Macro "Safety" (Part 1)

a headache day for me today... economy recession affected all the industries including the company that I'm working right now (well, electronic industries.... ). Management's decision, freeze new hire... wowww, nothing new then.... a common decision to cut the cost... including my Safety Department... previously, we have 7 manpowers & now left 4... 2 managers & 2 engineers (one of the engineer is me!!)

One of the engineer (initially we have 3, but 1 of them will leaving tomorrow)... so, as usual & also to ensure the continuity of Safety Management in the company, he passed down all his tasks (most of his tasks, of course...) to me... can start to feel the additional responsibilities & workloads on my shoulder... wahhhhh, cool :)). Well, just to please myself, I take it as another challenges that I need to face & it's a good exposure for me to learn more...

So, I'm trying to think how I can manage all the workloads... I handle ISO14001, OHSAS18001, Radiation Protection Program, Construction Project, Safety & Health Promotion, Training, Risk Management for right now (I think that's all for right now....)... furthermore, I'm supporting my another colleague managing ERP.... so, I sit down & observe all the workloads on my table... sketched some strategies on a paper (... I called it a strategy, hehehehe) on how to manage the workload... somehow, at the end of today, I can see the overall view & cleared picture on how to manage the workloads... I called it Macro "Safety"... same methodology as Macro Economy...

I will continue the writing later... need to write down my Macro "Safety" Strategies first :)

Management Tools for Safety (Part II)

In the NRG network, Mr. Mohsen highlighted one point on OSH Management... for me, it's interesting & maybe it's quite new for SHO.... "Quality Safety"...

Let me define & discuss it from my personal view... for me, it's not new... but it's more on the integrated approach frm management point of view... especially in business strategy... we trying our best to deliver some tasks... & from quality point of view, we do it based on "the standard/defined specification" to achieve "desirable/targeted result"... a good/achieved results will satisfy us (as personal achievement, of course) and also the management....

so, what I can say here is, if you can make "Safety" in a good "quality" approach, the end results must be good... using Safety's terminology or common Safety's target, it means no accidents, injuries etc depends on your target setting if we follow the specification!... in an ideal situation, of course :))

Management Tools for Safety

I bought a book from MPH yesterday, title "Job Hazard Analysis: A Guide for Voluntary Compliance & Beyond" by James E Roughton & Nathan Crutchfield... when I ask my wife whether I can buy the book or not, the 1st question is "How much??"... hehehe, of course quite expensive then since it's an imported book... but, for me it's an investment...

The interesting part about the book is the application of other management tools used to manage OSH... this is interesting... when I studied MBA, I can foresee the possibility to use some management tools to manage OSH.... this is unique approach, and I believe if OSH can be managed using some of the management tools, it can become an eye opener to the top management... management like to see something that is tangible... as an example , KPI from financial point of view....

There are a list of management tools outside there... some of the common tools are SWOT analysis, fish bones diagram (Ishikawa fish bone analysis), Quality Mgmt Syst ISO9001, 6 sigma, Strategic Management tools etc... for more management tools info, you can go the website below... cool one, I learnt it from MBA :))
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/

I will try to digest & discuss the application of this management tools in managing OSH in another post....

Quality in Safety

Last night, I watched National Geographic documentary... about Tokyo Fire Brigade team... what make me impressed about the team is "the quality" shown by the Fire Brigade team... really2x interesting...

of course, one of the interesting info about the team is the tools used during emergency... hi-tech devices such as heart-beat detector, terminator, impulse gun, rainbow robot etc... BUT, the one that really caught my attention is the application of "quality concept" in the ERP training program... example are as below

1. Training program - was established based on the past experience when dealing with the emergency situation or disaster.. e.g earthquake, terrorist attacked, HAZMAT accidents...

2. Clear Objective - to save people without injuring/endanger yourself....

the most interesting part is.....
3. Set a standards for each emergency response. This is shown from the standard operating procedure (SOP) based on the most efficient & effective + safe to save people. At the same time, established a benchmark in term of time to save people life and response to any scenario... this can ONLY be done by training, training, training, training to sharpen the skill...

Safety and Health is commonsense (II)?

