PG&E Announces New Risk and Safety Leadership Structure
PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (together “PG&E”) today announced changes to the risk and safety leadership structure to further strengthen the utility’s enterprise-wide risk mitigation and operational safety capabilities. PG&E currently has a Vice President of Internal Audit and Chief Risk Officer whose duties include enterprise risk, internal audit, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, market and credit risk management, third party risk management, loss control and insurance. Going forward, those responsibilities will be split between two senior leaders, a Chief Risk Officer and a Chief Audit Officer. Additionally, PG&E is elevating the current position of Chief Safety Officer to a Senior Vice President role.
“Our new leadership structure is consistent with the commitments we made to the Governor’s Office and the California Public Utilities Commission to help improve our safety culture and our operational outcomes,” said PG&E Corporation’s Interim Chief Executive Officer Bill Smith. “We are bolstering our leadership team so we can further integrate industry-leading risk management approaches across all of our business.”
Sumeet Singh, who previously led PG&E’s wildfire safety efforts through 2019, is returning to PG&E and has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (CRO), effective August 1, 2020. In this CRO capacity, he will report directly to PG&E Corporation’s Interim Chief Executive Officer Bill Smith. As Chief Risk Officer, Singh will have oversight over all risk management related to PG&E’s operations and public safety. This includes risks associated with wildfires, nuclear, dams, natural gas and natural disasters, as well as other strategic risks confronting utilities, including those relating to cyber-attacks, pandemic and other catastrophic events. Singh will also be responsible for evaluating risks associated with the Public Safety Power Shutoff program (PSPS).
Substandard electricity wiring enhances 50 percent cases of electric shock during monsoon
MULTAN, Jul 05 (APP):Electricity has eased our day to day life in almost all sectors. Whereas it facilitates our routine life, similarly, it causes tragic incidents also, as substandard electricity wiring, citizen’s careless attitude, and lack of safety culture are important causes of electrocution, in the backward region of south Punjab. It merits a mention here that on June 29 last, District Information Officer (DIO) Jhang, Rao Shakeel (33), died of electric shock as he was adjusting pedestal fan for masons, working at his under-construction house, at Kukar Hatta village, in tehsil Kabirwala. Rao Shakeel, had started his career as article writer in Directorate General Public Relation (DGPR) in 2007. After availing promotion, he joined his duties as District Information Officer Jhang in 2018. Deputy Director DGPR Asghar Khan while talking to this scribe maintained that Rao Shakeel was a hard working officer. He had two sons.
Coronavirus: London’s Nightingale hospital recorded 144 safety incidents in 29 days
London’s Nightingale hospital recorded 144 patient safety incidents during its 29 days treating 54 patients, it has emerged.
There were two serious incidents at the field hospital, a doctor told a Royal Society of Medicine webinar.
Dr Andrew Wragg, consultant cardiologist and director of quality and safety at Barts Health NHS Trust, said a study of the long-term outcomes of the 54 patients was ongoing, as 20 of those treated at the ExCel conference centre site were still recovering in hospitals across London. … Johanna Cade, a nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust and who worked at the Nightingale, said: “We had quite high incident reporting at 144 incidents reported and I think that demonstrates that Nightingale really did well at building a no blame safety culture for resolution and learning. This system manifested itself and staff were really striving to make things better continually. We knew who to report to and how to escalate things.”
She showed data revealing the largest number of safety incidents involved medical devices.
There were 25 incidents that included the ventilators used to keep patients alive. Staffing issues and medication, as well as pressure ulcer and communication incidents, were also among the highest numbers.
What COVID-19 taught the FDA about food safety
Developing a culture of food safety
Prior to COVID, food safety culture was mostly the responsibility of farm workers and food facility staff. The global crisis made FDA officials realize that the food safety culture needs to extend to the home, too. Work should be done to keep everyone involved in farms, processing plants, and other food supply chain links safe, but the system should also educate the public about best food safety practices during home cooking.
In other words: the government, industries, and consumers must all work together to keep each other safe.
“What we have learned from the pandemic is that we’re on the right track with the New Era of Smarter Food Safety. The steps that we’ll take will prepare us to protect the safety of our food supply, no matter what challenges we face,” he says. “We will get there together, stronger and more resilient than ever.”
Four Ways to Improve Your Fleet’s Safety Culture
There’s no magic wand for creating a safety culture within your trucking organization, but two fleets shared their own secrets to success June 24, during the Truckload Carriers Association’s Virtual Safety and Security Meeting.
Give Drivers the Tools They Need to Succeed At Boyle Transportation, drivers are given “a small library” of reference materials that walk them through everything they’ll encounter on their trips, including how to access specific customer locations. Michael Lasko, safety manager at Boyle, said reference materials need to be more than a checklist of what to, and not to, do to avoid getting in trouble.
