jeffhergert BaltACD For a 'true' Safety Culture to be established is has to be a top down undertaking. Unless Senior Management buys in and enforces it on middle and first level management it is an excersize in 'gotcha'. Having some first level supervisors disciplined for over emphasis on the 'gotcha factor' with the rank an file does wonders for employee morale. Last year one morning, at the Away From Home Terminal, the local low level manager left his door open during the morning conference call, which was on speaker phone. (Being the lowest ranking terminal manager, the office was right next to the crew room.) The division level management leading the conference call was doing just the opposite from what Balt said. They were focusing on a specific rule (while they enforce all, they like to have blitzs on specific ones at times) praising the manager that had the most failures and belittling the one with the lowest failure rate. Even telling those with lower failure rates they need to get more failures. Of course they didn't discuss why one manager had so many and the other had so few. One would think the manager who couldn't find many failures had his people doing things the right way and would be commended for reaching that level. That the one who had so many failures was the one having a problem not "managing" his people properly. Jeff
BaltACD For a 'true' Safety Culture to be established is has to be a top down undertaking. Unless Senior Management buys in and enforces it on middle and first level management it is an excersize in 'gotcha'. Having some first level supervisors disciplined for over emphasis on the 'gotcha factor' with the rank an file does wonders for employee morale.
For a 'true' Safety Culture to be established is has to be a top down undertaking. Unless Senior Management buys in and enforces it on middle and first level management it is an excersize in 'gotcha'. Having some first level supervisors disciplined for over emphasis on the 'gotcha factor' with the rank an file does wonders for employee morale.
Last year one morning, at the Away From Home Terminal, the local low level manager left his door open during the morning conference call, which was on speaker phone. (Being the lowest ranking terminal manager, the office was right next to the crew room.) The division level management leading the conference call was doing just the opposite from what Balt said. They were focusing on a specific rule (while they enforce all, they like to have blitzs on specific ones at times) praising the manager that had the most failures and belittling the one with the lowest failure rate. Even telling those with lower failure rates they need to get more failures.
Of course they didn't discuss why one manager had so many and the other had so few. One would think the manager who couldn't find many failures had his people doing things the right way and would be commended for reaching that level. That the one who had so many failures was the one having a problem not "managing" his people properly.
Jeff
I have been a part of those morning 'conference calls'. The character of the calls depend upon who is conducting the call. I have also been in a position to overhear some of the senior management conference calls - the two are similar in intent, however, they are very different in their details; however, there is one constant in all conference calls - THE MUTE BUTTON. Improper use of the mute button and comments made about fellow participants and/or policies being discussed on the conference WILL cause IMMEDIATE career adjustment and a downward career path.
While proper safety culture starts at the top - it can't be left at the top - it has to be DRIVEN through all layers of management, that process is not simple nor does it take place overnight. Career railroaders are a hard bunch to get to change their management style - it takes continued top down pressure to pull off the culture change. Just saying we are implementing a Safety Culture and then going on with switching cars doesn't get the job done.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Probably a significant part of the problem doesn't involve safety at all.
All too often, people seem to have a need to be superior. It's not limited to any one discipline. Sometimes it's a matter of "we're management, and you're not."
It could probably be considered a form of bullying, although it's not always obvious as such.
Clearly, if a true safety culture is to exist, this adversarial environment can not be.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Norm48327 Larry, Aviators (pilots and others in the industry) seem to have an advantage over railroaders in that respect. Should a pilot or mechanic suspect he has screwed up he can file with NASA an ASRS (Aviation Safety Reporting System) report which is basically a "get out of jail free" card. That information, while confidential regarding the submitter's name is put into a database so that incidents can be analyzed in hopes of preventing further occurrences of the same ilk. I believe those who ply the high iron should be offered the same protection if they file such a report in good faith and not be persecuted for doing so. @jeff hergert, Is tere any provision for filing such report or are you at the mercy of your employer?
Larry,
Aviators (pilots and others in the industry) seem to have an advantage over railroaders in that respect. Should a pilot or mechanic suspect he has screwed up he can file with NASA an ASRS (Aviation Safety Reporting System) report which is basically a "get out of jail free" card. That information, while confidential regarding the submitter's name is put into a database so that incidents can be analyzed in hopes of preventing further occurrences of the same ilk.
I believe those who ply the high iron should be offered the same protection if they file such a report in good faith and not be persecuted for doing so.
@jeff hergert,
Is tere any provision for filing such report or are you at the mercy of your employer?
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