Safety improvement approaches

Deciding which risk-reduction method to use maybe difficult. In many instances, appropriate decisions can be made without resorting to quantitative techniques. However, in some cases, particularly when the options are costly, quantitative risk analysis (QRA) and risk-based decision-making approaches may be an effective basis for measuring the improvement in safety arising from the proposed options. These approaches can also be used in prioritizing safety improvements and balancing cost and production issues. 

In closing, it is worth pointing out that the controls, discipline, and documentation built into chemical processes for the manufacture of APIs, to satisfy FDA requirements, has also greatly improved approaches and attitudes to safety and environmental affairs. 

A proactive approach for medicahon safety promotes a nonpunitive culture, wherein errors and near misses can be reported and safety improved. Prac-tihoners need to be assured by their organization that reporting errors is encouraged, individuals will not be punished for system failures, and improvements will be made to prevent future errors. 

The process-improvement approach to system safety evolved from an expert workshop and continuing dialogue on patient safety sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF). ° This line of thinking says that study of the ultimate (rather than just the proximate) source of errors and ADEs is needed. Reason first developed the idea that harmful patient outcomes are the result of latent, small degradations within a system com-... 

Thus, the process-improvement approach to the safety of the medication-use cycle goes beyond the celebrated cases and first stories to scientifically investigate the system as a whole. Data on near-misses and uncelebrated errors should be analyzed to find hidden flaws and strengths, and to better understand the dynamics of our medication-use system. Scientific investigation of the whole cycle— peeling away the layers of the onion—will reveal latent points of failure and facilitate a redesign that substantially reduces the occurrence of harmful outcomes. 

Safety and reliability of chemical process plants are such important issues, they deserve the best techniques to prevent problems occurring. To minimize risks resulted from operating problems and hazardous events, process system safety and reliability analysis is often employed. This is a rigorous approach undertaken to improve system reliability and safety. The approach consists of three main tasks hazard identification, risk estimation, and risk control. 

A second approach, one which most economists would endorse, would set as its standard an efficient level of risk, one for which the marginal cost of making a job a little safer is exactly equal to its marginal benefit. What is intended is a solution like s in figure 6.1. Clearly each increment of safety prior to this amount produces positive net benefits (marginal benefit in excess of marginal cost) above this level additional safety improvements cost more than they are worth. Note, incidentally, that a formulation such as this assumes that the incremental cost of providing safety rises as the job becomes safer, while the incremental value of it (to the worker, presumably) falls. 

Approaches used to enhance safety in complex systems must take these basic systems engineering principles into account. Otherwise, our safety engineering approaches will be limited in the types of accidents and systems they can handle. At the same time, approaches that include them, such as those described in this book, have the potential to greatly improve our abihty to engineer safer and more complex systems. 

Many people, particularly safety professionals, tend to approach safety improvement from the right-hand side of the equation, i.e., first they seek to improve the safeguards, then they look to reduce the likelihood. If the risk level is still too high they try to reduce the consequences of the event. Finally, they consider removing or changing the hazard. 

This visit confirmed the importance of building a disciplined workforce. So, use 5S with a focus on safety improvement to build safety discipline. Look at 5S wearing your safety glasses and you will see this lean approach in a new light. It is a great foundation for world-class safety and world-class lean, or lean safety. 

Because safety is the focus, and the team will be asked to observe and improve the work methods in order to attain their goal of 15 safety improvements, ergonomic assessment training is appropriate. Ergonomics seems to most like a mysterious scientific approach used to analyze work. Here is an overview sourced from Wikipedia that supports that thinking. 

While worker safety is often touted as a company s first priority, more often than not. safety activity is driven by compliance to legislation rather than any safety improvement initiative. Lean takes a proactive approach — it is not contingent on legislation. A serious Lean effort will tear apart an old inefficient entitlement-riddled culture and build it into something effective. 

World-class safety is dependent on engaging the workforce is proactive workplace safety improvement. No one person can guarantee a safe workplace. A distributed approach to safety leadership, using a formal, team-based structure, will be covered in this chapter. Developing a safety team of passionate about safety people provides both current safety leadership and a path for the development of future business leaders. 

An audit objectively, and in detail, evaluates an organization s occupational health and safety management system, identifying areas of strength and weakness, and supports a structured continuous improvement approach going forward. (McKinnon, 2012a, p. 89)... 

Reviews and comparisons of different quality and safety improvement plans have generally found evidence for modest improvements (Schouten, Hulscher and Everdingen, 2008) but none of the various, and numerous, broad strategies and approaches really stands out as the way forward. The situation was well summarized by Richard Grol and colleagues in 2002, and still applies today ... 

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop ment (2003) Assessing Microbial Safety of Drinking Water - Improving Approaches and Methods. Geneva World Health Organization. 

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