Academic literature on the topic 'Public records – Zimbabwe – Safety measures'

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on Zimbabwean populace. The objectives of the paper were to understand the influence of lockdown measures on people living in Zimbabwe. The use of virtual qualitative methodology was utilised. The data gathering methods that were used are phone short message services, WhatsApp, telephone conversations with participants, virtual meetings with key informants and informal talks with some participants on shopping queues. The results of the study are that COVID-19 lockdown measures had negative impact on livelihoods of citizens, brought uncertainties on youths’ future, confusion to school students and erosion of social movements. The paper concludes that COVID-19 lock down measures impacted the general public negatively more than the disease itself. It is recommended that the Zimbabwean government considers the impact of lock down restrictions on the most affected groups such as women, youths and children. The government should cushion the vulnerable groups with safety net allowances and consult them when developing strategies that can help them to come out of the shocks they are currently experiencing.

Medical records, first developed in the fifth century, have remained virtually unchanged until the explosion of new technology in the mid-1960s. The National Space and Aeronautics Administrations development of computerized patient record (CPR) brought life to the electronic medical record (EMR) industry. Preventable deaths due to medical errors drew the attention of public and health care professionals to the need for increased patient safety and improved quality measures in medicine. With health care costs compromising 16-17% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, Congress passed legislation to financially support providers to adopt electronic medical record (EMR). As a result, future efforts will focus on the sharing of information among all health care stakeholders. Across the world, governments, technology companies, and care providers are collaborating efforts to make the EMR a reality.

Important records can be damaged directly and indirectly. Their restoration, if possible, is difficult as it is very time-consuming and costly. Although measures have been taken to permanently preserve records, most studies focus on preventing short-term damage from physical or biological factors and not on preventive measures against chemical damage from long-term polluted air exposure. This study investigated the types, concentrations, and distribution characteristics of hazardous chemicals present in the valuable archive of the National Library of Korea (NLK) and identified the sources of these pollutants. Mean SO2, NOX, CO, CO2, and total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentrations were 1.49 ± 0.44 ppb, 30.52 ± 19.70 ppb, 0.75 ± 0.21 ppm, 368.91 ± 32.23 ppm, and 320.03 ± 44.20 µg/m3, respectively, meeting the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) of Korea standards. Toluene (66.43 ± 10.69 µg/m3) and acetaldehyde (157.23 ± 6.43 µg/m3) were present at the highest concentrations, respectively. Two principal components were extracted via a principal component analysis; the primary component (66%) was closely related to outdoor pollution sources and the secondary component (33%) to indoor sources. Results contribute to establishing air quality standards and management measures for preservation of this archive.

This paper analyses the content of fatal electrical accident records (n=157) in Finland during the years 1980–2019 in order to identify and classify accident types and causes. During the 40-year period, the death rate from electrical accidents has decreased from 0.29 per 100,000 people per year to 0.00-0.07 in the last decade. The number of accidents rooting from accidentally touching live parts and by making illegal electrical installations has plummeted. Of all fatalities, 37% could probably have been prevented if the circuit had been protected with a residual current device, which is now mandatory in new installations. The most common electrical accident in 2010–2019 was an electric shock from a railway overhead power line. Of fatal electrical accidents, 76% occur between April and September and 92.5% of victims are male. Child casualties are very rare. The level of electrical safety can be considered acceptable, but educating the public still has room for improvement.

Purpose: To investigate the trend of patient portal use in the general population and the barriers to adoption. Participants: We analyzed 3 iterations of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) collected in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Measures: Patient portal use, high-speed Internet access, data safety confidence, prior experience of online patient provider communication (OPPC), and demographic variables. Analysis: Logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for the 3 iterations of HINTS. Results: The use of patient portals increased from 25.6% in 2014 to 30.5% in 2017, and 31.4% in 2018. These users were more likely to be white female with higher levels of education or income. Meanwhile, high-speed Internet access, prior experience of OPPC, and data safety confidence were positive predictors of patient portal use in all 3 iterations. Conclusion: The use of patient portals in the general public remains low and a significant digital divide persists, presenting a major challenge on meaningful use of electronic health record. We call for more effective interventions to address these gaps. Such interventions should target people of low socioeconomic status and focus on improving eHealth literacy and patients’ confidence in data safety.