I had an accident inside my own house.... hemmm, work as SHO, but still you are not "immortal or immune" from any accident!! Why, because we just a human... what was happened, I slipped at the front of my toilet... slippery floor... really a good experience & alhamdulillah there was no major injuries :)

so, what other safety issues that most of us don't realized in our daily life? here are some of them, categorized based on hazards
Physical - sharp edges, slippery floor, staircase/steps, hot water, heat from iron/water heater/stove

Chemical - clorox, medication (pill, medical syrup etc), insect repellent (Redsect, Sheildtox)

Electical - all the electrical appliances...

We heard few accidents happen at home, but most of us ignored it because we don't realized the risk (or don't care about it unless it happen to us).... below are some accidents happen in Malaysia, & I really2 hope we can learn from it... "Learning is a continual process....."

A kid was hit by a fallen tv when he climbed the tv rack

A boy fell into a boiling curry cauldron

Safety on the road

Raya Aidil Fitri, I think the busiest & crowded highways were during this period (of course sometime during CNY too...)... just came back from Raya in Kuala Lumpur yesterday... I was lucky, the traffic from KL to Northern is OK... nice weather too yesterday... Bad traffic jam at few routes along PLUS from Northern Part to KL... few km jam, some that I can recalled are at Slim River, Sg. Perak, & Bukit Gantang

I observed few "bad habits" of Malaysian's driver... quite sad, can't understand the mentality of Malaysian's driver (some of them, not all of them, of course).... maybe they are "lack of knowledge" about safety, negligence, ignorance or worst case is stupid or crazy... maybe they think the highway is belong to them... they know more about the highway.... they need to rush... they using expensive car (well, human attitude "ego"). Some of the bad habits that I experienced yesterday are as below
1. Overtake like there is no tomorrow - 1 toyota camry, silver in colour, overtake my car (I think most of the cars...) from left side on the emergency lane at speed more than 140km/hr!!! "Nak mampus kali"

2. After overtake - "enter to slow lane" after overtaking a car like nobody is behind you.... no signal is given, minimal space btwn the cars.... ayoyo.... where's the driving skill??

3. Tailing - most of the Malaysian's driver think that their car's brake syst can stop the car immediately from 150km/hr to 0 km/hr... the distance between the front car & your car is <1 style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);">4. The driver holding her baby while driving on the highway!!! Hemmm, teaching the baby to become Schemancher in the future, maybe.... wrong place dude....

So, what's the accident rate during Hari Raya for this year??? We will see the statistics next week...

Safety During Fasting Month

Today, 17th day of fasting month.... quite fast I think.... but the interesting part about Ramadhan that is related to Safety is "mercun" or fire crackers...

This is unique case in Malaysia... since Malaysia is a multi cultural country, we celebrated different type of festival... Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Gawai & of course the biggest festival is Hari Raya... BUT, why there is always an accident related to fire crackers in Ramadan + Raya only??? This is sad, very sad... this accident always happen during this time.... happened in Malay community.... co-incidence?? "tepuk dada tanya selera"...


I believe & I think that Malay is creative & innovative when modifying "mercun"... maybe want to have a really "booom" effects, the kids (or maybe including the adults) need to modify the "mercun" little bit without thinking the risk that they will face.... come on, can't we see that we are dealing with explosive HAZMAT??...... hemmm, "orang utara cakap, habaq pun tak guna nooo..." Parents, please ensure the Safety is a priority in our daily life.... "raya, raya gak tapi bila berlaku accident, tak syok la raya...."

OSH Responsibilities & Accountabilities

As a human, we can't away from "responsibilities & accountabilities".... as a person, as a child to your parent, as parent to your children, as an employee to your employer etc... BUT most of us ignore these 2 words.... simple definition of the words
Responsibilities - ability to "response" ... tanggungjawab
Accountabilities - ability to "account" on what you did ... keterbertanggungjawaban, I think :)

These 2 words are very important in OSH management... but people always ignore it... why??? I believe this is one of the failure of OSH Management....

I think the answer was given by my friend, Hj Zahruddin on a story of Lukman Nul Hakim make a sense why people ignore about Safety (in general of course....)

