Recommend System Improvements
Surface causes often represent symptoms of deeper weaknesses in the safety management system (SMS).
Investigators should look beyond individual actions and conditions for underlying system weaknesses supported by the evidence. Incidents may involve weaknesses in areas such as leadership, accountability, planning, hazard identification and control, training, supervision, communication, maintenance, or purchasing.
Recommendations should address the system weaknesses identified during the investigation. When training is identified as a contributing factor, for example, the recommendation might involve improving training content, hands-on practice, evaluation, refresher training, or methods for verifying that employees can safely perform the work.
Examples of system improvements include:
- Adding safety and health responsibilities to organizational policies.
- Clarifying responsibility and accountability for safety performance.
- Adding safety checks to work processes and checklists.
- Incorporating demonstrations and hands-on practice into safety training.
- Revising purchasing procedures to include safety considerations.
- Improving preventive maintenance and equipment inspection processes.
- Strengthening procedures for reporting and correcting hazards.
- Expanding workplace inspections to involve supervisors and employees.
- Improving communication between employees, supervisors, and management.
- Establishing methods to verify that corrective actions remain effective.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
7-5. What should long-term corrective actions primarily address?
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