2.1 Total Safety Management Definition 

Total safety management is a performance-oriented approach to safety and health management that gives organizations a sustainable competitive advantage in global marketplace by establishing a safe and health work environment that is conducive to consistent peak performance and that is improved continually forever.

This definition contains several key elements that must be understood if one is to fully understand TSM. These elements are as follow:

2.1.1 Sustainable competitive advantage

Every organization that competes at any level, but especially those that compete at the global level must have competitive advantages. These are capabilities or characteristics that allow them to outperform the competition. For example, if the organization in question is a baseball team, it might have such competitive advantages as an excellent pitching staff, several speedy base runners, two or three power hitters and/or outstanding fielders in key positions. These advantages, if exploited wisely, will help make the baseball team a winner. If these advantages can be sustained over time, they will help make team a consistent winner.

This same concept applies to organizations that compete in the global marketplace. In order to survive and proper, they need as many competitive advantages as possible. Traditionally, competitive advantages have been sought in the key of quality, productive, service, and distribution. However, peak-performing organization has learned that a safe and healthy work environment is essential to gaining competitive advantages in these critical areas. In fact, a safe and healthy work environment is itself a competitive advantage.

2.2 Peak Performance 

The primary driver behind TSM is organizational, team, and individual performance. An organization's ability to survive and proper in the global marketplace is determined largely by the collective performance of individuals and teams. Consistent peak performance by all individual and teams in an organization is essential to long-term success in the global marketplace. The quality of the work environment is a major determinant of the performance levels that individuals, teams and organizations are able to achieve. A better work environment promotes better performance.

2.3 Continual Improvement Forever  

People work in an environment, and the quality of that environment affects the quality of work. The work environment is a major determinant of the quality of an organization's products, and services. In the age of global competition, quality is an ever-changing phenomenon. A quality that is competitive today may not be tomorrow. Consequently, continual improvement is essential. If quality must be improved continually, it follows that the work environment must also be improved continually.

 2.4 Translating TSM into Action  

There are three fundamental components through which the TSM philosophy is translated into action on a daily basis. These three components are the TSM steering Committee, Improvement Project Teams (IPTs) and the TSM Facilitator.

The TSM Steering Committee oversees the organization's safety and health program. It is responsible for formulation of safety and health policies, the approval of internal regulations and work procedures relating to safety and health, the allocation of resources, and approval of recommendations made by the IPTs.

2.5 Implementing TSM: the Model 

Figure 2.1 contains a three-phase fifteen-step model that can be used for successfully implementing TSM in any organization.

Figure 2.1: Model for implementation

2.6 Executive Commitment – A Must

In any organization, the aim and direction are decided by the chief executive officer (CEO) and the members of his or her executive management team. These individuals decide what will be emphasized where limited resources will be spent, what behavior will be rewarded and what won't, and how incentives will be used. Mid-managers and supervisors take their cues from executive mangers. They, in turn, pass perception along to employees.

The TSM philosophy requires that the total organization be involved continually improving the work environment. TSM cannot be implemented in just one department or by just a few employees. By definition, such an approach would not be total safety management, and anything short of total environment robs the organization of the full benefits of TSM.

Consider just a few of the things that must be done in order for TSM to be implemented:

·         Safety and health must be included as high priority concerns in the organization's strategic plan.

·         Resources must be allocated to cover implementation costs. Employee performance relative to safety and health must be monitored, evaluated, and rewarded as appropriate.

·        Safety and health must be monitored, evaluated, and rewarded as appropriate.

·        Employees must be shown that safety is a must no matter how pressed the organization becomes to meet deadlines

·        Who but the CEO and executive managers of the organization has the authority to do these things? The answer is no one. Consequently, executive commitment is a must.

2.7 Achieving Executive Commitment

What does it mean to achieve executive commitment? The concept is defined by its three components as shown in Figure 2.2.  Any other concept for that matter will be personally involved in its implementation.

Figure 2.2: Components of executive commitment

Figure 2.3 contains a checklist of ways in which an executive–level manager can be personally involved in TSM.

An executive manager who is completely committed to TSM will want to serve on the organization's TSM steering Committee. The ideal steering committee consists of the organization's executive managers, or if the CEO and his/her executive managers do not serve on the TSM Steering Committee, they will have to go to even greater lengths to demonstrate their commitment to safety health. Otherwise the committee's credibility will suffer.

