SIF Prevention & the Importance of Work-As-Disclosed
Last week during a discussion on Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIF) I brought up the notion of “Work-As-Disclosed”, which Steven Shorrock describes as another proxy for work. He defines it as “…the work that people say that they (or others) do or did, either in formal accounts or informal accounts.”
There can be various reasons for disclosing not the full truth (the blue line), and Shorrock lists a few examples, based on imagined consequences:
As he points out, secrecy around work-as-done may serve to protect one’s own or others’ interests.
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So why is this notion of Work-As-Disclosed specifically important when we talk about SIF prevention? The simple answer is: If workers don’t tell us, how they actually get their work done (for reasons listed above), we will never be able to fully understand where our safety margins (the gap between the blue and the red line = hazards) are getting too narrow.
From my perspective, here is where SIF prevention and new safety ideas (for example HOP) intersect. One of the benefits of implementing HOP is the development of psychological safety: When employees feel safe to tell the truth, to speak up, Work-As-Disclosed and Work-As-Done (ideally) should be identical. Knowing how work really gets done, will enable us to work on the weaknesses in our processes, systems and behaviors – supporting our efforts to prevent serious injuries from happening.
And let me state this right away: This is not an either-or approach, no silver bullet. We still need traditional safety tools like good risk assessments, effective training and good leadership. It’s about embracing these new ideas – and to integrate them into our existing processes and tools, to make them and us better.
So, what do you think? What else can we do to help workers to disclose their work as it actually gets done?
Effektiver Arbeitsschutz – mit der HOP-Strategie. Fehlerfallen & Unfallursachen beheben. Mentoring & Consulting. Auf Deutsch und auf Englisch ?? ????????????
1 年I like the "Work-as-disclosed" approach. It is something we say and something we need, but we never put that into the graphic. Makes sense and makes it easier to understand. Well done!
Director Health, Environment, Safety & Security (HESS)
1 年Very well written Frank! Clear and concise.
Auditor Líder ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 50001, 20121| Engenheiro Ambiental e Engenheiro de Seguran?a do Trabalho | Black Belt Lean Six Sigma
1 年The organization genuinely encourages and stimulates the participation of workers in discussions and decisions about their work.
Founder & CEO at IntelliSafe Analytics | Workplace Safety | Wearable Tech & AI
1 年As stated, "Work-As-Done" is often quite different than "Work-As-Disclosed". This is true in all aspects of the workplace from safety, to quality, to output. Why, because workers are "human", & humans are motivated by many things. I'm sure we all agree, a large percentage of workplace accidents, including SIF's (Serious Injuries & Fatalities) are human-factor related. Human-nature plays a large role in workplace safety. As the article states, "If workers don’t tell us how they actually get their work done, we will never be able to fully understand where our safety margins are getting too narrow." This is very true. In addition, some human motivations are "conscious" (decisions made on purpose) and some are "unconscious" (decisions made routinely without much thought). So even if workers wanted to, they couldn't tell us everything needed to fully protect them. But there is a way to get 100% of the safety data needed that truly defines "Work-As-Done" to be able to predict and prevent SIF's from occurring. Technology can make this possible. At IntelliSafe Analytics we're designing safety systems to automate the collection of this type of worker safety data using wearable tech. To learn more, visit www.intellisafeanalytics.com
Head of improvement (Emergency Care improvement Support Team)
1 年Great thought, framing why the description is needed and it’s purpose may help trust/transparency of the persons account. Spending time watching of course helps to assess the gap but is v time consuming