The study described here is one of a number of longitudinal reports involving an at-risk group of 80 males we have been following since 1984 in collaboration with the Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLO. We collected the following measures on the study participants twice annually, fall and spring: (a) direct observations in classroom and playground settings through grade 6; (b) teacher ratings on the Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment; and (c) archival school records (e.g., attendance, discipline referrals, negative narrative comments in cumulative folders, standardized achievement test data, and so forth). OSLC staff accessed public safety and court records annually to record police contacts, arrests, and dispositions of cases. This article examines the relationships over a 6-year period between teacher ratings of social skills recorded in grade 5 and arrest records through grade 11. Results indicated that teacher ratings of social skills were a significant predictor of police contacts and arrest status during middle and high school years for this group of students. Implications for early detection and intervention are discussed in light of these findings.

BACKGROUND: Mining, especially underground coal mining, has always been a hazardous occupation. Injuries, including those that are fatal, are a major occupational risk that all miners have to face. OBJECTIVE: Despite the fact that all workers are aware of the risks, efforts must be made to increase their safety through the implementation of preventive measures. METHODS: This retrospective study includes injury data from all nine Serbian coal mines over a 16-year period, from 2000 to 2016. All injury data were collected from employee safety and health records. RESULTS: In the analyzed period, a total of 9,273 occupational injuries were recorded at Resavica. The highest number of occupational injuries (over 600) were recorded in 2008 (669), 2004 (651), and 2005 (603). The data shows that almost one fifth of the total number of occupational injuries, or 20.74%, occurred during the said three years. On average, 493.06 minor, 51.12 severe, and 1.29 fatal injuries occurred each year. Every day there were 1.29 minor occupational injuries and every seven days there was one severe injury. CONCLUSIONS: Despite indications that there is a connection between some of the variables and the number of injuries, the general conclusion is that injuries are accidental and unpredictable. The high percentages of injuries are due to the organization of work and the age or qualification structure of the staff and, of course, are the consequence of likelihood –the greater the number of workers, the greater the likelihood of injury. However, the present study showed that some measures can be taken to increase occupational safety and reduce the number of injuries.

Background. Nearly 1,300 children in the United States die because of firearm-related injury each year and another 5,790 survive gunshot wounds, making the prevention of firearm-related unintentional injury to children of vital importance to families, health professionals, and policy makers. Objective. To systematically review the evidence on school-based and community-based gun safety programs for children aged 3 to 18 years. Study Design. Systematic review. Method. Twelve databases were searched from their earliest records to December 2016. Interventional and analytic studies were sought, including randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, as well as before-and-after studies or cohort studies with or without a control that involved an intervention. The low level of evidence, heterogeneity of studies, and lack of consistent outcome measures precluded a pooled estimate of results. A best evidence synthesis was performed. Results. Results support the premise that programs using either knowledge-based or active learning strategies or a combination of these may be insufficient for teaching gun safety skills to children. Conclusions. Gun safety programs do not improve the likelihood that children will not handle firearms in an unsupervised situation. Stronger research designs with larger samples are needed to determine the most effective way to transfer the use of the gun safety skills outside the training session and enable stronger conclusions to be drawn.

