Day 5, Effectively Organizing Your Office and Day

Establishing Structure Developing structure through a logical approach will help keep the necessary tasks prioritized and organized as well as aid in reducing the potential overwhelming emotions that may develop depending on the state of the safety culture (What have I gotten into!) . By starting with sorting out your office and files, you can begin to set structure to your mission. The small success of simply clearing out clutter and seeing an administrative process begin can be comforting if nothing else. Get things in order! This however, as the books referenced in Day 2 will be an ongoing affair. Make use of a daily planner, Microsoft Outlook, or other device to keep notes, set priorities, and maintain your schedule and calendar. This is an art. Finding the balance between a structured day and the need for flexibility is essential. I use Outlook for calendar, contacts and projects along with a simple composition book to record phone calls, observations, etc. You may prefer a very formal looking binder or other software – whatever works for you. This area is also an outgoing affair to keep maintained and up to speed. Review of the Data As you organize your office, begin the organizing and review of all known loss data – insurance loss runs that may include workers compensation, auto liability, general liability, and property. The OSHA 300 logs are a basic requirement - do you have the required number of years in file? Also look for damage, accident investigations, and near miss reports. Later on, we will discuss getting with other specialty areas in detail for their data Who currently keeps the insurance loss runs and OSHA logs if they are not your responsibility? Insurance loss runs are reports specific to your organization that track injuries and provide details on what happened and the potential cost of the incident. Are these documents available to you? Who gets the Insurance loss data? Many times, insurance loss runs go to finance and may not have been made available to the safety manager. Ask if you can get on any distribution lists and if you can have access to any online claims databases. Internal damage reports and repair reports will also provide insights on where to go to look for underlying issues and problem areas. Loss Analysis Using loss data is like driving a car while looking into a rearview mirror. However, to begin the work of eliminating the repeating types of losses, loss analysis is an essential function. The data when properly analyzed provides targeted areas to implement the risk and control hazard control process.  The data can show where "low hanging fruit" is for a few early successes. You need a five year history of losses to begin any type of annual trending.  Evaluate the data and how it has been presented.   Is it in an understandable form that provides information for management and employees? Does it communicate the loss record of the organization?  Can you begin to set priorities with the current loss producing data? Organizing your day - Continue getting out and about As discussed in Day 4, you should be trying to spend some time each day out where the action is occurring, where the work is being done.  All of the acquired data and information is only theory until you can match what you have read and heard with what you can see is being done.  Talk to as many people as you can, asking questions but listening intently. Networking is essential and the only way to network is to simply make the effort to get around and talk to all levels of the organization. You may have to begin to suggest corrective actions or intervene when you see specific uncontrolled hazardous situations. This is why you took the time to get your mission and authority clear. The first few times you have to intervene will require tack and a bit of diplomacy. Jumping down someone’s throat, a demeaning approach, being overbearing will shut down future communications. Set a tone that is professional – listen to the why a situation exist, explain the issue and make sure that a team approach is desired. You must be viewed as a problem solver, not an obstacle to go around. If the issue cannot be resolved quickly, work with the area management in finding alternatives. We discuss later on how the use of the Job Hazard Analysis can help in you respond. Day 5 Summary As you organize your office, the day as well as the loss information and analyses, begin to match your observations with the numbers and assessments completed.   As a reminder, make sure your Boss knows what you’re doing!  Take time to communicate upward and to your peers. Nathan Crutchfield N_crutch@comcast.net