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From zero caffeine, to zero tolerance to zero liability – zero is everywhere. But what does zero mean in our profession and what does it mean to you? Here, Andrew Sharman looks at the absolute that is zero – how it works in practice as a KPI and whether it is the right way to measure safety. Is a target of zero too hard to achieve, and does it set us up to fail? SHP has also produced a handy infographic, which summaries some of Andrew’s key points.
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Video and infographic: zero accidents and the fear of failureFrom zero caffeine, to zero tolerance to zero liability – zero is everywhere. But what does zero mean in our
Safety & Health Practitioner
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As for leading KPIs, I also proposed (and have implemented within organisations) an ‘Organisational Competence’ measure: https://www.shponline.co.uk/measuring-competence/ (seems to have lost its graphics over time on the website).
My fear is that the mainstream organisations are so stuck into accident analysis, and allocated huge amounts of resources to it, that the average safety manager/practitioner is paralysed to do anything different. If there are more enlightened individuals or organisations who want to consider changing management perspectives, I’d be delighted to advise.
Robin Stowell MSc CEng CMIOSH
Managing Director, Conversulting Ltd
Andrew Sharman
Hello Robin, thanks for your comment. I think Zero is a big issue for many companies still, both large and small. My hope is that by raising further discussion on it we get closer to something more pragmatic and positive.
I agree, but this is not news or a new argument. The anti-zero harm crowd has been around for a while:
https://www.shponline.co.uk/climbing-zero-harm-ladder/
As for leading KPIs, I also proposed (and have implemented within organisations) an ‘Organisational Competence’ measure: https://www.shponline.co.uk/measuring-competence/ (seems to have lost its graphics over time on the website).
My fear is that the mainstream organisations are so stuck into accident analysis, and allocated huge amounts of resources to it, that the average safety manager/practitioner is paralysed to do anything different. If there are more enlightened individuals or organisations who want to consider changing management perspectives, I’d be delighted to advise.
Robin Stowell MSc CEng CMIOSH
Managing Director, Conversulting Ltd
Hello Robin, thanks for your comment. I think Zero is a big issue for many companies still, both large and small. My hope is that by raising further discussion on it we get closer to something more pragmatic and positive.
Thanks for sharing your article, interesting.
A