 Figure 2.3: TSM personal – involvement checklist for executive- level mangers

2.8 Total Safety System Implementation Case Study  

Healthy Food is moving the company forward in implementing TSM, but it isn't sure what the process will mean for its executive management team. It is knows that each member of the team will have to be personally involved in the implementation, but what does personally involved really mean?  The company wants to know as do Health Food's other executive mangers. If you are Company's TSM Facilitator. How would you explain personal involvement to Mary Earnst?

The safety and health manager for the organization meets with the executive management team whenever it sits as the TSM Steering Committee, and serves, in such cases as the committee's facilitator and consultant.

Executive managers committed to TSM will advocate on behalf of health and safety health when developing the organization's strategic plan. Through their involvement in the process, executives can ensure that safety and health concerns show up in the organization's strategic plan guiding principles and/or broad objectives, or both.

Each time an Improvement Project Team (IPT) is established to deal with a specific safety or health concern, executive managers can be personally involved by giving the team its charter. Receiving its charter directly from the CEO or another executive manager tells IPT that the activity in question is important.

Personal participation in the various training activities associated with implementing TSM is doubly beneficial for executive managers.  First executives learn what they need to know in order to play a positive role in rendering the TSM philosophy operational.

2.9 Evaluation of Executive Comment 

Executive Commitment to TSM- with rare exceptions- will take time to achieve. Safety and health managers should expect to confront the evolutionary steps shown in Figure 2.4. Executive mangers may be skeptical when they first hear about TSM as normal human response to change, and TSM means change. A persuasive argument, persistent but patiently repeated often enough, may move executive managers to the next level: tentative. If so, the safety and health manager will probably be asked to make a presentation to the executive management team.  If presentation goes well, TSM will probably be provisionally accepted.

At this point, it's a good idea to undertake pilot project to demonstrate how TSM can make a difference. For example, an IPT might be formed to confront a specific safety/health problem. If the pilot goes well, executive managers will probably move to the buy-in stage. Once TSM has been implemented widely and positive results have been demonstrated, executives will probably move to the commitment phase.

Figure 2.4: Evolution of commitment

2.10 Four-Steps for Gaining Executive Commitment  

In order to gain executive commitment, the safety and health manager must show that TSM is good business. Figure 2.5 shows a four- step process that can be used to make this point.  The following sections expand on steps.

 2.10.1 Preparation

Preparation involves conducting the research necessary to answer questions such as those shown in the figures. Notice that only one question in Figure 2.5 deals with regulatory compliance, and this question is cast economic, not compliance terms. TSM will ensure regulatory compliance, but this is a secondary, not a primary benefit.

Figure 2.5: Process gaining effective commitment

2.10.2 Presentation

Once the research step has been completed, the next step involves presenting findings to executive management. The presentation consists of answering types of questions shown in Figure 2.6. An effective approach is to use visual aids.

2.10.3 Application and Evaluation

The purpose of the previous step (presentation) was to create enough executive buy-in to allow the TSM implementation to proceed. Full commitment is not likely to occur until executive management has the concept successfully applied. Consequently, it is important at this point to accomplish the following tasks:

·        Convince executive management to commit to give TSM their full support long enough to allow for positive results.

·        Clearly define success and decide how it will be measured.  It is important for everyone involved in the implementation of TSM to understand what is exacted, what they will be held accountable for, how progress will be assessed, and how performance will be evaluated.

2.10.4 Maintaining Executive Commitment

Initial excitement followed by flagging interest is a common phenomenon when implementing a new concept, particularly when that concept represents major cultural change. Management executive commitment, long enough to allow TSM to break the bonds of cultural inertia and become, itself the cultural norm is a challenge. Figure 2.7 is the plan-do-check–adjust (PDCA) cycle superimposed on a blanket of continual compunction.

Figure 2.6: Question for gaining executive commitment to TSM

Figure 2.7 is a checklist of tips that will help enhance the quality and effectiveness of presentation made to effective managers. These are tips that apply to presentations made to small groups- between five and fifteen people – in a conference room or similar setting.  

