Mann Associates Nigeria Limited (HSE & Loss Control Experts)

01/10/2023

For the small business owner, it is important to take workplace incidents seriously because they can have a terminal effect on the business with alot to rue.

Therefore, prevention should be key, and all incidents should be duly reported, recorded and investigated to stop them happening again at some point in future.

Besides, applicable statutory provisions require that incidents resulting in serious injury be reported to the authorities for records and other purposes. But the extent to which this is complied with by those concerned is a different issue entirely as some small businesses not may fully appreciate or see the need to dedicate scarce resources to such undertakings.

In which case, latching on to putting solid systems in place to manage the hazards and effects of the business before they translate into injuries and other losses may prove to be more beneficial to the business than otherwise. Because whether major, minor or a close shave incident by nature, the thing to note is that they all cost you money.

You may therefore find that it pays to investigate, and fully document the findings so that the right lessons could be learned and put to good use in preventing similar repeat occurrences in the times ahead.

Knowing that incessant recurrences can negatively affect employee morale as well as downgrading projected profits, product quality, alter delivery dates, hurt business brand and reputation, hike insurance premiums and breed mistrust between the leaders, the led, and clients, no effort should be spared when it comes to preventing workplace accidents.

Particularly when general experience shows that nothing good comes of a workplace incident, serious or otherwise.

It therefore makes some good business sense for the small business owner to take accident prevention as an integral part of the business to assure steady growth and continued survival, bearing in mind that the smaller your business the more vulnerable it can be to a major workplace upheaval.

So look to seize every opportunity to explore ways and means of preventing accidents in the business if your aim is to stay afloat for a long time to come.

It is difficult to maintain a healthy bottom line if you have to paddle against a flood tide of repeat incidents half the operational time of your average business year.

The costs and profits do not mix.

24/09/2023

Safety spend is a recoverable investment

08/09/2023

Taking shortcuts around approved work methods or job routine is pure fool's gold.

It represents clear and present danger to all,each time. And the longer it is allowed unchecked, the more the exposure to the people, asset and the environment. This is so because each “innocent” sidestep of an approved operating scheme is a step closer to that unwanted, unplanned event.

How so?

Every tolerated “forbidden practice” starts off innocently, “harmlessly” with “good” intention. That's how a good number of leaders - local and remote - see it, in good times!

Why?

To “get things going quickly” in the interest of the job. But is that good enough? Is it a worthy consolation or some kind of embedded positive in bad behaviour? How does that work for the intended common objective of safe operations?!

Where's the match, the logic?

Or isn't it better recognised as an obvious loss trap to be avoided at all costs?

Isn't it clearly foreseeable that given time more and more employees will get drawn to it until it becomes part of an enduring workplace culture?

And you talk about Management Leadership? Where's it in clear evidence?

How's that? If its attitude is somewhat perceived as lukewarm and condoning? What happens to all the leadership peptalk?

Where else does that lead but to a waiting catastrophe? Surprised?

Not many should if the connection to the underlying risk is clear.

And if it becomes difficult to differentiate between the right way from the wrong way, then what's left?

Whereas the “pull or attraction” of safety short cuts may often be seen as clever, innovative, go-getting, or even as an unmistakable commitment to duty by some, it can nevertheless, be likened to a fool’s gold which because it sooner dissolves into a puff of smoke.

Unless it is recognized for what it truly is at the onset: loss-inducing behavior of a potentially grave consequence.

While the odd safety shortcut may momentarily seem to improve operational efficiency because nothing goes wrong immediately, keeping it in mind that nothing good can eventually come of it is realistic.

Errors left uncorrected in time can only grow to pose bigger threats to the safety of people, asset and the environment in due course.

Managers and supervisors have a duty to lookout for telltale signs of unauthorised deviations and additions no matter how “minor or insignificant” they may appear to be.

People tend to feel “lucky” the more they get away with shortcut infractions. You know, "touch wood" and all that? Don't fall for such tales.

Remember, there is no better definition of competence and efficiency than leading from the front.

And doing the right thing when no one is looking is NOT an option. Stick to approved workplace practices and procedures for each job task.

That's the surest, safest way to a quick and flawlessly.

05/09/2023

They say honesty is the best policy!

This is even moreso in managing workplace safety in a bid to keep unwanted occurrences at bay. And how so?