Practical theology, according to Stone (2002) posits that churches should care and sacrifice for the community. Consequently, Christianity has been handling epidemics for more than 2000 years. This paper seeks to assess the role that is being played by the leadership in Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFMZ) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The term leadership in this paper refers to those in charge of the congregants and this includes church pastors, reverends, bishops and elders. Church leaders are people who play influential roles within their faith communities and the broader local community. They benefit from trust and exercise moral authority over members of their local faith community, and shape public opinion in the broader community and even at the national or international level. The paper argues that the church and its leadership play an important role in providing moral guidance to tackle COVID-19 and also to dispel fear that stalks communities alongside the disease. In order to evaluate the role that AFMZ leadership is playing in the fight against COVID-19, the paper employs a qualitative research approach in its exploration and analysis of data gathered through an online survey method. The paper found out that the church is playing a vital role in communities by communicating messages of hope in the midst of severe fears of COVID-19. It also found out that the church leadership is playing a vital role in changing people’s attitudes toward COVID-19 by providing in depth discussions of safety measures in times of the pandemic. Lastly, the paper found out that the church leadership is not doing enough on the practical matters like providing food to the most vulnerable groups in their respective communities and for quarantined patients, maintaining clear communication with families and ensuring that basic primary care is not undermined due to limited finances. The paper therefore recommends that more finance should be availed to church leadership especially from the main church coffers to enable them to meet the above-mentioned demands.

Abstract Purpose The current systematic review will identify enablers of psychological safety within the literature in order to produce a comprehensive list of factors that enable psychological safety specific to healthcare teams. Data sources A keyword search strategy was developed and used to search the following electronic databases PsycINFO, ABI/INFORM, Academic search complete and PubMed and grey literature databases OpenGrey, OCLC WorldCAT and Espace. Study selection Peer-reviewed studies relevant to enablers of psychological safety in healthcare setting that were published between 1999 and 2019 were eligible for inclusion. Covidence, an online specialized systematic review website, was used to screen records. Data extraction, quality appraisal and narrative synthesis were conducted on identified papers. Data extraction Thirty-six relevant studies were identified for full review and data extraction. A data extraction template was developed and included sections for the study methodology and the specific enablers identified within each study. Results of data synthesis Identified studies were reviewed using a narrative synthesis. Within the 36 articles reviewed, 13 enablers from across organizational, team and individual levels were identified. These enablers were grouped according to five broader themes: priority for patient safety, improvement or learning orientation, support, familiarity with colleagues, status, hierarchy and inclusiveness and individual differences. Conclusion This systematic review of psychological safety literature identifies a list of enablers of psychological safety within healthcare teams. This list can be used as a first step in developing observational measures and interventions to improve psychological safety in healthcare teams.

The study investigated the role of records surveys in the management of public records in Zimbabwe. The goal was to determine how far records surveys were going in enhancing sound records management practices, thereby improving public service delivery, accountability and good governance. Through interviews, questionnaires and document review it was revealed that records surveys were struggling to attain their intended goal of nurturing sound records management practices in public registries. The lack of ideal mission statements, registry manuals, written disaster management plans, vital records protection programmes, adequate records management training, records retention and disposal schedules, top management support, financial constraints and unclear archival legislation were cited as some of the challenges affecting records and information management surveys from nurturing acceptable records management practices. A closer working relationship between the National Archives and public records management units was recommended.
Information Science
M. Inf. (Archival Science)

The study investigated the role of records surveys in the management of public records in Zimbabwe. The goal was to determine how far records surveys were going in enhancing sound records management practices, thereby improving public service delivery, accountability and good governance. Through interviews, questionnaires and document review it was revealed that records surveys were struggling to attain their intended goal of nurturing sound records management practices in public registries. The lack of ideal mission statements, registry manuals, written disaster management plans, vital records protection programmes, adequate records management training, records retention and disposal schedules, top management support, financial constraints and unclear archival legislation were cited as some of the challenges affecting records and information management surveys from nurturing acceptable records management practices. A closer working relationship between the National Archives and public records management units was recommended.
Information Science
M. Inf. (Archival Science)

E-government initiatives by the government of Zimbabwe and the increased use of computer-based systems by the public sector have seen an increased generation of digital records in the day-to-day conduct of business. The National Archives of Zimbabwe is taking some measures to manage these proliferating digital records in a manner that guarantees their authenticity and continued availability. This chapter explores the journey to digital records management in the Zimbabwe public sector, with specific focus on steps followed to develop the Public Sector Digital Records Management Framework (PSDRMF), Statement of User Requirements (SOURS), and efforts to acquire an EDRMS solution. The chapter provides highlights on some achievements, experiences, and lessons learnt in the process.

