Editor's note: This Beyond the Horizon column first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Offshore magazine.
By Albert Valentine, University of Guam (USA)
For many years, the field of high reliability organizations (HROs) have been pushing the narrative of ‘zero’ incidents. Their target for operations is the elimination of all incidents.
While that is a good concept, it is one that should be looked at from a different perspective.
The progression towards the destination of zero incidents, a “just safe” culture has been described as a journey…and messages like “If you can manage safety, you can manage everything else” have been delivered across the industry. While this is true, leaders can fall victim to tunnel vision and get focused only on those issues we perceive to be safety related, where there should be a different perspective, a different vision that should be pursued.
When we espouse concepts such as “management of safety,” we should understand that there is much more than a focus on what most consider “safety related” issues – a higher, more all-encompassing focus is ultimately needed to further progress on our journey.
Certainly, having an initial aim point of safety is absolutely critical for establishing a solid foundation upon which to build upon. If this foundation is not firmly established, attempted progression beyond this focus will ultimately fail. It is during this period that critical values and beliefs are defined, communicated, and reinforced.
This safety philosophy is anything but esoteric. This author (and retired US Air Force officer) has had extensive experience teaching operational excellence programs for a major international oil company on their drilling platforms offshore Thailand and Singapore.
Once the proper foundation is established, “Effectiveness” often becomes the next target. The objectives are defined, the operation is properly planned and well communicated, and there becomes an intense focus on conducting operations right the first time and delivering reliable results. The planning, communication, risk mitigation and focus required to perform the operation right the first time raises everyone’s situational awareness and reduces unplanned events.
The focus then should shift towards optimization or “Efficiency.” Now that process has been refined to deliver effective results, ways to optimize the operation are aggressively pursued. The continuous improvement cycle gets fully utilized across all aspects of the operation and participation from all parties involved creates greater ownership and pride in the endeavor.
Optimization reduces unnecessary steps and overall exposure time. The enhanced focus on continuous improvement delivers step changes in performance. As the intense continuous improvement focus yields refinements and optimization, operations are conducted and results are delivered with increasing levels of “Precision.” The objectives are clear and well understood; the planning and hazard mitigation methods are robust; critical communications consistently occur; implementation procedures are detailed, easily understood and timely; focus and situational awareness are high; response capability to unplanned events is fully developed and practiced; and performance is consistently evaluated after the operation for improvement opportunities.
In Naval Aviation, the process above is referred to as PBED (Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief). It follows that exact order of operations to move towards continuous improvement. Following that cycle of operation leads to lessons learned and eventually an organization that is continually improving.
It is not a journey to zero hazards, zero incidents, but a “journey to perfection” that should be sought. This “journey to perfection” should start with a relentless focus on safety, where the establishment of the proper values and beliefs bring us closer to perfection, building more than a culture of safety.
Let’s be clear. This message should not be interpreted to mean that “safety is no longer the priority or focus” or that “safety does not matter.” Of course it matters. Safety and efficiency are not separate, competing objectives. Safety is the foundation, but it should not be the destination.
The concept of “beyond safety” owes its distinctiveness to the field of aviation and HROs. In aviation, statistics are key. One of those key statistics talked about is something similar to Six Sigma. The statistic is proposed as a question: In aviation, is a flight safety record, a success rate of 99.99%, a lofty objective? Generally, at first glance, the reaction may be “yes.” Major airlines fly well over 11,000,000 flights a year. But a 99.99% flight success rate equates to 1,100 crashes per year, or three crashes per day. Would you fly knowing that “success” rate?
This is why we should not be aiming for “just being safe.” We should instead be pursuing a culture of pursuing perfection.
