Please respond

Discuss how the concepts and strategies presented in this course can positively impact your future professional, personal, or academic pursuits. Give a specific example of a concept or learning activity that you found most useful or enlightening, and explain why.

In this Unit, we will discuss some elements of evaluating a Safety Management System(SMS) Effectiveness and Planning.

We have covered many areas in this course that will help Leadership and Safety professionals to identify gaps in a safety process compared to proven and accepted guidelines.

Management commitment and Leadership are from the top Leadership down through all levels of the organization.  The Leadership Team provides the vision and mission for the SMS and provides adequate resources to ensure controls are in place.
An effective SMS does more than list and string together various safety-related programs.  An effective SMS provides a road map to follow using a set of structured process elements.  Each component provides an opportunity for an organization to determine the scope, mission, and level of the desired process.

Change is Hard

One underlying reason cultural change often fails to succeed is that the new situation is unknown to the Leadership and employees.  When this is added to the existing beliefs that the current situation is as good as it gets, there is little need to change, and failure is almost inevitable.  If the problems lie with Leadership, then there is little hope because they will enforce the old situation, which feels most comfortable, on the most proactive of employees. (“Safety culture: The Ultimate Goal,” 2001)

Defined and well-communicated safety responsibilities for all levels of the organization are critical in the beginning phases of developing an SMS.

The SMS should have a feedback loop that communicates to the leadership team the status of the various programs and systems required to control hazards and associated risk.

Establishing a structured method to gather and maintain information and data specific to an operational environment increases the ability to influence and design safety performance requirements and job practices.

Employee participation in the SMS development will help ensure it fits within the existing organizational culture.  Allowing employees to assist in developing an SMS is essential to increase ownership and buy-in.

Safety responsibilities outline expectations about performance and accountability among the leadership team, employees, contractors, and site visitors.

Effective planning and design of the workplace and job tasks are an ongoing concern for an organization.  The collection of operational and risk-related information is critical to the SMS.

Employee training and education programs designed and implemented correctly will help to ensure all employees demonstrate and understand they are fully aware of the hazards and associated risks inherent in the operations.

Pros and Cons of a Standardized SMS
Every organization has different structures, skill sets, mandates, and budgetary needs requiring various approaches.  There are often differences in the perception of what an effective SMS should be and how it is to be implemented.

How the SMS is implemented and managed is not through “one size fits all.” The Why of the SMS should be made clear in each area.  Individual departments may have different concerns and requirements that should be understood when implementing an SMS.  While an organization has an overarching culture, departments, due to their specialization, can have “mini-climates” of the culture.  Each area believes its expertise is the most essential, and conflicts can quickly develop.

Customizing the SMS and keeping its elements flexible without losing sight of its mission is an ongoing task.  The objective of SMS implementation is to determine what will work best and what meets the organization’s specific needs.

SMS measurements should be readable and easily interpreted by the intended audience without losing sight of the complexity of the SMS.  The measurement design should generate comprehensive information or data providing valid evidence of the effectiveness of the SMS.

The “Cons” of the SMS

The Cons of implementing a specific SMS can include but are not limited to the following:

It may be perceived as too time-consuming and the why of the SMS not understood.  The traditional methods of safety program success are dependent on OSHA recordability and the frequency of loss events.  If the perception of “no loss=no risk” is present, the attitude may be “we don’t need to do this!” even if associated risks are high.

Leading indicators are not defined as discussed in Unit IV.

Safety elements appear to be a “canned” approach that is not integrated with other management processes but does not guide the organization.

A false sense of safety can develop if the measurement of its elements and processes is not conscientiously and consistently followed.   A simple, comprehensive, and routine appraisal system should be in place to ensure “pencil whipping” (Pencilwhip, 2016) (false documentation) is not occurring.

Consequences are not in place for both good and poor implementation.  If some form of valued recognition is not present, employees may see the process as just another administrative task or paperwork.

It is not customized to the organization and does not consider the organizational structure and existing culture, which may reject, or worse, only espouse but not truly internalize the process.

Leadership Failure

Changes in top Leadership, or Leadership’s priorities, at critical periods, may prove fatal to the successful transition to a higher safety culture.  A cultural shift is drastic and never takes place overnight.  If a champion or change agent, as discussed in Unit II, leaves, there is often no one to take up the fight, and the crucial top-down impetus is lost.

But even without a Leadership change, there are two threats to the successful transition to a higher level of safety culture.  One is a success, the other failure.

Success.  What is considered an effective process, tool, or system may be dropped because a problem is perceived to have gone away.  Leadership ‘take their eyes off the ball’ and downgrade efforts because the perception is that the issue is resolved. (Hudson, 1999)

Failure.  Old-fashioned approaches may be revived because they worked before.

