Lethal Management
Dave Smith has been an Industrial Maintenance Electrician since 1975. He has taught maintenance, troubleshooting and safety courses to thousands of electricians in mines, mills, refineries, factories, plants, power stations and offshore platforms throughout North America and the Middle East. Dave is a hands-on guy and teache...
It is difficult to be an exceptional manager. It takes experience, training, desire, dedication and human understanding. As a manager, I have too often been lenient when I should have been lethal and, unfortunately, many times lethal when I should have been lenient. I see this in other managers, and it is the lethal that I write about here.
We were doing a high-voltage maintenance course at a mill in Ontario and, as a class project, the electrical supervisor wrote a switching order to take out a set of 13.8 switchgear for an upcoming project. He showed us his switching order with a single-line diagram indicating the grounds he was going to put into place; it was well done, and we said so. He was incredibly happy when he went off to the engineering manager but, 20 minutes later, he came back very disturbed.
On the single-line diagram, the manager had crossed out two of the grounds in big, bold, red marker, saying he did not need them.
The supervisor now had a conflict with his superior and, yes, you can draw the safety card, but what will transpire in three months? This manager, who should have been lenient at that moment in allowing the installation of the extra grounds, was lethal. His previously highly motivated electrical supervisor was not unmotivated and the energized class culture changed immediately as the other students sympathized with their supervisor, with many derogatory comments about the manager and his commitment (or lack thereof) to safety.
If you have ever been to a western Canadian electrical safety conference, chances are you have heard Paul Hebert speak. When Paul, a utility lineman, comes onto the stage, it is easy to see his artificial arm, but the damage done to his remaining limb is not as apparent. He demonstrates this hand at the podium, showing the thumb and remaining fingers, and describes his difficulty navigating through everyday life – even being unable to grasp a normal hamburger.
In September of 1989, Paul and a supervisor were working in a remote area repairing downed lines from a major storm. In preparation for the work they were going to do, Paul asked, “Shouldn’t we put grounds on this?” and the supervisor replied, “No, we won’t be that long.”
Several miles away, someone tried to contact them, but they were out of radio range; a decision was made that they must have finished their work and left their locks on. Paul’s lock was cut off and the disconnect switch closed while Paul was hanging on a downed high-voltage line.
I won’t try to tell you the rest of Paul’s story but, when he speaks, he always wears short pants so you can see his two artificial legs. His story is compelling and describes a life no one wants to live.
Being around a two-year old how has mastered the word “No!” makes it pretty clear that we humans seem to be hardwired to argue. I have lost track of the examples students have given to me over the years where one worker made a suggestion that would make a situation safer yet someone else took an immediate and opposite position to argue against it.
This is such a natural human reaction that psychologist Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis principle is essential for managers to understand group dynamics and the forces that help or hinder the achievement of goals.
Recent research has proven that the old Heinrich Safety Pyramid concept has proven invalid (bit.ly/qWDtlS). Organizers have reduced the number of close calls and minor accidents yet major accidents continue at the same rate. Paul’s live has been immeasurably lessened but the lethal supervisor will also have lived a life of regrets – and his company has been paying every year since.
To prevent this, you need to develop a culture where suggestions that make things safer will be met with discussion and analysis rather than a force field of automatic arguing.
Until next time, be ready, be careful and be safe.©
Mind Your Safety is a monthly column authored by Dave Smith of Canada Training Group for Electrical Business magazine. Reprinting of this article is allowed for the intent of furthering safety awareness, with the requirement that articles(s) are used in their entirety and authorship is duly credited to Dave Smith, Canada Training Group and Electrical Business magazine.