Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
process: input, throughput and output. Some suggestions on new ways
of monitoring follow:
Considering the output, apart from the normal registration of
the incidents, the amount of absence due to work-related illness
(including stress, conflicts, etc.) can be a first additional indicator.
The next step to enlarge the output indicator is to shift attention
away from recorded incidents to near hits and to employee hazard
notifications (Herbertson, 2008). Going one step further, a register
of irregularities can be compiled, that is, things that are not the way
they should be but have not yet directly led to hazards. If all data
are gathered, it is possible to relate the number of near hits to the
number of hazardous notifications and the number of irregularities.
These data together resemble the safety pyramid of Heinrich (1931,
quoted in Hollnagel 2009), but now on the more invisible part of
safety management.
A desirable side effect of recording near hits is that the focus of mid-
dle management will also be redirected to this subject.
Throughput indicators can be generated via an employee survey which
creates more indirect figures like safety perception of management or
employees. Send out a short survey every month or every quarter to
one-twelfth or one-quarter, respectively, of all the employees, in such a
way that each employee answers a questionnaire once a year. This
achieves good results, and in this way the organization receives regular
feedback.
Another throughput indicator is the results of audits. Many
companies have a regular SHEM audit these days, in which all
safety-related elements like critical procedures and safety updates of
installations are surveyed. Other throughput
indicators are the
amount of Toolbox meetings and LMRA's.
On the input side we can collect indirect variables like the
number of hours allocated to safety training, the number of people
involved, the percentage of employees that have a diploma in basic
safety, the number of safety-related articles in the company magazine,
the number of safety-related items on the agenda's of management
meetings, and the number of priming activities as discussed in
Chapter 9, etc.
The consolidation of all these figures together can generate a value,
a Safety Index.