In both considerations, the new and often fragile beliefs and practices may not have become sufficiently internalized. (“Safety culture: The Ultimate Goal,” 2001)

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis
One area that is not discussed in the textbook and should be an essential part of an evaluation of an SMS is a method to:
Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Determine the current state so new, more effective goals can be made for the future. (State of Alaska, 2008)
Identify internal and external factors that may influence an SMS performance.
Explore areas for change and growth, goal setting, and strategic planning.
(SWOT Analysis, Questions for Conducting an Analysis with Your Team, n.d.)
By completing a SWOT analysis matrix, you can take corrective measures to transform a weakness into a strength.  For a well-thought-out response, it is recommended that a SWOT is developed before implementing an SMS.
The information derived from the SWOT can determine the next level and help to identify the potential gaps.

Time Management Techniques

“Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”
– Wayne W. Dyer

As a safety professional, one needs to understand how to manage time.  Our professional and personal lives are not always static by nature!  There is always some degree of flux and change that we must consider.  To deal with this flux and change, we must learn how to manage our time to be as productive as possible.

Covey discussed the drain of attention and focused on important/non-urgent activities in his classic “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.” (Covey, 2013)  Too many assigned roles and responsibilities can cause a drift away from the primary goals and objectives of the task at hand. (Manuele, 2020)

Time Management Matrix

“What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Time management is the ability to use one’s time effectively to complete various tasks.”  (Chaneski, 2017)  “There are some tested, basic time- management techniques that can guide us, and one of these can be credited to Dwight Eisenhower.” (Chaneski, 2017)

Dwight D. Eisenhower is known for his decision-making strategy for acting and organizing his tasks using a simple Time Management Matrix.  This statement parallels the Covey time management grid, which is an effective method of managing specific priorities. (Covey, 2013)

Covey believed long-term achievement is attained in the “Important/Not Urgent” quadrant.  The Important/Urgent Quadrant can waste immediate time and is not typically part of any planning process. (Covey, 1990)    Quadrants in the non-important areas take time away from developing specific required activities that reside in the important/not urgent quadrant.

To utilize the matrix, begin by making an inventory of all collected information, no matter how relevant or irrelevant it is believed to be.  Once collected, review each piece of information and place the appropriate information into one of the four quadrants by priority.  Once categories are defined, the list of items will illustrate what information has the highest priority.  This “upfront” decision process, combined with an ongoing review, will refine the information requiring action.

After figuring out what matters and which issues need to be addressed, you need to find the time to deal with these tasks.

Communication Efforts

As discussed in Unit II, Understanding how communications flow through an organization ensures that the intended hazard, risk, and control messages are transmitted to the correct decision-makers and affected employees.  The leadership team and employees gain core information from a shared, collaborative SMS effort, and the SMS becomes more valuable as a result of the increased personal involvement. (Building an Effective Health and Safety Management System, 2009)

The SMS parallels the concepts and formats used in a general business management approach.  The intent is to mirror the overall business strategy objectives and be a part of the operational philosophy used by an organization.

Manuele (2020) states that “In accord with the PDCA concept, the overriding theme of the Management Review is to achieve continual improvement.  Thus, having action items for improvement in the review process and follow-through is vital.” (Manuele, 2020)
Reference

Building an Effective Health and Safety Management System.  (2009).

Chaneski, W. S. (2017).  Time Management – How Effective are You?  Modern Machine Shop, October, 36–38.  https://www.mmsonline.com/columns/time-management-how-effective-are-you

Clear, J. (2014).  Use the “Eisenhower Box” to Stop Wasting Time and Be More Productive.  Entrepreneur.  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233054

Covey, S. R. (1990).  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.  A Fireside Book, Simon and Schuster, Inc., pp. 151.

Covey, S. R. (2013).  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (25th Anniversary Edition).  Simon and Schuster.

Hudson, P. (1999).  Defense Technical Information Center Compilation Part Notice Safety Culture – Theory and Practice.  12.

Manuele, F. A. (2020).  Advanced safety management: Focusing on Z10.0, 45001 and serious injury prevention (Wiley, Ed.; 3rd ed.).  https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119605409

Morris, J. (2021).  How to Set Short-Term Career Goals.  WikiJob. https://www.wikijob.co.uk/content/jobs-and-careers/career-planning/short-term-career-goals

Pencilwhip. (2016).

Personal SWOT Analysis Video.  (n.d.).  MindTools.Com. Retrieved March 7, 2021, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/videos/personal-swot-transcript.htm

Safety culture: The Ultimate Goal.  (2001).  Flight Safety Australia.

State of Alaska.  (2008).  Conducting an Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis.  State of Alaska, Department of Administration, Division of Personnel & LaborRelations, Public Doman.  http://doa.alaska.gov/dop/fileadmin/StatewidePlanning/pdf/WorkforcePlanningEnvironmentalScanandSWOTAnalysis.pdf

SWOT analysis.  (n.d.).  CMS.Gov. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/American-Indian-Alaska-Native/AIAN/LTSS-TA-Center/planning/step-4-select-models

SWOT Analysis A tool for making better business decisions.  (n.d.).  1.  http://bit.ly/34xNNbE

SWOT Analysis, Use the “Insert Citation” button to add citations to this document.
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