EP 698 - The Ten Commandments of Safety: Merging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Practices

Show Transcript

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This show is brought to you by Safety FM.

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Well hello and welcome to another episode of Safety FM with Jay Allen.

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I hope everything is good inside of your neck of the woods as we are hanging out on this

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Tuesday February the 18th of 2025.

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I almost said 24 because you know I'm still not in the habit of saying 24.

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So how are you?

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I hope everything is good seriously as we are talking.

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So welcome back to Safety FM the station where we dive deep into the world of safety with

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a twist.

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Of course I am Jay Allen and today we got a show that's going to shake up your perspective

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on safety protocols.

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We're going to be blending the ancient wisdom of the modern safety principles all while

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keeping it as real as a Howard Stern interview as well as the mind bending books of Philip

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K. Dix.

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You know the novels that he used to put out.

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Yeah so buckle up because we're about to embark on a journey through the 10 commandments

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of safety.

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I think I really feel inspired because I went to a church service this weekend and that's

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what they were talking about.

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We'll also infuse it with the five principles of human and organizational performance or

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hop as championed by Dr. Todd Conklin.

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We'll also sprinkle some insight from the safety visionaries like James Reason and Eric

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Holnegel.

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So let's get this safety party started and let's get into some of the things that we

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need to talk about.

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So picture this for a moment.

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So let's just go through it.

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The original 10 commandments were etched in a stone tablet right.

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I mean that's what we've been told for years.

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Well today we're going to be chiseling out a new set not on a stone but in the fabric

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of an organizational culture and they are the 10 commandments of safety designed to

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revolutionize how we think about safety in the workplace.

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So let's start off if we were going to call them in this particular fashion.

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Let's go ahead and start off with.

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Let's talk about commandment one.

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Thou shalt not acknowledge that error is inevitable.

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So let's kick off with the reality check that humans are fallible.

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So we screw up.

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Let's just be kind of honest about the whole thing.

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It's in our DNA.

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Dr. Todd Conklin puts it bluntly.

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Human error is normal.

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Instead of slapping a risk when mistakes happen we need to design our systems to anticipate

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errors and absorb the impact.

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It's like building a spaceship that expects meteor showers and is ready to handle them

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without going off course.

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Let's go into commandment two.

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Thou shalt not resort to blame.

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Blame is a cop out.

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Let's just be realistic.

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That's really what it boils down to.

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It fixes nothing.

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When things go south pointing the finger is easy but it doesn't get us anywhere.

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As Conklin says blame fixes nothing and we need to dig deeper understand the root causes

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and fix the system not the symptoms.

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Yes the system not the symptom.

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A lot of people have a hard time with that but we need to take a look at what system

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issues are that are going on around there opposed to blaming everything else.

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Commandment three.

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Thou shalt foster a culture of learning.

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Every mishap is a goldmine of insight.

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James Reason the guy who gave us the swish cheese bottle of system accident emphasizes

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that we must learn from our slip ups to plug the holes in our defenses.

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It's about creating an environment where lessons are shared and not shunned.

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Think about that.

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Think about if you looked at it from actually plugging the holes.

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Opposed to just going it is what it is.

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Life will go on dear John.

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I mean things would be much different as we are looking at those things.

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One would imagine.

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Commandment four.

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Thou shalt understand that context shapes behavior.

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Behavior doesn't exist in a vacuum.

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Eric Holnegel the mind behind safety two concepts remind us that people's actions are influenced

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by the situations they're in.

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If we want to change behavior we need to tweak the context and make the right actions the

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easy ones.

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Keep that in mind because I think sometimes we make the actions that are presented not

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the easiest ones to pick at least not the correct ones.

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At least when I'm taking a look around that's the way that it comes across from time to

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time.

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Commandment five.

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Thou shalt respond thoroughly to failure.

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How to react when the feces hits the fan.

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Yeah I'm trying to keep it PG.

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Sets the tone for our safety culture.

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A knee jerk reaction can stifle openness and innovation.

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Instead let's approach failures with curiosity and desire to improve not punishment.

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Could you imagine an environment that way where we're not quick to punish.

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Oh you screwed up so let's go ahead and do something to you because number one you screwed

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up and you didn't make reference to it.

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Boy would life be different then.

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Commandment six.

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Thou shalt empower thy workforce.

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The folks in the front line often have the best insight into potential hazards and encourage

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them to speak and actually listen when they do.

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It's all about creating a space where everyone feels responsible for safety.

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Learning teams or operational learning probably plays a key factor there.

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If you haven't looked into those you should probably take a look around.

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It might take you places that you did not expect.

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Commandment seven.

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Thou shalt prioritize good housekeeping.

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A cluttered workplace or workspace in this fact is an accident waiting to happen.

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Keeping things tidy isn't just about aesthetics.

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It's about preventing trips slips and falls as the Minnesota Safety Council advises.

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Disorganized work areas are breeding grounds for accidents.

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Pick it up I'm being serious.

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If you go to the Minnesota Safety Council dot org you'll see all kinds of information

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there about how they talk about these things.

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Commandment eight.

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Thou shalt use tools and equipment properly.

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Tools are an extension of our hands.

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Using them correctly is crucial.

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This means that proper training and regular maintenance checks.

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Remember a dull blade is more dangerous than a sharp one.

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This is also something that I took from the Minnesota Safety Council website in regards

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of looking around.

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Now the funny part is that when you start taking a look at these things is that yes

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I am aware that there are people out there that will make their own tools for inside

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of the shops that they're at and that's okay as long as the tool makes sense and it's something

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that can be properly made for what the use or the intent of use is for.

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That's something to think about as well.

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Commandment nine.

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Thou shalt wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

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PPE.

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PPE is your last line of defense whether it's gloves, goggles or hardheads.

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Gear up appropriately for the task at hand.

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It's not just about compliance.

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It's about keeping your body parts intact.

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Keep that in mind.

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That's going to be an important one for sure.

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Commandment ten.

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Thou shalt commit to continuous improvement.

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So safety isn't just a one and done deal.

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I know some people wish that it was but that's not really quite the case.

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It's an ongoing process, regular training, audits and a willingness to adapt that are

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key indicators inside of there.

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As Conklin notes, learning is vital.

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We must be proactive in seeking out new knowledge and applying it.

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And I know sometimes people have such a hard time understanding some of these things.

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There are people that are out there that think that they have learned everything that they

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need to know and they're done.

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There's nothing else to learn.

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And that's really not quite the case on anything in life.

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But think about that as we are talking.

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So there you have it.

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That's the ten commandments of safety.

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By embracing these principles, we're not just following rules.

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We're cultivating a culture where safety is woven into the fabric of our daily operations.

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So remember, it's not about being perfect and I know that this was kind of an unorthodox

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way about going about some of this.

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But it's something to think about.

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It's about being prepared and proactive in regards to what we're doing.

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And no matter how creative or different you need to talk about these things, talk about

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them from time to time.

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I have been your safety manager and host Jay Allen.

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And until next time, stay safe and stay curious.

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Bye bye for now.

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the host and its guest and do

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not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the company.

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Examples of analysis discussed within this podcast are only examples.

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They should not be utilized in the real world as the only solution available as they are

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based only on very limited and dated open source information.

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Assumptions made within this analysis are not reflective of the position of the company.

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in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, recording or otherwise without prior written

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