Summary Bullets
Delinquent Inspection, Testing and Preventive Maintenance (ITPM) tasks minimized by leadership
Noncompliance justified by past experience
Good work is criticized rather than praised
Background
A new process safety engineer was performing an audit of the Maintenance and Inspection program of a facility. The Maintenance Manager had 35 years of experience at the plant and the Chief Inspector had 25 years of experience.
The engineer found a very small number of overdue ITPM tasks that had not aged very long.
The engineer found a very small number of overdue ITPM tasks that had not aged very long.
What Happened
In a meeting to discuss his findings, the Maintenance Manager and the Chief Inspector called the number overdue trivial, and said the engineer was being overly picky. They reminded the young safety engineer they have been around many years and this was the best ITPM completion performance they ever had. Certainly, these findings should not be in the audit report. Should they be? What symptoms of culture problems does this scenario exhibit?
Safety Culture Focus
Strong leadership should welcome findings and praise audits that are thorough and complete.
An open and questioning environment is undermined when past experience is used as a basis for not taking needed action.
Continuous improvement is hindered when past successes impedes corrective actions and future enhancements.
Safety Culture Focus Note
**Only 37% of those surveyed indicated management involvement was a strength in their organization.**
Source File
E.11.pptx
(322.18 KB)