Title: An effective, non-threatening approach to evaluating safety program performance
Abstract: The US Department of Energy has initiated a program to ensure a continual improvement in industrial safety at its facilities throughout the United States. To accomplish this, the Department of Energy is performing self-assessments of its safety programs. These assessments are effective at identifying program weaknesses without assigning fault to individuals. Line managers view this process as supportive because it has helped identify program deficiencies that are preventing them from accomplishing their desired safety goals. Three attributes of this assessment process account for its effectiveness. First, the assessment addresses the entire line management`s safety program from policy to implementation in the work place. The assessment report describes how the safety program functions, where program deficiencies exist, and the effect of those deficiencies on safety in the field. Second, the assessment findings focus on program weaknesses that have been validated by observations of safety deficiencies found in the work place. Finally, the report is methodically written to ensure that findings are related only to program weaknesses and not personnel shortcomings. This effective, no-fault approach, has been demonstrated at Department of Energy facilities and could benefit safety programs in private industry.
Publication Year: 1993
Publication Date: 1993-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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