"Mungkin kisah LUKMAN NUL HAKIM boleh menjawab semua persoalan ini
Pada satu masa Lukman Nur Hakim berjalan bersama annaknya dgn seekor keldai.
Sebab kasihnya anak pada ayahnya, sianak telah menyuruh siayah menaiki keldai tersebut.
Orang ramai berkata TENGOKLAH SI LUKMAN TU.....ANAK NYA YANG KECIL DISURUHNYA BERJALAN......DIA YANG KUAT SENANG LENANG BERJALAN MENAIKI KELDAI TU....
Maka turunlah si ayah dari keldai tu dan diganti DENGAN si anak pula.......
Orang ramai pula berkata…… APALAH ANAK SI LUKMAN TU…..DIA YANG MASIH MUDAH MENAIKI KELDAI DAN AYAHNYA YG SUDAH TUA PULAK DISURUH BERJALAN KAKI….
Maka sianakpun meminta siayah menaiki keldai tu bersama……..
Orang ramai pulak berkata TAK PATUT BETUL SI LUKMAN DGN ANKNYA TU…ADA KE KELDAI KECIL TU DIA NAIK BERDUA……TAK KESIAN SUNGGUH PADA KELDAI TU….
Maka sianak & siayah pun kedua2nya turun dari keldai tersebut dan berjalan bersama-sama tanpa menaiki keldai.
Orang ramai pulak berkata........APALAH SI LUKMAN & ANAKNYA TU......ADA KELDAI TAPI TAK DITUNGGANGNYA......BERJALAN KAKI PULAK MEREKA......

KESIMPULAN:-
Kalau kita bekerja kerana manusia...............sampai bila pun kita tidak akan dapat memuaskan hati semua orang......
Tetapi kalau kita BEKERJA kerana AMANAH & TANGGUNGJAWAB pasti kita yakin dan tahu apa yang kita buat................Pandangan orang lain diambil untuk memperbaiki kelemahan / kesilapan yang tidak dirancang...................."

Selling OSH

Selling OSH??? Hemmm, need to learn marketing theory so that we can really "sell our product" efficiently & effectively... any special recipe? normally not that easy, but if you have the skills, insya allah it can help.... how? learn from the salesman on how their selling their product or service.... common methodology in marketing is 4P approach... product, price, promotion, place... sometime we call this as Marketing Mix... you can add additional P if you want such as People, Process, Physical evidence etc...

But, for me, I like to sell safety from common sense approach... something that people can relate it in their daily life's activity... such as driving safety, house safety, on the road safety etc... use example a lot.... use newspaper cutting, photos (remember, photo tell more than 1000 words).... use simple or layman language... this will help to open their mind and touch their feeling or heart....

as example, see some of the photos ... I believed people can understand what we are talking about

Speeding more than 100miles/hr!!

At car workshop....

OSH Management

Sometime, most of SHO don't realize or aware how to integrate their work in the overall organization operation. Most of us focus on Safety without understanding the operation of the organization....

I believed, it's time for SHO to equipped ourselves with "multi-discipline" knowledge... of course, not that detailed or expert in that particular discipline BUT at least we know how OSH can be integrated/part of the organization's activities.... this is important because sometime we need to "talk" same language with other departments.... and the most common "term" when we discuss with top management, it still reflects "Profit and Loss" statement.... so, it's time for us to measure OSH in tangible and intangible parameter in order for us to sell OSH more efficiently... insya allah..

Construction's Safety

Hot topic was discussed in the NRG email network on the Scaffold collapsed at Ukay Perdana before COSH2008. The project is taken care by PMC that won 1st place in the CIDB/DOSH award... forget about the award... let we focus how we can solve this prob....

A good remark by my friend, Mr. Jass... and I quote it below
"Dalam scenario tapakbina ada kekalutan kekalutan yang berlaku yang secara tidak sengajanya menyebabkan SHO terperangkap oleh situasi. Kebanyakannya berasal dari kesilapan kesilapan pengurusan, yang sebenarnya telah di ketahui berpunca dari economic demand..."
This is the toughest game for SHO when you working with the employer where profit is the ultimate goal... well, it's common in Msia then... so, it's not easy for us as SHO (small and humble OFFICER)... my personal opinion, as SHO, we need to follow the game.... not to forget about your responsibilities BUT try your best to sell safety.... work with PM, PE, PMC, Client, Constractor, Subcon, "kuli", "apek" etc ... BUT I believed you can't get "real"support ... BUT, don't forget to work closely with "DOSH".... then I think it will help little....

I still believe, when dealing with this situation, Safety Management in Construction can really work when "the man" with the power can use it power properly.... they are: Client and Enforcement Body... why???
Client - the payer $$$
Enforcement body - fine $$$ (+ go to jail lah...)... it's all about money, again!!