This chapter covers quality governance, clinical audit, evidence-based healthcare, the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), patient and public experience, complaints procedures, and clinical risk management. It includes professional conduct, the provision of anti-discriminatory healthcare, and consent. Professional accountability is outlined, as well as the role of chaperones, methods of whistleblowing, correct record keeping and access to records, confidentiality, and client- and patient-held records. Health and safety at work for both employers and employees is discussed, together with specific issues that arise with lone working in the context of community nursing. Personal safety measures such as hand washing and personal protective equipment are covered. Occupational exposure to blood-borne viruses and the appropriate response is described, as well as notifiable diseases, managing healthcare waste, and the management of sharps waste.

The concept of smart transportation systems is increasingly becoming critical in addressing the challenges posed by an increasing number of mega cities in both developed and developing regions in maintaining safety, smooth traffic flow, and an environmentally friendly and sustainable urban environment. The Government of Zimbabwe deregulated its transport sector in the early 1990s. This development ushered in the informal public transport operators, locally referred to as ‘kombis'. Major cities such as Harare are characterised by a disjointed and chaotic urban public transport system. The major problems are the impacts this has on the quality of the environment. Currently, the urban public transport system is contributing greatly to both air and noise pollution within the confines of the city, especially in the Central Business Districts. The problem is further exacerbated by the massive importation of used vehicles from outside the country. These developments have resulted in high emission rates of major air pollutants resulting in a deterioration of the ambient air quality especially in the major cities such as Harare. Transportation is a major source of air pollutants. Vehicles are probably the largest single source of pollutants such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. Other harmful emissions include as lead, benzene, arsenic, aldehydes, sulphates, particulate matter and the secondary creation of ozone. In Harare the number of registered vehicles increased from 192 901 in 1994 to 292 862 and by August 1999 showing that the increase in the number of vehicles is mostly in the cities. This chapter seeks to explore how smart transportation system can be adopted in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Harare was purposefully selected as it is experiencing rapid urbanization and motorization in the country. Using documentary analysis, discourse analysis and textual analysis, the chapter also describes and examines the challenges, constraints and opportunities of adopting smart urban transportation system in Harare. From this chapter the major conclusions are that the main problem associated with this rapid growth in vehicle population in the major cities is increase concentration of line and area emission sources due to traffic congestion at peak times. The stock of vehicles is quite old and they lack emission control equipment. Major constraints and limitations are observed in the current pieces of legislation. For example, the current Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (1971) does not require vehicles to be fitted with emission control equipment. Most of the vehicles use leaded fuel resulting in emission of the dangerous lead particulate matter in the urban areas. There is therefore an urgent need to design and implement air pollution control measures in the urban areas of the country. It is also critical to develop smart and eco-friendly transportation infrastructures so as to achieve sustainable urban communities. The integration of transportation, land use and decision making is also critical in the achievement of smart transport.