Well, consider the following:

■ report what you see, not what you think or feel
■ record what you read or see, not what you think, feel or were told
■ stay within the spec, not deviate and apply the "we've done it before off the cuff nonspec knowledge or standard"
■ stick to prescribed boundaries in the ops procedures, not make up your own on the go because you've been on this job before "the boss graduated college"
■ comminicate every step in the ex*****on plan to all who should be in the know, not "we all should know what is required by now if we were keen and serious"
■ be open and up front, and not "keep some critical aces up your sleeves", just so they'll know who's boss
■ make the right tools readily available, and not starve your crew of right and adequate resources for the job at hand to show them up to Management "as incompetents and lazy lot" because it is sure to backfire
■ provide them with a conducive environment for the work, and not an unsuitable, unsafe place to because you "experienced worse conditions during your time
■ recognize their efforts and inputs as valuable, and not devalue those with uncomplimentary remarks with hidden intent to discouraged
■ keep the team spirit 'live and pumped up for maximum safe productivity", not lamenting how there "used to be very good old days here"

Because if in the end there's a slip up, getting back up can be expensive, or costly.

Keeping workplace incidents as reasonably at bay as possible requires topnotch honesty, accountability, commitment and integrity.

21/08/2023

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Video from Guru: Be extremely careful for there are evil people out there across the continents who's only care in the world is for a few dollars more. And t...

21/08/2023

Actually getting it done is a long way from "knowing that it ought to be done or it is a must do".

Many a disastrous incidents have occurred in the past in the time lag between actually doing it and knowing that it ought to be done - right away!.

So don't stop at "knowing", go and actually do it.

Translate thoughts and knowledge into follow through solid, visible actions for the desired results

16/08/2023

Build Trust To Build A Team

"A culture in which engineers who were aware of the potential problem were reluctant to bring the issues out in the open... . Pressure to meet launch schedule and the culture that exalted can do attitude and looked down on those who called attention to potential obstacles that were less than obvious made engineers reluctant to share concerns, absent clear-cut evidence of problems. Seven years after the Challenger's loss, some of the same issues resurfaced when the Columbia Space Shuttle exploded, Same for ....."

When a workplace culture is wrapped around intimidation and fear of the leadership then you can be sure that a disaster is looming in the horizon. This is because no workplace Supervision and Management can ever know the inside story of what is boiling or what is just simmering like the 'little men' who carry out the agreed task on behalf of the local and remote workplace leaders.

Isolate them or brush aside their opinions and you'll have something to rue in the nearest future because they know which and which parts were 'adapted to fit' so that punishing schedules are met, and where and where an over sized nut has been 'worked by filing' to keep things going because there was a critical shortage which the system couldn't afford at the time.

Note that all may look well and dandy to you the boss from the report sheets in your comfy office, but it is useful to keep in mind that you're not ever going to have a complete handle on all the hidden, enabling tit bits. Unless there is a permitting, freewill venting atmosphere in your workplace for those in the know by the 'privilege' of their daily tasks.

So make it a prime part of your portfolio of practice to build trust and confidence in your crew such that they are proud to communicate their concerns at any given time, whether popular or not. When the fear of blame and scapegoating is nonexistent in a workplace culture, harmony and increasing higher productivity and decreasing losses are the 'new normal'.

Your most valuable asset is your crew. Trust them and they'll trust you. Respect them and they'll respect you in return, And together you'll deliver even on the most difficult of expectations.

16/08/2023

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16/08/2023

A leopard and its spots!

15/08/2023

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THAT EMERGENCY?

How're you organized to deal with emergencies in your place of business, work or leisure? Do you have what it takes in equipment, people, know-how, operational capability and competencies? Can you operationally deploy at a moment's notice?

Do you know where to reach for help?

People, names, telephone numbers, and organisations responsible for assisting those in distress or whose resources have been overwhelmed?

Do you know the rules and regulations governing emergency response in your state or locality? Are there requirements you ought to have met before today? What must you do and what must others do to ease the situation within the shortest time frame?

These questions are solely about reducing/minimizing the trauma/severity to people, assets,the environment, and reputation occasioned by the mishap.

To achieve such means that the organisation and its people are properly clued on to what is required of them on the day. Meaning that persistent, effective training, drills, scenario plays and exercises are a standing order of the day. In other words, the ER Plan is robust, tested and repeatedly audited for its strengths and weaknesses in application. Then apply all necessary corrections for effect.

Incorporate authorized alterations and additions as documented in a formal Change Control Management System or Procedure. Thereafter communicate the changes effectively to all concerned.

Get it all fixed and sorted long before the unpleasant day because when it breaks is not when to start figuring the where, when, what, why and how.

All that is required on the day is action - tutored, purposeful surefooted action. No guessing.

Emergencies present dissimilar challenges in response management tactics and resources required. So it helps to develop a plan with some built-in flexibility to cope with off the grid emergency issues.

If not, what may have appeared like a minor routine occurrence at the initial stages may well snowball into a full blown disaster of epic proportions, outstripping even the most outlandish of projections.

Hence the question: "ARE YOU PREPARED?"

15/08/2023

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