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About Michael Brown, CSP Retired
Expertise
I can discuss issues relating to the successful integration of comprehensive occupational safety and health practices into the successful operation of a manufacturing facility including production, quality and maintenance functions. My emphasis has been on supervisory training and the development of goals and measurement processes along with high levels of employee involvement. I always stressed the cost of accidents and their negative impact on the financial stability of operating units.
Experience
I worked in manufacturing/production (primarily forest products) in excess of twenty years. In my last employment (before retirement due to a stroke) I was responsible for the safety and health function for a division which had approximately 20 plants ranging from 25 employees to 600 employees. I interfaced with the safety staff at the locations and the managers and supervisors. I also worked with the support personnel including timber operations the headquarters staff and a flight department.
Organizations
American Society of Safety Engineers (Professional, Emeritus) Board of Certified Safety Professionals (CSP, Retired)
Education/Credentials
BS in Forest Engineering from Oregon State University, some graduate work at Portland State University in Public Health, a graduate of the Oregon Basic Police Academy and Certified Safety Professional (by examination). Various seminars, professional development conferences and classes throughout career.
Awards and Honors
See current ratings for AllExperts in the subject of “Occupational (OSHA) and Environmental Hazards”
Past/Present Clients
See current ratings for AllExperts in the subject of “Occupational (OSHA) and Environmental Hazards”
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You are here: Experts > Industry > Industrial Health and Safety > Industrial Health and Safety > setting target man hours free of accident
Expert: Michael Brown, CSP Retired - 11/5/2009
Question
Dear Sir,
Please advice me what is the criteria or is there a rule to be used by companies when setting the target man hours they would wish to work free of accident. I have seen some use 1 million hours, others 200000hours etc.
Please also inform me whether the set target man hours is what should be used when calculating safe man hours after an LTI or there is a standard figure that should be used?
Answer
Subject: Setting target man hours free of accident
Question: Dear Sir, please advise me what is the criteria or is there a rule to be used by companies when setting the target man hours they would wish to work free of accident. I have seen some use 1 million hours, others 200000hours etc. Please also inform me whether the set target man hours is what should be used when calculating safe man hours after an LTI or there is a standard figure that should be used?
Answer: Joseph, Each company should set a goal for their safety performance based on the ability and/or desire to meet those goals. I have always tried to keep goals in the range of a 10 – 15% reduction each year for units with rates that needed reduction. For other units which had a zero rate the goal was to maintain that rate by taking part in a certain number of activities designed to maintain and reinforce the behavior leading to the good performance.
As a part of this process you will track your current safety performance. Your current performance and your goals can be compared to determine what targets need to be set for the remainder of the period involved. There is no one set number that applies to all. In the US most records and figures are based on the OSHA Incident Rate Calculations but other parts of the world may use different calculations.
I have been involved with firms or units which had poor or very poor performance and set very high goals (20 – 50% reductions) and then failed to meet them. After several years of this, all involved lose interest and the program fails. My experience indicates that a reduction of 10 - 15% will offer encouragement and result from meaningful changes that become a new “norm” and will easily carry over to the future. (If you achieve a 10% reduction in accidents and losses each year for 5 years you will most than likely have a good solid safety program that has the interest and commitment of all. If you try for a 50% reduction and fail on a regular basis at the end of 5 years you will most likely be in the same place or worse than when you started.)
I also remind people to be sure and read some of the works by Dr. Dan Petersen that deal with what he refers to as the “safety culture” of a unit and/or plant and how to change that “culture”. I used the ideas of Dr. Petersen on several operations and was very pleased with the results. In looking at the web site that Amazon maintains I find a book called “Safety Management: A Human Approach” as currently being available. You may want to add this to your personal collection of safety publications or perhaps a library near you would have some this or some of his other fine publications.
In summary, select a yearly goal that you and management feel is obtainable and will fit in with your long-range objectives and then proceed making the necessary adjustments as you proceed. Make progress but don’t set yourself up for failure by attempting more than is reasonable. Remember the old adage “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, it can be far more applicable to building a solid safety program than some might suspect.
Michael Brown, CSP Retired
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