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Safety and Reliability is Two Side of

Coins
Published on June 15, 2015

Handito aji Saroso Follow

8 0 1
Experienced Business Leader & Consultant from dierent backgrou
Doyoubelieveinsafety?ThereisalwaysaunanimousandresoundingYes!when JoinToday SignIn

thisquestionisasked,particularlyfromexecutives.Ifyou,particularlyyouexecutives,
believeinsafety,thenyoumustbelieveinreliabilityand,moreimportantly,havethe
appropriatepolicies,systems,practicesandmeasurestosupportreliability.Youmust
walkthetalkaboutsafety.

Compellingdatafromoperatingplantshasbeenprovidedtodemonstratethatareliable
plantisasafeplant,isacosteffectiveplant,isanenvironmentallyfriendlyplant.The
reversewasalsodemonstrated,thatis,anunreliableplantislesssafe,morecostlyand
lessenvironmentallyfriendly.Severalofthefiguresinthisarticlesupportthisposition.

Whenaplantisreliable,therearefewerfailuresandprocessupsets,resultinginhigher
productioncapabilityasmeasuredbyassetutilization(AU)oroverallequipment
effectiveness(OEE).Thisreducestheexposuretotheriskofinjury.SeeFigure1.
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Figure1:Productioncapability(OEE)versusinjuryrate
Whenplantequipmentiscaredforbydoingpreventivemaintenance(PM)ina
disciplinedway,andwhenequipmentisroutinelymonitoredtodetectproblemsearly
andthoseproblemsaremanagedbyproperplanningofthework,therearefewer
injuries.SeeFigures2and3.
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Figure2:InjuriesversusPM/PdMworkordersperyear
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Figure3:Injuryrateversusmaintenanceschedulecompliance
Onthecontrary,reactivebehaviorthatresultsinexcesscorrectiveworkincreases
injuries.SeeFigure4.
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Figure4:Injuriesversusreactiveandcorrectiveworkordersperyear
Withahighlyreliableplant,costsarelower.Withhigherproductioncapacity(i.e.,OEE)
andlowercosts,therearefewerprocessdisruptions,andsystemsandequipmentdont
failasoften.SeeFigure5.
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Andasreliabilityimproves,environmentalperformanceimproves.SeeFigure6.
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Figure6:Environmentalincidentsversusassetutilization
Thedatashownisexemplaryofamuchlargerdataset,allofwhichisconsistent.Itis
compelling!

Howdoyougetreliability?Youtakeaholisticandcomprehensiveapproachtodefect
eliminationinallprocesses,thatis,design,procurement,stores,installationandstart
up,operationandmaintenance.Workingtogethertowardacommonpurposeresultsina
plantthatisreliable,safe,costeffectiveandenvironmentallyfriendly.Reliableplants JoinToday SignIn

maximizebenefitsproductioncapability,ontimedelivery,quality,lowercosts,higher
grossprofitsthatfinancefutureinvestmentsinbusinessandproductdevelopmentand,
ofcourse,growthincustomersatisfaction,marketshare,earningspershareandshare
price.Andreliableplantsminimizerisksofinjury,productionloss,highercostsand
majoraccidents.Costmanagementthroughimprovedprocessesanddefectandwaste
eliminationarecriticaltoyoursuccess.

Incidentally,doingbettermaintenancewillprovidesomeimprovement,butifthatsall
youdo,youllonlybeperformingworkthatyoushouldntbedoingatallmore
efficiently.Youdonotgetreliabilitybydoinggoodmaintenance,butyoumusthave
goodmaintenancetohavereliability.Therefore,itscriticaltoeliminatethedefectsin
allareas.ThisapproachisillustratedinFigure7.
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Figure7:Thereliabilityprocess
IsaSafePlantAlsoReliable,CostEffectiveandEnvironmentallyFriendly?
Asthefiguresdemonstrate,areliableplantisasafeplant,butisasafeplantareliable
plant?Notwithstandingallthisdata,thereareoperationsthathaveexcellentsafety
performance,asdemonstratedbytheirinjuryrate,andyet:

1.Inoneoperation,achemicalplantwentoutofbusiness.Itisoftensaidintotaljest
thatifyoudontwanttohurtanyone,closetheplant.Thisoperationdid,butobviously JoinToday SignIn

notbecauseofadesiretoeliminateinjuries.Theywerentmakingmoneyinspiteofa
reasonablemarketfortheirproducts,inbothmarketdemandandprice.

