To improve safety performance in any industry there is typically a progression through a number of phases, each with different characteristics. In simplistic terms, the major phases are: Eliminating intrinsically unsafe conditions This phase tends to focus on physical conditions, tools, and equipment, and involves looking for...
Rethinking Safety Performance Metrics in the Mining Industry When it comes to measuring safety performance in the mining industry, there are many long-held beliefs, including the ideas that safety performance ought to be measured through leading and lagging indicators, that metrics support improve- ment through the...
Understanding The Safety Journey Improving safety performance within the mining industry has increasingly become the top priority for the majority of organizations across North America. It is a complex challenge of navigating the high-risk nature of the work amidst the challenging operating, compliance driven and transformative...
We find that companies often know when they are not “firing on all cylinders,” much in the same way we as individuals know when “we don’t feel right.” Working with a large number of companies in different industries has provided an interesting perspective on business. We...
We have all heard the complaint about too many meetings, unproductive conference calls, pointless reporting, administrative busy work etc. On the other hand, even the strongest critic will acknowledge that a degree of these forms of administrative activity are necessary. In our view the simple problem...
Many employees have experienced situations in their careers where they felt truly engaged in the activities of the organization. Similarly, many people have experience the feeling of disengagement. In most cases the differences between engaged and dis-engaged organizations are found at either senior or middle...
Middle management is the meat in the sandwich in every business. Middle management has to deal with the demands and the expectations of the executive, and middle management has to deal with the reality faced in operations, with customers and stakeholders. So while the executive...
Big Systems That Underperform - Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Asset Management systems or Centralized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), Health and Safety systems, and Enterprise Performance Metrics (EPM). The common view is that to be competitive in the business world today, companies must leverage technology and embrace...
As an operations leader and consultant who has worked in the performance improvement and operations leadership areas for over 25 years, I am convinced that performance occurs when the combination of leadership, strategy, process, technology, engagement and execution all converge. No single area is the...
When many organizations find internal problems; whether they are anecdotal evidence of a cultural problem poor results in a functional area or a desire to change how the business operates; the first response is often to suggest, “let’s do some training”. Often someone in HR...