Bureaucracy and Paperwork in OHS

Introduction

I believe bureaucracy and paperwork is strangling innovation and progress in OHS. Overly complex systems are being used and people give up because it is too much like hard work.

Some examples

One organisation I was associated with employed an outside consultant to develop safe working procedures in their mechanical workshop. This was done with little consultation with the workforce. When I did an audit of the implementation of the safe working procedures typical responses were- “Safe working procedures, stuffed if I know what you are talking about mate” and “O that crap, it does not represent what we do and we just ignore it”

At one organisation the corporate safety people developed a S.W.P. for a particular task, there were good reasons for this. I was given the job of introducing it to the workers. There were 6 pages of complicated, close text and I, with a reasonable grasp of the English language, unlike some of the workers, simply could not understand it. Somehow I could not see the workers reading the document by the light of their torch or truck headlights in the middle of the night in order to carry out the task.

The corporate safety people were ropeable when I said I was not going to introduce it to the workers and it needed to be revised, they refused to revise it. Apparently I was a trouble maker. I gave the job of revising it to one of my crews.

2 pages with simple short steps and a diagram and the blokes were happy to use it because it made sense through their involvement. I had my manager on side and he forced the adoption of what our blokes developed through the whole organisation. Naturally I was not popular with the corporate safety people. The manager got the quality bloke to issue a non-conformance report on the original procedure through the quality system, that created a bit of excitement.

I started a consultancy job with an organisation and they said I should read through their policy, procedure and fatal risk protocols. I got to about page 50 of the 150 page documents before I gave up. All very thorough, well written, extremely detailed. All emotionally appealing but would it be read & implemented? Somehow I could not see the people up the sharp end wading their way through all the paperwork!

With one company I worked for most of the managers and supervisors attended a time management course, This emphasised the importance of succinct communication. We were advised to restrict routine communication to a maximum of 2 pages, preferably less.

The thing that really annoys me is the rambling OHS papers one sees in some so-called professional journals. These are often academic in nature, designed to boost the ego of the writer, usually removed from the real world of work and tell us things experienced people will have figured out for themselves a long time ago. They also take an incredible number of words to say not too much. Often an academic wank!

One organisation I worked for had a large corporate OHS team that developed large policy and procedure, when they came to train the troops the deficiencies in what they had produced were very obvious. I had over 10 years in a corporate OHS role with one employer, it is very important in these roles to keep your actions grounded in reality by spending a lot of time in the field. My experience is that many corporate OHS departments add little to the bottom line and should be trimmed or abolished.

Two government organisations I worked for were buried in policy and procedure and making even small amounts of progress was incredibly slow and difficult. If they had been in the commercial world they would have quickly gone broke. People got to accept the situation and simply stopped trying to force progress, it was too much like hard work.

Another organisation I worked for introduced an overseas commercial safety management system. Those of us with field experience quickly realised the major weaknesses of the system. Rather than accept that they had been sold a dead duck the corporate people persisted with the system with little success.

Keep it succinct

The biggest problem with written communications is its length, generally I think you must try to get your routine messages across in a maximum of 2 pages. Busy people do not have time to write more and busy people do not have the time to read more. Concentrate on the MUST KNOWS. I am sure some safety people must be paid by the word, the result is long ponderous written communications. You can be certain that if it is too much like hard work to read it will not be read.

Workforce communication

Organisations put big efforts into senior management road shows, videos and glossy publications. The reality is that many in the workforce do not trust senior management and these efforts are perceived as a bit of a management wank.

There are 3 very important principles for effective workforce communications-

Use the supervisor not management

If it is not face to face it is not communications

Focus on the local work area

Conclusion

I believe bureaucracy and paperwork is strangling innovation and progress in OHS. Many safety efforts are removed from the everyday reality of the workplace. Theoretical and academic approaches have a tendency to overcome practice. Long ponderous paperwork is in abundance. Some organisations engulf themselves in bureaucracy and paperwork and make progress so difficult to achieve that people give up.

George can be contacted on fgrobotham@gmail.com, he welcomes debate on the above (it would be indeed a boring world if everybody agreed with George)

George Robotham, Cert. IV T.A.E.,. Dip. Training & Assessment Systems, Diploma in Frontline Management, Bachelor of Education (Adult & Workplace Education), (Queensland University of Technology), Graduate Certificate in Management of Organisational Change, (Charles Sturt University), Graduate Diploma of Occupational Hazard Management), (Ballarat University), Accredited Workplace Health & Safety Officer (Queensland),Justice of the Peace (Queensland), Australian Defence Medal, Brisbane, Australia, fgrobotham@gmail.com, www.ohschange.com.au,07-38021516, 0421860574, My passion is the reduction of permanently life altering (Class 1 ) personal damage

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George Robotham

George was a Legend in the Safety World who passed away in Sept 2013 but left us with a great legacy

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I have worked in OHS for most of my working life, many years in the mining industry including over 10 years in a corporate OHS role with BHP. Since leaving the mining industry I have worked in a variety of safety roles with a variety of employers, large & small, in a variety of industries. I was associated with my first workplace fatality at age 21, the girl involved was young, intelligent, vivacious and friendly. Such a waste! I was the first on the scene and tried to comfort her and tend to her injuries. She said to me “George, please do not let me die” We put her on the aerial ambulance to Rockhampton base hospital where she died the next day. I do not mind telling you that knocked me around for awhile. Since then I have helped my employers cope with the aftermath of 12 fatalities and 2 other life-altering events. The section "Why do Occupational Health & Safety" provides further detail but in summary, poor safety is simply very expensive and also has a massive humanitarian cost. My qualifications include a certificate I.V. in Workplace Training and Assessment, a Diploma in Frontline Management, a Diploma in Training & Assessment Systems, a Bachelor of Education (Adult & Workplace Education) , a Grad. Cert. in Management of Organisational Change and a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management. I am currently studying towards a Masters in Business Leadership. Up until recently I had been a Chartered Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia for 10 years and a member for about 30 years. My interest is in non-traditional methods of driving organisational change in OHS and I have what I believe is a healthy dis-respect for many common approaches to OHS Management and OHS Training. I hold what I believe is a well-founded perception that many of the things safety people and management do in safety are “displacement activities” (Displacement activities are things we do, things we put a lot of energy into, but which when we examine them closely there is no valid reason for doing them). My managerial and leadership roles in OHS have exposed me to a range of management techniques that are relevant to Business Improvement. In particular I am a strong supporter of continuous improvement and quality management approaches to business. I believe leadership is the often forgotten key to excellence in most aspects of life. I hold the Australian Defence Medal and am a J.P.(Qualified). I have many fond memories of my time playing Rugby Union when I was a young bloke.