Safety teamwork

Formulation of corporate safety values and norms Use of risk assessment to understand hazards and set of norms Recognition of moral, social, and ethical duties as well as business risks associated with health and safety Teamworking on safety problems... 

Obviously, the first crucial step in successful safety teamwork is to select the right people for your team. Someone is ultimately responsible for choosing team members. In safety, this is often the safety director or the person responsible for maintaining injury reports and lost-time records. In some cases, however, it is advantageous for a small committee of safety champions representing a cross section of the workforce to select potential members of a safety team. I say "potenhal" because it is important for membership to be voluntary. So, a safety champion or selection committee should come up with a list of people to approach one-on-one and ask if they would be willing to serve on a parhcular safety team. 

Orienting the health and safety organization toward teamwork. 

Relying on teamwork to integrate health and safety and line management functions for the planning and accomplishment of work activities is vital to providing a safe working environment. Health and safety... 

Ten employees on Outward Bound challenge in Colorado, an experience reflecting on safety skills and awareness needing back at their jobs. Teamwork, staying calm, knowing your limits, replacing casual habits with careful skills, proper equipment, safety attitude, and safety as a duty. 

How preparation and teamwork lead to accident-free performance by paralleling the routine of a small circus. Shows teamwork, awareness, safety meetings, thinking through actions, protective equipment, housekeeping, working deliberately, and following established procedures. 

Burtscher, M. J., Manser, T. (2012). Team mental models and their potential to iminove teamwork and safety A review and implications for future research in healthcare. Safety Science, 50, 1344-1354. 

In the next chapter on safety program leadership, I will cover the value of using an employee-based safety team. Later, in Chapter 11 on metrics, I will review team-based safety metrics that can be used to encourage proactive safety first thinking and awareness. Teamwork works. 

Davenport, D.L., Henderson, W.G., Mosca, C.L. et al. (2007) Risk-adjusted morbidity in teaching hospitals correlates with reported levels of communication and collaboration on surgical teams but not with scale measures of teamwork climate, safety climate, or working conditions. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 205(6),... 

Figure 18.1 Team effectiveness model (Reproduced from Quality Safety in Health Care, A N Healey, S Undre, C AVincent. "Defining the technical skills of teamwork in surgery". 15, no. 4, [231-234], 2006, with permission from BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.).

Watching teams and teamwork quickly reveals that a group of weU intentioned individuals does not make a team and furthermore, that teamwork has to be planned and organized. In this section we will review some apparently simple interventions, which turn out to have quite profound effects. Daily goals, preoperative and post-operative checklists seem mundane, and this partly accounts for clinicians resistance to their use. However, a checklist is not a piece of paper or even a list it is a team intervention which, used well, can affect the wider team functioning, the relationships across professions and hierarchies and even the values and safety culture of the team. To my mind, the impact of these simple tools on clinical processes and patient outcome suggests that their effect can only be fully understood by appreciating their wider impact on team performance. 

Leonard, M., Graham, S. and Bonacum, D. (2004) The human factor the critical importance of effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 13(suppl l), i85-i90. 

Improvement then requires a simultaneous focus on processes, organization, supervision, training and teamwork, underpinned by leadership, constancy of purpose and support from senior leaders. In this chapter we will see how these ideas have been put into practice, but first we need to briefly consider the difficult topic of the evaluation of safety and quality improvement. 

The Facility Supervisor and Hot Cell Operators are qualification positions requiring successful completion of a formal training program before an individual Is allowed to operate specific HCF equipment and/or controls unsupervised. Proficiency for the qualified positions is demonstrated by minimum acceptable scores on written tests and by observation of the individual s operating skill with manipulators, production process equipment, and plant safety equipment and safety systems. Qualification also requires demonstrated adherence to conduct of operations principles, ability to follow procedures, and commitment to cultivating an environment of teamwork and continuous improvement. Staff contributions to improvement of procedures and processes are actively encouraged as a way to enhance the safety and work culture. 

Recently, one of the most visible agendas has been the urge for highly improved ( ideal ) decision processes. Ringstad and Andersen (2007) define lO as new work processes which use real time data to improve the collaboration between disciplines, organizations, companies and locations to achieve safety, better and faster decisions . They argue that lO improve decision making by increased availability of real time data, work performed independent of physical location, more work performed in a parallel fashion, multidisciplinary teamwork and a proactive focus. 

Probably the most traditional type of inspection is that conducted by the laboratory supervisor. This form of inspection presents an excellent opportunity to promote a culture of safety and prudence within an organization. The supervisor gains the opportunity to take a close look at the facilities and operations. He or she also can discuss with individual workers issues of interest or concern that may fall outside the scope of the actual inspection. Again, a constructive and positive approach to observed problems and issues will foster an attitude of cooperation and leadership with regard to safety. It can help build and reinforce a culture of teamwork and cooperation that has benefits far beyond protecting the people and physical facilities. 

Individual safety awards are certainly important to any safety program. However, because drivers lead a fairly independent lifestyle, all the more reason to make sure you have at least a few group rewards in your program. Doing so will help create a sense of teamwork and build stronger ties between your drivers and the company. 

Communication openness Teamwork climate Senior managers engagement Organisational leadership for safety... 

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