2.Anotheroperation,alargeoilrefinery,hadamajoraccidentthatkilledseveralpeople
andinjuredmanyothers,resultinginhundredsofmillionsofdollarsindamages.They
hadrecentlyreceivedanawardforsafetyperformancewhentheaccidentoccurred.

3.Inanotheroperation,anoffshoredrillingrig,alsohadrecentlyreceivedanawardfor
safetyperformance,butsoonthereafterhadamajoraccidentthatkilledseveralpeople,
injuredmanyothersandcreatedanenvironmentaldisasterresultinginbillionsof
dollarsindamages.

So,whathappenedinthesecases?If,asthefiguresdemonstrate,areliableplantisa
safeplant,aswellasacosteffectiveandenvironmentallyfriendlyplant,isthereverse
true?Thatis,isasafeplantareliableplant,costeffectiveandenvironmentallyfriendly?
Thepreviousexamplesdemonstratethatthisisnotnecessarilytrue.Whyisthis?

TheProcessSafetyPyramid
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AndrewHopkins,inhisgroundbreakingwork,FailuretoLearn:TheBPTexasCity
RefineryDisaster,positsthatthereisadifferencebetweenpersonalsafetyandprocess
safety,thoughtheyhaveoverlappingareas.Hecharacterizesprocesssafetywitha
processsafetypyramid,showninFigure8.
Figure8:Theprocesssafetypyramid JoinToday SignIn

Hisanalysisindicatesthatyoucanhaveexcellentpersonalsafety,allthewhilerisking
yourprocesssafety.Forexample,frequentlyexceedingsafeoperatinglimits,ignoring
ornotunderstandingalarms,missingcriticalinspectionsandcalibrations,poor
operatinginstructionsandtrainingtheretoandpoormaintenanceofcriticalequipment
allleadtoamuchhigherriskofaprocesssafetybreach,lossofcontainmentand,
ultimately,amajoraccident.Hefurthersuggeststhatpersonalsafetyeventsaredriven
byhighfrequency,lowconsequenceactivities,whileprocesssafetyisdrivenbylow
frequency,highconsequenceactivities.Inrelativeterms,thisisrelativelytrue.Twisted
ankles,burnedfingers,orevenlostlimbsaremorecommonthanexplosionsthatkill
people,sotheformeraremorefrequentandlessconsequential.

TheReliabilityPyramid

Asimilarfigure,thereliabilitypyramiddevelopedbyWinstonLedetfromoperating
plantdata,isshowninFigure9andfocusesondefectelimination.Themoredefects
(i.e.,imperfectionsinanyarea)youhave,themorerepairsyoudo,themorelossesyou
haveandthegreatertheriskofamajorincidentthatresultsininjuriesandhighercosts.
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Figure9:Thereliabilitypyramid
TheOriginalSafetyPyramid
Theoriginalsafetypyramid,firstpositedbyHerbertW.Heinrichin1931,isshownin
Figure10andsuggeststhatunsafeactsofindividualscreatemostaccidents.Modern
safetyexpertssaythatadheringtotheHeinrichmodelcanleadtoanoveremphasison
workerbehaviorandinsufficientattentiontosystemdesignandoperatingand
maintenancepractices.Heinrichis,however,creditedwithbringingattentionto
workplacesafetyandfocusingonthehumanbehaviorelementofsafety,whichis,in JoinToday SignIn

fact,acriticalelement.However,itisnotsufficient.

