Monthly Archives: May 2012

Will the Zero Harm Madness EVER Stop? :O)

So I think I have this absolutely irrational approach of Zero Harm/Injuries/Incidents figured out (tongue in cheek of course):

* All incidents, injuries and harm of all kinds are preventable unless we deem them non-preventable because it wasn’t our fault. Now we don’t have to count them in our statistics. This only works for vehicle accidents.

* Preventing ALL injuries doesn’t take super human anticipation of ALL possible future scenarios and absolute total resource allocation to be even remotely possible.

* If a company’s CEO says that their corporation is aiming for ZERO, they obviously “get it” as a safety leader/guru. This ultimate commitment will NOT make everyone in the corporation work REALLY hard at hiding injuries…especially if their bonuses depend on getting ZERO.

* If Zero isn’t achieved it doesn’t frustrate the people working in the corporation.

* Impossible goals have been proven to inspire the people assigned to achieve them.

* Lack of Injures proves we’re safe!

* If you believe that all injuries are preventable then you can make it happen, if you don’t…you can’t.

How am I doing so far? Have I missed any of the totally illogical arguments?

By the way I don’t believe ALL injuries are preventable…and MY Company has NEVER had a Lost Time Incident/Injury or vehicle incident…I’ve hit ZERO every year for over two decades!!!! How can that possibly be??? Oh right this theory of ZERO HARM only works for large corporations…the fact they my company has only two employees makes the theory of Zero Harm invalid…:O)

Will the madness EVER STOP? :O)

“When theory and reality don’t match…it’s not reality that’s WRONG.” – Engineering Proverb

Avoid the Purple Rhino – Zero as a Measure of “Safety”

Don’t Jump To Solution – Thirteen Delusions That Undermine Strategic Thinking – William B. Rouse

“Where do companies go wrong when creating strategic plans? Often, the problem isn’t with the plan itself but the assumptions on which the plan is built. Here, strategic planning expert William Rouse cuts to the heart of the most common causes of failed business plans and strategies and shows how to overcome them. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, but the keen observations and sage advice Rouse offers aptly address a serious subject. It’s a fast-track primer in critical thinking and evaluation that strategic planners and managers at every level can use to approach their work more effectively.”

6. We Just Need One Big Win: Avoiding Chasing Purple Rhinos

This delusion is centered on the question “What single event could make or break your company?” Many people answer this question by explaining a potential “must win” project or by outlining the possibilities for a new “killer” technology. If these events were to take place, they say, the company would be set forever. Money would flow in over the transom, and the company stock would soar.

Rouse suggests choose NOT to chase after Purple Rinos…you see…they don’t really exist!

ZERO HARM/INJURIES is just such a beast…and it’s taken on an importance that can and would be a company “killer”. Chasing the unachievable number!

My treatment of Rouse’s 13 Delusions with a SAFETY MANAGEMENT Slant…

http://www.safetyrisk.com.au/2012/05/01/dont-jump-to-safety-management-solution/

How To Write Good & Rules For Writers! – Enjoy

How To Write Good

Frank L. Visco

 

My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules:

1. Avoid Alliteration. Always.

2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)

4. Employ the vernacular.

5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.

7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.

8. Contractions aren’t necessary.

9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

10. One should never generalize.

11.Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”

12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.

14. Profanity sucks.

15. Be more or less specific.

16. Understatement is always best.

17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

18. One word sentences? Eliminate.

19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

20. The passive voice is to be avoided.

21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

23. Who needs rhetorical questions?

 

Rules for Writers

William Safire

1. Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.

2. It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions.

3. Avoid archaeic spellings too.

4. Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.

5. Don’t use commas, that, are not, necessary.

6. Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.

7. Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice.

8. Subject and verb always has to agree.

9. Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.

10. Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to  catch typograhpical errers. 11.Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.

12. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.

13. Don’t never use no double negatives.

14. Poofread carefully to see if you any words out.

15. Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless  of how others use them.

16. Eschew obfuscation.

17. No sentence fragments.

18. Don’t indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions.

19. A writer must not shift your point of view.

20. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

21. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.

22. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

23. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

24. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

25.  Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

26. Always pick on the correct idiom.

27. The adverb always follows the verb.

28. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.

29. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.

30. And always be sure to finish what

 

Statements of Zero Harm & Absolute Preventability of ALL Incidents – Are NOT Logical

Perhaps the real problem of absolute prevention and statements of grand commitment is that they really don’t follow the reasonable logical deduction test. Making statements that are illogical is all to common when trying to inspire humans…trouble is actually doing what you’ve inspied. Example “If you aren’t with us you are against us” – One of the most illogical statements ever uttered by a world leader.
If you work through the following website you will find that “All incident can be prevented” and “Zero Harm” fail dramatically to pass the test of logical reasoning.
Inspiring, perhaps. Demotivating, perhaps. Certainly not logical statements even if you are a CEO and make $$$$$$$$$$$$ in salary and bonuses. Logical reasoning still makes you WRONG in your conclusion.
Have fun…try testing your other beliefs about “safety management” and safety management systems…you’ll find that most of them don’t stand this logical reasoning test.Then re-read Deming and realize that the power of the man’s ideas we’re based in statistically sound logical reasoning and THAT’S why they work.
http://www.indiabix.com/logical-reasoning/logical-deduction/formulas