SHO in Construction... "belasah jerlah" and yg paling penting, cari rezki yg halal

Communication

Sometime, when we want to communicate something to somebody, we will use a language. BUT, as we know language is one of the tools to communicate with somebody. Instead using a language to communicate, we can use body language, we can use signage, or signals .... like Red Indian.... If we realize, language can become a barrier if a person can't understand the language that we used.

I still believe, diagram/image/picture can become a good tool to communicate. Maybe, it's more effective... why?? Sometimes, it's easy to remember people's face than his name.... Sometimes, it's easy to explain/tell a story from a picture than describing it using words....

That's why, I still prefer to use diagram/picture + additional wording when I do my work.... it some sort like mind/idea mapping approach.... at least can exercise our left & right brain ...

Let's try to do it in OSH Management.... it already started actually, that's why there is an OSH topic called HAZCOM (Hazard Communication)... let the ball rolling

Construction Photos During COSH2008

Managed to capture some of the photos when I walked to KLCC & back to my hotel during COSH. I'm crazy about taking photos that are related to OSH around us... hopefully I can learn from them & I believe photos say more than a thousand words.....







Another one.... actually, it's the same building but at different angle

COSH 2008 (26th-27th Aug 2008)

COSH Wallpaper

With Zack (dia tgh online sebenarnya tu :)

Orang kuat safety (yg kat depan tu, memang kuat pun...) Alladin, Grand & Irzai

Aku dgn org kuat.....

MASHO dinner at Nasi Kandar Pelita (unofficial dinner jer...)

Just came back from COSH at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.... COSH, it's always an event waited by most SHOs around Malaysia... not really sure what are the reasons... BUT maybe here are some of the reasons
1. CEP - once a year of course
2. Gaining new knowledge from the speakers
3. Networking
4. Honeymoon.... maybe ;)

As for me, it is a good platform to gain new knowledge (if there is a good topic presented... of course). BUT, the best thing that I really enjoyed about COSH is meeting with all the OSH Practisioners, sharing & discussing different stories about OSH... nevertheless, this COSH we talk a topic little bit out of OSH.... discussed about election in Permatang Pauh (still need to follow on Politic in Malaysia)... Other than that, meet new friends then....

Manage to present a paper this year... it was ok (as for me, don't know about other participant's perception....). Hopefully, thru this exposure, insya allah it can build my confidence as part of continual improvement in my life....

OSH KPI

The competition among industries getting stiff and tough. To ensure the survival of the company, cost control is critical as part of the company strategies to be competitive. Whether service or product oriented industry, internal cost control is much easier to monitor since it within the company's scope. That's why most organization needs to control their expenses as part of their Key Performance Indicator (KPI). It's quantified and easy to monitor closely since most of the activities or processes need to spend money.

When we talking about Safety and Health, sometime it is difficult for Safety and Health Officer (SHO) to justify or convince to the top management on the cost benefit based on its activity/process. SHO must be able to quantify OSH activities so that it is easy for the top management to see OSH acvities from $$ point of view. Some of the KPI that can be used are
1. Cost incurred when an incident/accident occured e.g. medical claim, product/machine damage, production loss, demand loss, legal impact etc
2. The impact of the productivity and employee's morale when an accident occured
3. The interruption of the supply chain to produce the product when an incident happened.
etc.

Safety and Health is commonsense?

Most people think that they know about safety.... they know what are the consequences if they didn't follow the safety procedure/instruction. BUT, why people are still ignore about safety? For easy understanding, let me write down the word "safety" into a simple equation

Safety = Condition of surrounding where the risk of harm is exist
No Safety = Injuries or death (of course this is the worse case then)

So, as for me, if you think something as a commonsense, you need some knowledge about it... same with Safety... and the key of the knowledge for Safety is awareness....

Safety and Health is everybody's responsibility

08.08.08... a good feng shui number that's always a belief among the Chinese (and also other races I think)... But, is it really meaningful in Safety and Health perspective? This is more on our belief especially Asian where numbers, animals, moons, stars etc are interrelated with our life....

I hope, through this blog I will try my best to share with people on the importance of Safety and Health in our daily life. We need to educate our people on the importance of Safety and Health to ensure we can minimize any risks that can injure or kill ourselves. We should learn from the past so that we are safe right now in order for us to achieve our ambition/dream in the future...

080808, let's the sharing begin....