Dear Friends,

I recently heard a supervisor say to a manager, “Do you want me to knock out this job or do you want to play the safety game?” Is that really the choice that leaders have to make in the workplace? Is safety something that gets in the way of productivity? I believe that people who think safety and productivity are the two opposite sides of a coin, don’t really understand safety. Safety isn’t simply doing a job more slowly and it is not other things you do besides the job; safety is the way you do the job.

It is not just the safe way to do the job; it is the RIGHT way to do the job. Almost anything that increases the chance of an injury also increases the chance of a defective job.

Failure to plan, short cutting steps, rushing and all the things that make a job unsafe, also make it a poor quality job. We don’t design processes to produce defects or accidental injuries. When they do, our processes have failed and need to be modified. When we think about safety correctly, it almost disappears into the real issue; how to do our work right.

From India, New Delhi
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This is a misconception prevalent among professionals. Safety is a crucial part of a systematic way of working, which enhances quality and productivity. By reducing unsafe acts and implementing safe procedures in the workplace, there is no doubt that the company can position itself on a higher growth trajectory and enhance its market credibility.
From India, Lucknow
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Dear Ramesh Bhardwaj,

Mr.Pon explained in simple way by his experience (Thank you for your timely input).

Let me give an example;

Not only you heard that from your supervisor. I heard the same in past and he learned after the incident which I described below.

One of our project we have move the barriers (see the pix) which is near by 15 ton it has eye rings (16 mm) rebar on top of it. My SSHO said we have to do the test (move the barrier just 1 min) prior to move ahead. Reason was on that barrier eye rings seems rust but my supervisor ignored and start commenting that, he had XXX experience and he never failed etc….,

My SSHO simply said to operator to do the test guess what happened its fails front of everybody; Job supervisor shut his mouth and step out from site. Believe me we sending that report upto ‘’Naples’’ its takes 6 + months to close the file.

Safety and Production is team work only few of the them (supervisor) will understood. Who really understood they become a leaders who still barging for safety on site for production they never grew up and they never reach the company goal either in production or safety vice versa.

Always we used to say if we hired someone for our project we sending an email note to everyone that WELCOME OUR NEW SAFETY OFFICER instead of manager/supervisor/welder etc..,,

[IMG]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrd-klAV3oNm7g4wr8uw6XwiwsU0wDfFAhFXeZeU23RWjV6CEKzw[/IMG]

From United States, Fpo
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Thank you for the very useful discussion.

Safety is proactive steps taken to free you and others from harm. It is a way of working that increases not only quality but also staff and customer satisfaction.

Good luck,
Litty Varghese

From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
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Dear Ramesh Bhardwaj,
Thank you for the post. Please pardon me for taking your post as an example to inform other bloggers the right way of posting messages that have been copied/cut and pasted. When we are not the original authors we should CITE th source. I search the web whenever I get a doubt about a message posted using Google. In this instance, I did the same and found the article at Are Safety and Productivity Enemies? | Safety Culture Excellence®
It was posted by Terry L. Mathis, the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety.
Please also read and digest the contents at http://citehr.com#post2059497
Later today, I will give an example or two from my experience how, in fact, caring for safety improves productivity.

From United Kingdom
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Safety and productivity have to go side by side. Productivity, though, has been dramatically increased in recent times with the increase in automation in the manufacturing process, reducing the dependency on humans in many processes. Involvement of humans cannot be eliminated, so human safety has to be considered an integral part of all process operations.
From India
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Mr. Bhardwaj,

Sometimes people create a misconception that safety and productivity counter each other. However, in reality, safety is the supporting function of productivity. Safe workers, machines, and materials are the backbone of good productivity.

When an unsafe worker meets with an accident (even if only 1%), it automatically affects other workers' productivity. This is because, as humans, we tend to go and see the colleague and invest our time to cure him or provide possible aid. If accidents increase due to the absence of safety measures, productivity will automatically decrease.

From Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
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Sorry for the delay in posting examples from my experience. In an electrical engineering firm, measurement engineers used to test devices using connections with no mechanical tripping devices. In case they touched a live wire while pressing a switch, they would get a shock of 240 Volts. On one occasion, an operator from the assembly lines was allowed to use the equipment without giving her the warning. She touched a live wire while pressing the switch, got a belting shock, and the incident was reported. The safety official who came to inspect put a STOP order on further use of such equipment until all the jigs were modified incorporating mechanical safety devices. It took two weeks and cost a bit.

On another occasion, some students had moved a coffee table and left it in the corridor; a person got hurt while walking in the dark while going to switch the light. The injured person was off on medical leave for over 2 weeks. The safety officer advised that all the coffee tables and chairs in the sit-down area should be bolted down to ensure that they can't be moved, to prevent any further incidents.

From United Kingdom
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