TOOLBOX TALK

workplace accident will hit home harder are likely Not because people are naturally averse to the word itself or the idea of being safe. I mean no one leaves home in the morning looking to kill or maim themselves or someone else by the day’s end. No, rather the opposite is the case, everyone desires nothing more than to return home safe and sound to their loved ones at the end of each day, whether from work, play or social engagements. Question then is why do we sometimes do things that endanger us and others around us? Things as mundane as not wearing seat belts, motorcycle crash helmets, driving within speed limits, using the mobile phone while driving, reading while descending or ascending the stairs and so on. Why? My guess is because safety is an intangible quantity, namely, we can’t touch it nor see it. We take it for granted until there is a change of state like when one is injured, something is broken or some emergency occurs resulting in some severe loss. Then safety becom...

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...