Everyone's worst nightmare - Trailing, current, and leading indicators used in the search for a safer workplace

摘要

A workplace accident of catastrophic proportions is surely a manager's worst nightmare. An incident like the BP Texas City plant explosion in March 2005 killed 15, injured 170, and put industrial safety on the front page of newspapers nationwide. Such events can become indelibly etched in the public's mind as examples of poor management for one simple reason. In a word, they're avoidable. Given the costs involved and the inevitable resulting increase in governmental oversight and regulation, it is surprising that safety isn't always a major strategic concern. On the other hand, it's challenging to correlate safety to standard operational metrics such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE); throughput; and cycle time. Too often, safety requirements are viewed as nonvalue-added costs that adversely affect performance. Those interviewed for this article, however, say safety is not simply a function - or something that can be readily measured - but rather a practice. Equally important, it must be integral to the core values of the enterprise, and assertively championed by top management. To highlight safety as a strategic concern, some companies have taken to addressing it as part of a lean manufacturing campaign. After all, what could be more wasteful than an accident, in terms of productivity, liability, brand equity, and public trust? For companies with enlightened management, safety must be viewed as strategic.