Conference Speaker - Foresttech 2013
Drawing on Safety Experts' Experiences and Industry Insight: Application of the Theory of Constraints Thinking to Forestry and other Workplace Safety Culture Issues.
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My name is Karl Perry.
I am a professional facilitator. I help teams of people solve complex problems.
In 2007 I was asked to assist a sub committee of the NZFOA to work through a difficult problem. That problem was about Health & Safety in the foresrty industry.
In early 2007 I was asked to facilitate a sub group of the NZ Forestry Owners Association (FOA) to get clarity on a challenging problem. The problem was to work out what was holding back safety improvement in the Forestry Industry. At the conclusion of this process the group found itself with a far clearer understanding of the persistent issues, conflicts and compromises that are made at worksites on a daily basis, many of which are detrimental to both safety and productivity. This work helped to inform the Forest Owners Association Strategic Safety Plan which in turn informed the Department of Labourâs Forestry Sectors Action Plan 2010-2013.
I have been asked to present to you today to help you have another look at the problem. I am going to use the same thinking process I used in 2007 to get you thinking about the problem.
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After several sessions the committee had a framework for a Strategic Safety Plan. That plan helped to informed the Forestry Sector Action Plan 2010-2013. Today I am going to share with you one of the tools they used and a version of the problem they identified.
Last night I was talking to a bunch of guys from up coromandel way. I was telling him about the problem and he asked "so what do you think is missing?". I am also going to share my thoughts on that ... but first ...
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Basically what the team wanted to do was to reduce the risk in forestry.
The payoff for doing that was to have a safe and effective workplace.
The problem is that people were taking risks.
It is harder to find the payoff for taking risks but in the end they said it boiled down to being fast and/or cost efficient. I talked to a couple of guys about this last night at dinner who confirmed it again. One said "Yep, that is the go hard or go home idea". The other said if you are a contractor it pays to get the logs out fast and cheapily.
The assumption is that if we are safe & effective and we are fast & cost efficient we will have productive forestry.
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When you read it back the other way you really start to see the problem.
If we want productive forestry we need to be safe & effective.
If we want to be safe and effective we dont want people taking risks.
But ...
If we want productive forestry we need to be fast and cost efficient.
If we want to be fast & cost efficient we feel pressure to take risks.
Can you see the problem?
What happens when humans feel pressure to take risk and they feel pressure not to taks risk. They compromise by taking risks they think they are in control of. They gamble.
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It was these three options that formed the basis of the Forestry Sector Action Plan.
It did have an impact. The work toll dropped and volume went up ... but .... people are still taking risks and gambling with health and safety.
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So ... in addition to this plan we could also be looking to changing the focus