our organization is
currently measured by our
loss time and accident
frequency numbers.
An accident is an
unintended result –
supposedly something you
have no control over.
Measuring safety by
something we
don’t intend
is a meaningless
measurement.
Safety needs to be
measured by what we
do intend –
the presence or absence of
safe activities.
The Solution:
Measure safety like
production and quality.
The Solution:
Managers are held
accountable for
production.

Managed activities
create products or
services.
The Solution:
Managers are held
accountable for quality.

Managed activities
create quality.
The Solution:
Managers need to be
held accountable for
safety - because
managed safety
activities create a safe
work environment.
The Solution:
Safety needs to be
managed on an equal
basis with productivity
and quality.
The Solution:
Create an integrated
system of accountability
where defined safety
activities are managed.
How do we do this?
Define the desired
safety activities for each
level of the organization.
How do we do this?
Measure and make sure
those activities are
done.
How do we do this?
Build safety
performance into the
daily numbers game.
How do we do this?
Reward, via the performance
appraisal system, the safe work
activities.
What we need from
Senior Management:

Commitment to lead the

implementation process
by allocating budget,
resources, and time.
What we need from
Senior Management:
Agreement to demonstrate a
belief in safety by engaging in
the process and holding
managers accountable for
safe work practices and
results.
“Probably the greatest advantage
of having a strong, structured
accountability system is safety
responsibilities don’t fall through
the cracks.”
Dave Fennell
Senior Safety Advisor
Imperial Oil
“It’s easy for management to say
what they want. But it’s important
that management demonstrate
what they want. Because we all
know what gets measured is what
gets done.”
Dave Carothers
Risk Manager
Lifestyle Furnishings
“In two years in eight
manufacturing locations utilizing
this approach to safety, there was
a savings of $22,000,000 in
worker’s comp cases. Those eight
plants averaged a total incident
rate of 0.72”
Gene Ernest
Ernest & Associates
(formerly with Procter & Gamble)
 Acknowledgements:
Dr. Dan Petersen
Publications avaliable from www.asse.org :
 Safety Management a Human Approach

 Safety by Objectives

Video Series available from Core Media

www.cmts.com:
 Safety Accountability

 On The Front Line