Document npJedwrZakEnQGG5R7LJkEGJw

1960 National Safety Congress MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR SAFETY By CLARE J. SNIDER Marine Services Manager, Ford Motor Company Whai is safety? As a matter of habit, most uf u try to define a problem before attempting to solve it. As might be expected, wc have not solved all of our safety problems at Ford, but \vc have found from experience that a clear definition, or. as we generally refer to it. a "problem blueprint** i? a valuable aid. Webstet's Dictionary defines "safety** as: a condition of being safe; freedom from danger or hazard; or keeping ones self or others safe. A rather brief definition for a word that is in reality a< broad as life itself. Accepting Mr. Webster's definition, you will note that he clearly indicates safety a team responsibility and that team work is synonymous with coordination; the type of coordination that can only result from pro gram planning and the participation of all. from the ordinary seaman handling lines on the dock to the master piloting a giant ore carrier through the narrow channels ni the Sl Marys River. All? Not quite -- since the actual work tasks are performed aboard the ships many miles from their home ports, it is conceiv able that many safety programs liave neg lected to consider shore management's re sponsibility for safety. A working safety program involves more than a simple distri bution of a rule book, the posting of posters and the occasional admonition to careful. The larger or total program necessarily mu-t include the enthusiastic participation of management. Wc of the Marine Services are fortunate that "safety first** ha? been a way of life at Ford lor a long time. We have available to us a well developed safety program. With the aid of representatives of shore manage ment such as division safety engineers, we are continually in the process of adapting our industrial safety programs to fit the needs of our vessels. We recognise that you cannot simply tear a page from a rolling mill safety program and apply it directly to marine personnel, since many oi our basic problems are unique to marine operations. However, we ltave found that there is much, to be gained from taking advantage of the experience of industry, and that wc are not as different as it would appear at first glance. For example, consider our last two dis abling injuries. In 1956, an engineer wa* seriously injured when he tested a 440-voh circuit with a 110-volt test lamp. In March of 1957. another engineer lost a portion oi his finger when a fellow-worker struck i: with a sledge hammer. Either ot these in juries a well as others that preceded then: could have for the most part occurred it; any type of manufacturing operation. A# an integrated department of the Steel Division. Ford Motor Company, we have taken full advantage of the staff and engi neering services available to us tor twr, baste reasons. First, when it pertains to safety, we are in a hurry. \\> can't afford the time spent on unnecessary trial and error. Today's remedial action is too late to prevent yesterday's injury accidents. Sec ondly, we recognize that if we are to fulfill our responsibilities as members of manage ment. we must avail ourselves of profes sional help in planning our safety program activities. It i.< our belief that management's princi pal responsibility is to demonstrate active safety program leadership. We all expect the ship officers to provide consistent, safe. ori'lhc-job leadership. It becomes our rc-porisibility then to proride not only the tools but active program direction. In order to provide you with a better appreciation of that relationship, permit me to review it in a little greater detail. Our medical, statis tical, safety meeting, safety promotion, reporting, in effect, our complete safety pro gram is coordinated with that of the Steel Division as would be the case of any other department Our statistics are maintained in a manner comparable to other marine ac tivities and as members of the Steel Divi sion safety team. Disabling injuries are charged against the company, and the divi sion, as well as against our department. 18 Marine Industries In order to graphically outline the shore influence on the safety program currently in force on the three vessels making up the Ford fleet, we have prepared the following lidcs: Safety Meetings. In order to make ship board safety more meaningful, responsibility for safety meeting? is divided into three basic areas. A mate, an engineer and the steward are designated as safety meeting cliairmen ior their respective areas. Records are maintained to make sure tliat each member of the crew attends at least one formal safety meeting per month. Crewmen attend the one-hour meetings on an over time basis, that is, they are paid for the off-duty time spent at the safety meeting. This payment helps underscore in their minds the tact that wc are sincerely inter ested in their safety. assure you from experience that a poor rec ord of safety meeting performance is con sidered to be as reprehensible as a bad cost performance. Safe Job Procedure. In addition to the formal safety meetings, each vessel partici pates in the Safe Job Procedure Program. The chairman selects a simple task and with the help of the crew, examines every aspect of the selected work task in search of ways that a crewman could be injured and what he must do to avoid injury. In a surprising number of instances, our crewmen have helped us find a safer way to do a job. The chairman outlines the safe job procedure on this specially prepared form which he in turn reviews with other crew members. The Safe Job Procedure Program has proved to be an effective method of creating job safety awareness and teaching crewmen tc think a job safely through. As is the case with any successful meeting, safety meeting agendas are prepared in ad vance. .An important phase of this prepara tion is the time allotted for crew partici pation. Although we are fortunate .. have at our disposal a large quantity of "canned** material, we have found from experience that when the crewmen participate in the meetings. everyone profits from it. Particu lar care is taken in selecting the chairman in order to appoint the person best qualified to conduct the meetings, one who has proven that he can maintain meeting disci pline n order to prevent the meetings from becoming monthly gripe sessions. Safety Meeting Retort. A copy of a re port submitted by one of our chairmen is forwarded to nv ottice and the industrial safety section. The names of those crewmen having attended the meeting are recorded and checked against a master sheet in order to make sure that every man has been con tacted and attended at least one formal safety meeting per month. The safety meet ing report is for record purposes only, and the chairman includes only a brief outline of the safety meeting topics reviewed. ^ A monthly report is prepared by the division industrial safety section indicating the safety meeting performance of the 19 opera tions' and staff areas comprising the Steel Division. These reports have a tendency to keep us on our toes since they are re viewed with us by the Divirion General Manager at his weekly staff meeting. I can Safety Log. At this point, it might be well to impress upon you that although wc have found divisional safety program integration to be both natural and beneficial, manage ment has not failed to recognize that in many respects our departmental problems are different. The Steel Division safety pro gram was purposely designed with provi sions for considerable departmental freedom in order to encourage the growth ot depart mental safety activities tailored to fit the needs of a particular operation. Our close association with the steel manufacturing staff areas has not resulted in our losing our identity*. On the contrary', it has served to sharpen the contrast. Each department lias its own specific rules. Our Marine Serv ices Safety Log is regularly distributed and reviewed with each crew member. A few of our more obvious departmental rules are: No man shall go over the side without a life jacket and attendant. No man shall work over the side on scaf fold without safety belt securely attached. All personnel working on deck must wear hard hats. All men must wear goggles when grinding or chipping. All men must wear gloves and life pre servers when handling lines on dodo No one is permitted to stand on railings. No one shall enter tanks alone. 19 S-FORD-149