Figure10:Heinrichsaccidentpyramid
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Allthesesafetypyramidshaveonethingincommon.Atthebottomarerelativelyminor
acts,incidents,defects,orprocessvariationsthatultimatelyresultinamajorloss,
injury,orevenacatastrophe.

Personalsafetyappearstobeinfluencedmorebypersonalbehavior,whileprocess
safetyisinfluencedmorebydesign,operatingandmaintenancepractices,trainingand
thelike.However,thereisconsiderableoverlap,assuggestedbyHopkinsandshownin
Figure11astheprocessandpersonalsafetypyramids.And,infact,eachlikelyfeeds
intotheother,thatis,defectscreateminorprocesserrorsandviceversa,andpersonal
behaviorcreatesdefectsandminorprocesserrorsandviceversa.Alltheissuesare
interrelated.
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Figure11:Processsafetyandpersonalsafetypyramids
Manymodernsafetyexpertsarelessenthusedwiththepyramidapproachandsubscribe
moretotheSwisscheesemodelofaccidentcausation,firstproposedbyJamesReason.
Thismodelsuggeststhataccidentsandinjuries,particularlythemajorones,aremore
likelytheresultofhavingmanyholesinyoursystemsandpractices,likethelayersof
Swisscheese,witheachlayerrepresenting,forexample,poormanagement,poorsystem
design,poortraining,poordecisionmakingandsoon.Itisonlywhentheseholesline
upthatmajorincidentsoccur.WhetheryousubscribetothepyramidmodelortheSwiss
cheesemodel,itisthedefects,processerrorsandbehaviorsthatareattherootcauseof JoinToday SignIn

theseveryundesirableeventsofinjuries,costsandcatastrophes.Therefore,theymust
beaddressedthroughintenseoperationaldiscipline.

HowtoManageAllThis

Tominimizetheriskofinjury,incidentsandmajoraccidents,operationaldisciplineis
essentialtoencouragetheappropriatebehavior,eliminatethedefects,minimizethe
processerrorsandfosterthedisciplineinallpracticesthatwillreducerisk,including
design,operationandmaintenance.

Hopkinsalsosuggeststhatfocusingonslips,trips,fallsandpersonalbehavior,while
cuttingcosts,willlikelyexposethebusinesstomorehazardsandmuchgreaterrisk.
Twomessagesarebeingheard:Behavesafelybywearingyourpersonalprotective
equipment,doingyourlockout/tagout,holdingthehandrail,doingyourpermitstowork
andsoon.But,wedonthaveenoughmoneyforpeopletodothingsright,likeproperly
maintaintheequipment,calibratetheinstruments,addequipmenttoreducehazards,
trainpeopleinnewprocedures,eliminatespuriousalarms,ordoanynumberofthings.
Itsamixedmessagetothedetrimentofthecompany.Peoplewilltrytofollowthe
standardsafetymantra,allthewhileseeingotherthingsbeingdonepoorly.As
demonstratedpreviously,youcangetbetterpersonalsafetyperformance,andstilla)go JoinToday SignIn

outofbusiness,orb)haveamajorcatastrophe.

Granted,youmustmanagethebusinesstomakemoneyoryouwonthaveabusiness.
But,thismixedmessageexposesthecompanytogreaterriskthanitotherwisewould.It
isadelicatebalancetomanage.However,ifyouhaveoperationaldiscipline,applythe
reliabilityprocess,engagetheworkforceinsimple,routineimprovementandshow
appreciationfortheimprovements,youwillgetbetterperformanceinALLareas.