Figure 2.7: Presentation tips for safety and health mangers

2.10.5 Structure of Periodic Progress Reports

Periodic progress reports given to executive managers should pick up where the presentation made to win their initial commitment left off. The same criteria used to gain executive commitment should be used for maintaining it. If, for example, lost time due to accidents was criterion in the commitment presentation, it should be a criterion in the progress reports. Has the amount of lost time declined? If so is, by how much?

The need for continuity between the criteria used to gain commitment and that used to maintain it underscores the importance of basing the commitment presentation on documented facts. The safety and health manager who overstates during the commitment presentation will pay for it when making periodic progress reports. This can be a sure way to lose commitment. 

2.11 The Safety Management Function

The concept of safety management began when a better description than safety engineer was needed for the work of the safety specialist. Whether an engineer or not, he or she is concerned largely with convincing others to follow applicable safety requirements. There are notable differences usually between managing as carried out by the head of an operating unit and that which is noted in a safety management position. Managers of units accomplishing the prime purposes of an organization have direct authority over the personnel in their unit. Safety management, however, is conducted generally as a staff assignment. The director or chief of safety has managerial authority over the professional personnel reporting directly to him or her, but the powers of line managers are not to be transmitted through the safety specialists.

2.12 Safety and Plant Size 

It has been widely believed that small plants represent the greater occupational safety and health problem. To be sure, they are far more numerous than locations with large numbers of employees, Table 2.1. And injury records show that generally the very large plants with more than 2,000 employees tend to have much better injury experience than smaller ones, particularly those in the 50 to 500 size range.

Table 2.1: Injury frequency rate related to number of employees

2.13 Safety Management Propositions  

Five safety management propositions emerge. The first three are addressed essentially to higher management in general, with numbers four and five to be carried out by the safety staff.

a.            Keep separate and visible the lines responsibilities for safety from the staffs.

b.            Hold the line clearly accountable for the operation's safety effectiveness.

c.            Hold the safety staff accountable for the correctness and persuasiveness of the information it provides line management.

d.            Develop operating objectives for safety with management's needs and goals, while leading to the fulfillment of establishment safety requirements.

e.            Measure hazard control effectiveness on bases which conform to management's appraisals of its performance.

2.14 Analysis of the Propositions

A and B are separating line responsibility for safety from staff often has been easier to discuss than to accomplish. The principle is clear. On one side is the power line of authority, on the other is the authority of knowledge that competent specialists acquire.

C         The accountability of the safety staff is complicated, but not difficult to define. Staff positions in general fall into one or two types, advisory and/or assisting or performance of a specialized function for the total organization to facilitate the operation of the line departments.

D         Operating objectives that fulfill safety requirements and parallel management goods in effect energize the hazard – control mechanism. It cannot be assumed that safety requirements will be compiled with simply because they are called for. Therefore, means must be found which at least will harness the power of the hierarchy in mounting the attack on hazards. This is a reason, of course, for safety laws and regulations. They are expected to furnish the unambiguous motivation for safety needed for its fulfillment – as well as to specify the required controls. If the strength of the organization can be engaged for safety – health achievement, then compliance can be more reasonably assured. This may be assumed since the purpose of the organization is to marshal the abilities of its members in the pursuit of its mission. An institution's regulation of hazards, as with the accomplishment of its other requirements, must rely on the potency of its organization and management.

E         Measurements of hazard–control effectiveness must be developed and presented in such a way that they are understood and appreciated by upper levels of management. They must be such that they provide some compelling interest and afford the opportunity for appraising management performance.

2.15 Definition of Terms Applicable to Safety Management

Accident: An event occurring by chance from unknown causes (and therefore unpreventable)

Hazard: The source of energy and the physiological and behavioral factors which, when uncontrolled, lead to harmful occurrences.

Persuasive methods and information: Discipline, required, punishment, and the power of facts well marshaled when presented in the way necessary to obtain the desired action.

Risk:   The assumed effect of an uncontrolled hazard, appraised in terms of the probability it will happen, the maximum severity of any injuries or damages, and the public's sensitivity to the occurrence.

Safe:   Protected against hazard.

Safety: The elimination of hazard, or their control to levels of acceptable tolerance as determined by law, and institutional regulations, ethics, personal requirements, scientific and technological capability, experiential knowledge, economics, and the interpretations of cultural and popular practice.

Safety management: The accomplishment of safety through others.

The work of safety management:  Accomplishing safety by applying persuasive methods and information in a closed loop system.