Safety first, right? How is the safety performance at your place of business? Are you meeting your safety metrics? Are you proactively protecting every single employee and visitor from an unfortunate injury, or worse? Does this sound familiar: Safety is our first priority; Quality is number two; followed by Delivery and then a host of additional metrics beyond these top-three. Upon close inspection of your organization’s strategies and the resources applied to address business-critical problems, a far different picture is likely to emerge.
Structured, rigorous problem solving tools and techniques have become commonplace in most businesses and industries in the last few decades. There are a number of popular but competing problem solving methodologies. These systematic techniques are taught and broadly deployed across many businesses to improve root cause analysis, in an effort to drive robust corrective actions and solutions. Nowhere have these methods taken a more significant stronghold than in the automotive industry. Nearly every site, facility and reasonably sized organization has certified problem solvers, throughout the automotive industry.
Perhaps the most common, and widely recognized, problem solving method is Six Sigma which has evolved into Lean Six Sigma problem solving. This methodology, as with all problem solving methods, utilizes DMAIC as the backbone of the process. As with most all problem solving systems, the focus is on the true root cause, the identification of the specific action or event that led directly to the unacceptable result. Unfortunately these problem solving processes do not offer much in the way of solution optimization, they merely uncover exactly what must change, but not how to change it. This is where preventive error proofing expertise can play a critical role in safety performance, eliminating the root cause or preventing recurrence of an issue.
There are distinct categories of problem types, each of which requires a unique problem solving approach to guarantee success. This can be especially true for safety-related objectives. Frequently safety challenges are thought of as simply the implementation of the OSHA requirements, or executing industry standard solutions. Most every individual that has spent time in a manufacturing facility can speak to a specific safety solution that merely required the implementation of a light curtain or a physical safety guard… problem solved. An extension cord as a trip hazard, an open electrical cabinet containing high voltage circuitry, the need for safety glasses at a machining operation, task-specific hand protection, all very simple safety concerns, where obvious solutions can be applied almost effortlessly. These concerns can be relatively easy to resolve, and are typical of those found during safety audits, driving decisive and immediate action.
Regrettably many organizations stop at this stage, and misguidedly believe that their safety solutions are robust and their employees well protected. Anyone who has taught structured problem solving and/or preventive error proofing courses for many years, as I have, can attest to the fact that it is rare to have safety managers and directors attend these courses. What is also uncommon is for senior management to identify safety leaders as professional problem solvers, or to clearly understand this necessary skill-set. If this perspective seems questionable, a cursory review of the job descriptions for your company’s facility safety managers and corporate safety director should validate this presumption. A documented requirement for structured problem solving certification or preventive error proofing expertise would be a pleasant surprise, certainly not the rule!
The following four categories could be used to identify the different types of problems one may encounter, and certainly all of these apply directly to safety-related issues:
- Known problem, known solution – simply requires action, implementation, overcoming procrastination and resistance to change.
- Known problem, solution requires expertise – a better technique or method, systematic thinking, subject matter expert may resolve.
- Known problem, solution requires new approach – creativity, inventiveness, reframing, outside-the-box thinking, likely team effort, root cause may be hidden.
- Unknown problem, unknown solution – improvements can be made, opportunities identified, proactive action applied, benchmarking and brainstorming can be utilized.
Undoubtedly safety mangers and leaders are routinely engaged in category 1 and 2 situations. This is why we hire those individuals with extensive expertise in OSHA requirements. Ideally they have a wealth of knowledge regarding contemporary industry standard solutions to common safety issues, as well as the ability to communicate the rules and regulations so that the rest of us can enforce compliance. This is where safety audits can be an effective tool to identify noncompliance and create lists of improvements to bring a facility up to code, to meet the required standards. Safety leaders typically excel at this level and can create impressive lists of upgrades that could be made at even the safest facility.
The true guarantee of optimal safety protection and performance is actually in resolving the challenges that fall into categories 3 and 4 above. Category 3 scenarios are not routine issues, they do not have solutions that can be found on a safety reference chart. These complex situations are unique, require focus, and resolution should be led by a talented, certified problem solver. If problem solving extraordinaire does not describe your safety leader, a new approach is in order.
Many organizations mistakenly task their safety leader with ownership of problem resolution of most all safety issues. This might be a valid strategy when that safety leader is a certified, experienced problem solver. Conversely this is a high-risk strategy when that safety leader is primarily a walking safety requirements encyclopedia. But knowledge of a few tactics and default solutions is not sufficient, most problems are better solved by a diverse team of individuals. When a safety leader has limited skills and knowledge in problem solving and preventive error proofing tools and techniques s/he may not be qualified to drive sustainable problem resolution. Certainly your safety experts should participate on the problem solving team along with other specialists, but the leadership of resolving critical safety issues in problem categories 3 and 4 (and perhaps many in category 2 as well), requires a different form of expertise. These issues require proficiency and training that most safety managers simply do not possess, and have not had.
The problem solving team for critical safety issues should be well represented with a variety of expertise, and a competent, properly experienced certified team leader. The leader should have in-depth problem solving capability as well as solution optimization expertise, namely preventive error proofing. S/he must be capable of driving the team members’ proactive behavior, inventiveness and critical thinking that these higher level problem categories require. The ineffective but relatively standard, default solutions that are still deemed acceptable by many organizations today, must be filtered from the short list of potential solutions in favor of more robust, sustainable options.
A problem solving expert is not the one to give all of the right answers, but to ask all of the right questions!
The following safety “solutions” are somewhat recent examples that I have observed. With significant expertise in preventive error proofing, which is merely solution optimization, I cringe when organizations “solve” their critical safety issues with these completely ineffective and inappropriate solutions.
Issue – The metal retention bands that hold large coils of sheet steel routinely break
Safety – One of these bands caused a very severe laceration when it gave way
Solution – Train employees in stamping area to be aware of these bands and handle large coiled steel very carefully
Note the completely different approaches to banding these coils on the few pictured:
Issue – Many different sizes of cardboard packaging are required for custom products
Safety – Operator broken arm from falling off cardboard stack, climbing to reach specific size
Solution – Re-train packaging employees no climbing on stacks, hang up a sign NO CLIMBING
Note the ease with which the stacks can be used instead of a fork truck or other device:
Issue – Hazardous chemicals are used in large-scale plating process
Safety – Supplier delivered wrong chemical creating toxic cloud when added to plating bath – plant evacuated
Solution – Re-train supplier employees to visually inspect containers with purchase documents to verify chemicals
Note the containers were identical in size and color, only the labels were slightly different:
All of the above safety incident resolution initiatives were led by, and approved by the respective safety manager and/or director. From a preventive error proofing standpoint these are completely inadequate and unsustainable solutions. In every case, the serious safety incidents that were being addressed are not only likely to recur, but somewhat guaranteed. In fact, with the major chemical spill that required a large-scale hazmat team from the local fire station, the manufacturing facility to be evacuated, and the mixed chemicals to be removed and properly disposed of, it was shared with me that this incident had happened in the past… more than once, at this same facility, imagine my complete surprise!
Clearly the message is that even the most talented safety guru may not be the best person to lead problem resolution of many/most safety challenges. S/he is most likely not equipped to drive the innovative solutions that are required to take your organization or facility to the next level of safety performance. If your goal is zero incidents, you will have to address problems and opportunities in all four categories mentioned above, which will require organizational discipline, multi-disciplinary problem solving teams, and most importantly a certified problem solver to lead nearly all of these teams to game-changing solutions.