Leadership,AlignmentandCulturalChange

Supportingthisapproachrequiresleadership,alignmentandalmostalways,cultural
change.Goodleadershipistheabilitytoinspireordinarypeopletoconsistentlyperform
atanextraordinarylevel,tolookforwardtocomingtoworkeveryday.How?By
puttingemployeesintoabusinesssystemthatengagesandalignstheirpersonalinterest
withcorporateinterests.Givethemworktheyliketodochallengethemtoimproveit
givethemthetoolstoimproveitputthemonanimprovementteamteachthem
problemsolvingmethodsthankthemandshowyourappreciationwhentheydoagood
jobsendthemtotraining,butwhentheyreturn,makesuretheyusethetraining
received.Inotherwords,engagethem.
Accordingtoonestudy,engagedemployeesarethreetimesmoreproductivethan JoinToday SignIn

others.Accordingtoanother,eliminatingthesmall,daytodayproblemshasamuch
biggerimpactonperformancethanfocusingonthemajorproblems.Thinkofhundreds
ofpeopleroutinelyengagedinprocessimprovementanddefectelimination,andthen
thinkaboutwhathappenstocosts,performance,andsafety,bothpersonalandprocess.

Alignmentrequirestherepeatedarticulationofthestrategy,goalsandrespectiveroles
fromtheCEOtotheshopfloor.Italsorequiresmeasuresandsystemsthatreinforcethe
strategy,goalsandroles.Itisreallyhardwork.Accordingtothestudies,most
organizationsarenotverywellaligned.Mostfunctionswithinagivenorganization
operatewithintheirsilo,optimizingatthesuboptimallevel.Havingeveryonethinkata
systemslevelwithregardstotheimpacttheirdecisionswillhaveonthebusinessasa
wholeandalignedtoacommoncorporatestrategy,notjusttheirdepartments,is
essential.

Regardingculturalchange,whenasked,Dopeoplewanttochange?,manypeople
willreplysomethingtotheeffectof,No,theydonottheyrestuckintheiroldways.
Manywilldisagreewiththisview.Peopledowanttochangeifgivenacompelling
reasontochange,iftheressomethinginitforthem(e.g.,betterpay,lesshassle,more
securefuture,etc.)and,mostimportantly,iftheyparticipateincreatingthechangesand
thushaveownershipforthem.Itsuptotheleadershipofanorganizationtoalignthe
organizationandfacilitatechangebyapplyingtheseprinciplesandtousesafetyasa
compellingreasonforchange.Incidentally,culturalchangeisntsomethingyoudoonce JoinToday SignIn

anditsdone.It,too,isacontinuingeffort.

Tothisend,andgiventhedatapresented,organizationsmusthaveapolicyfor
reliability,onethatparallels,orisevenintegratedwith,itssafetypolicy.Considerthe
followingsafetypolicy,whichmirrorsthatofmanycompaniesandtowhichadditional
wordshavebeenaddedinitalicstoaddresspersonalandplantsafety:
Allinjuriesandfailuresarepreventable.
Notaskissourgentthatitcannotbedonesafelyandreliably.
Managementmustprovideasafeandreliableworkenvironment.
Weareeachresponsibleforpreventinginjuriesandfailures.
Everyoneisempoweredtostopunsafeandunreliablebehavior.

Conclusion

Manycompanieshavesafetypolicies,butfew,ifany,havecombinedthesepoliciesto
includereliabilityasacorevalue.Moreover,ifCEOsofthesecompaniestrulybelieve
thatsafetyisatoppriority,theywouldhavepoliciesforreliability,linkingreliability
andsafety.Iftheytrulybelieveinsafety,theywouldgiveatleastasmuchattentionto
reliabilityandoperationaldisciplineastheydotohighpoweredconsultingcompanies.
Thetruthistheydonotandtheircommitmenttoaholisticviewofsafetyisrelatively
weak.Andasaresult,thecompanyanditspeopleareatgreaterrisk.
 Gettingbothpersonalandprocesssafetyrequiresoperationaldisciplinetenacioususe JoinToday SignIn

ofbestpracticesinallareas.

OriginalSources:reliabilityweb.comwithmodification

Tagged in: safety engineering,reliability,operational excellence

Handito aji Saroso

Experienced Business Leader & Consultant from dierent background of industries Follow
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