At the end of 2010, recognizing that the baseline period for the integrity management of high consequence areas (HCAs) along natural gas transmission pipelines in the United States was nearly complete, INGAA members decided to reflect on the accomplishments of the first eight years and define where the overall integrity of systems could be improved. High profile incidents such as the one on the PG&E system in California heightened the need for such an analysis. There was a conscious decision to define a future path as the industry had done on many other occasions, and not simply wait for legislation and regulation. A Board level task force was formed to provide guidance and oversight and a technical steering team was constituted under the direction of Andy Drake of Spectra Energy. The technical steering team met for two months and defined a set of guiding principles and nine initiatives and assembled working groups to address each area. This paper will report at a high level on the completion of work and the integration of efforts. The first initiative is directed at improving the transparency by periodically and formally sharing measures of performance, and actively promoting the guidance developed by the Pipelines and Informed Planning Alliance (PIPA). A second initiative is directed at defining a path to extend integrity management principles beyond HCAs. A third initiative has been undertaken to examine how we can improve the tools applied in managing threats to integrity and analysis of data derived from the tools to address uncertainty. The PG&E incident showed us the need to define a process for evaluating records for pre-regulation pipe and managing pre-regulation pipe. While the role of hydrostatic testing is clear, the investment that has been made in making systems piggable has created the opportunity for a fourth initiative to define requirements for historical records and how in-line inspection can play a role in managing pre-regulation pipe. The focus of improving tools and evaluation techniques surfaced a need to intensify our efforts in research, development and commercialization. A fifth initiative has been undertaken to develop a road map for research, development and commercialization. In developing the guiding principles we studied other industries that have worked to define ways of improving safety performance, especially those where the cost of failure is unacceptable in the public eye. These included commercial aviation, medical, chemical and petroleum refining and nuclear. It has become clear that a focus on safety culture and ultimately application of a management system is a means of improving safety performance, and a sixth initiative has been undertaken to address the role of safety culture and more broadly management systems. A seventh initiative has been undertaken to examine ways to improve emergency response effectiveness including the use of automated valves, integrated mitigation plans and enhanced public awareness. There were a series of projects undertaken in 2009 and 2010 as an eighth initiative conducted under the auspices of the INGAA Foundation directed at improving material procurement and construction. Recognizing challenges in storage field operations and the criticality of storage in maintaining gas supply, a ninth initiative has been undertaken to clarify regulatory oversight of storage facilities.

Due to their size and unique chemical properties, nanomaterials have the potential to interact with living organisms in novel ways, leading to a spectrum of negative consequences. Though a relatively new materials science, already nanomaterial variants in the process of becoming too numerous to be screened for toxicity individually by traditional and expensive animal testing. As with conventional pollutants, the resulting backlog of untested new materials means that interim industry and regulatory risk management measures may be mismatched to the actual risk. The ability to minimize toxicity risk from a nanomaterial during the product or system design phase would simplify the risk assessment process and contribute to increased worker and consumer safety. Some attempts to address this problem have been made, primarily analyzing data from in vitro experiments, which are of limited predictive value for the effects on whole organisms. The existing data on the toxicity of inhaled nanomaterials in animal models is sparse in comparison to the number of potential factors that may contribute to or aggravate nanomaterial toxicity, limiting the power of conventional statistical analysis to detect property/toxicity relationships. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that exhaustive chemical and physical characterization of all nanomaterial attributes in these studies is rare, due to resource or equipment constraints and dissimilar investigator priorities. This paper presents risk assessment models developed through a meta-analysis of in vivo nanomaterial rodent-inhalational toxicity studies. We apply machine learning techniques including regression trees and the related ensemble method, random forests in order to determine the relative contribution of different physical and chemical attributes on observed toxicity. These methods permit the use of data records with missing information without substituting presumed values and can reveal complex data relationships even in nonlinear contexts or conditional situations. Based on this analysis, we present a predictive risk model for the severity of inhaled nanomaterial toxicity based on a given set of nanomaterial attributes. This model reveals the anticipated change in the expected toxic response to choices of nanomaterial design (such as physical dimensions or chemical makeup). This methodology is intended to aid nanomaterial designers in identifying nanomaterial attributes that contribute to toxicity, giving them the opportunity to substitute safer variants while continuing to meet functional objectives. Findings from this analysis indicate that carbon nanotube (CNT) impurities explain at most 30% of the variance pulmonary toxicity as measured by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) count. Titanium dioxide nanoparticle size and aggregation affected the observed toxic response by less than ±10%. Difference in observed effects for a group of metal oxide nanoparticle associated with differences in Gibbs Free Energy on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentrations amount to only 4% to the total variance. Other chemical descriptors of metal oxides were unimportant.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.