TOOLBOX TALK

What % of your operating budget do you save when you look the other way while unauthorized changes and deviations are a norm in the workplace under your supervision? Would you 5, 10, 15 or maybe 30%? You are not too sure how much, if anything at all? Well, it is highly unlikely that you will ever save on your Opex if employees are free to make up their own rules as they go along or can decide which step on the job comes next instead of what the approved procedures say. In fact working with scant regards for the Right Way of doing things condemns you to an ever spiraling  operating budget spend. Because you'll find that you are constantly grappling with 'digging a hole to fill a hole' throughout the life of  the project. In the end, there are no prizes for guessing that your project will come in grossly over budget and way outside the delivery schedule because of all the issues of rework, unplanned stoppages, delayed logistics, repairs and replace...

The Big Idea is you don't value it till you lose it. That's why all the feverish activities once there has been a so-called accident just so you can salvage what can be salvaged while searching out ways and means to prevent a future recurrence. And hoping that everyone concerned shall remain 'sufficiently scared straight' for the immediate times ahead and that lessons arising will remain eternally fresh to make the difference between doing the right and the wrong. But does it always pan out as envisaged? Well, not exactly. At least, not all the time. So you might then wonder why. You see, SAFETY is an intangible quantity (or shall I say, invisible quantity?)  so most people hardly notice when routine operations are smooth sailing i.e. no unplanned stoppages, no product loss or damage, and no dicey close calls. That is how you can tell that everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing the right way. No errors, forced or unforced; no short cuts, no superior...