“We try to equip our drivers with tools and knowledge on how to use these tools, so they have everything they need to be safe,” Lasko said.
From Crisis to Opportunity: 5 things leaders must do to reset culture
5-point plan
To embrace both COVID-19 guidelines and existing safety issues, business leaders should consider proactively shifting the workforce mindset toward the future safety culture. For optimum success in leading this shift as well as improving business performance, there are five key ingredients in any recipe:
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These Detroit cultural institutions are reopening July 10: What to know
Other arts and cultural institutions including the Detroit Public Library, International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will have different re-opening dates but still participated in the process.
“We know that the long-term health and safety of our cultural institutions is currently tied to ensuring the health and safety of all visitors and staff,” says Susan Mosey, Executive Director of Midtown Detroit, Inc. “We engaged NSF to help us create a safety culture and protocols for managing the risks associated with a communicable disease while helping institutions deliver their core missions.”
NTSB chairman discusses agency’s role in marine accident probes … “Accidents are not the best predictors of where the problems in the system are,” he said. “This is why it’s good to have a data collection system… some sort of operational monitoring program is very important, instant reporting systems to find out where the problems are.” This could be done in the marine industry, he said.
Creating a strong safety culture within a company is essential. “Safety has to start at the top of an organization and permeate the entire organization,” the chairman said. “People understand if someone is deeply committed, and they’re going to watch you.”
He encourages developing a “just culture” that is based on fairness. “If someone reports an honest error, what will you do? A lot (of managers) would punish that person. But you should praise that person and thank them for telling. If you punish people for making mistakes, your information flow will dry up, so you’re not going to know anything because (employees) are going to conceal it. A just culture will reward reporting honest mistakes. On the other hand, if someone arrives drunk or willfully violates a procedure, you can’t tolerate that.” A company will thrive when its culture encourages employees to report problems, he said.
Sumwalt said companies should be asking themselves three questions: how strong is our safety culture, are we living our values, and are we providing safety leadership. …
NTSB Report: Pilot In Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash May Have Been Disoriented Due To Fog … An executive of Island Express Helicopters says that when they hadn’t landed within an hour they began a frantic search on tracking software. However, the helicopter’s tracker had stopped working at around 9:45 am which the executive noted was “not normal.”
The overall safety culture of Island Express Helicopters has also been called into question. One pilot said that Zobayan never talked about safety policy or the minimum amount of visibility need to fly while another says the company didn’t have a real safety management program to speak of.
Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, has filed a lawsuit against Zobayan and Island Express for negligence, claiming that the pilot shouldn’t have flown in those weather conditions and should have aborted the flight. …
Embry-Riddle President Urges Everyone to Uphold Health Precautions – Both On and Off Campus
As Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University prepares to resume low-density, face-to-face instruction on June 30, University President P. Barry Butler called on everyone to uphold rigorous new health precautions at all times, whether they are on or off campus.
Face coverings, daily wellness checks and physical distancing are now mandatory at Embry-Riddle, Dr. Butler noted during a virtual town hall meeting that drew 800 participants this week. He emphasized that “this should not just be focused on students, but on all of us – including administrators, faculty and staff. Everybody’s in on this together.”
If anyone fails to follow the rules, he said, those who observe the problem should first offer a friendly reminder, then tell the person that they are in violation of employee policy and student conduct rules and subject to disciplinary action. Dr. Butler noted that he hopes others will remind him of the rules if he ever forgets them.
Embry-Riddle’s intense core safety culture has allowed the Daytona Beach Campus, for example, to complete more than 10,000 flight or simulator hours and 17,000 contact hours since May 2 without a single known case of Covid-19 transmission between individuals in that program, Dr. Butler noted. “That is not by accident,” he said, referencing the Flight Department’s rigorous new health protocols. “People have worked hard.”
WMATA Replaces Rail Control Center Leadership Amid Train Safety Violations Metro is replacing the head of its Rail Operations Control Center — the nerve center for monitoring the entire rail system — after a series of safety violations, including sending trains with passengers to investigate a reported fire in tunnels.
WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld sent out a memo Monday announcing the change.
“A strong safety culture requires constant vigilance and continuous improvement,” Wiedefeld wrote. “The ROCC must be the backbone of that culture.”
“We recognize that work is needed to transform Metro’s safety culture from reactive risk management to proactive risk management… (that) requires support and engagement from every employee.”
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) mandated many changes to the ROCC, warning of “dangerous dysfunction” in the department.
ASSP Safety 2020 Virtual: Creating a Safety Culture with Diversity & Inclusion in Mind
Session speakers Lindsay Bell, Regional Health and Safety Manager at Solvay, and Abby Ferri, Co-Founder of Safety Justice League broke down not only what it means to be inclusive, but how to take safety issues and turn them into action items with the help of diverse employee voices who want to see change in the workplace.
First, Bell discussed what the words diversity, equality and inclusion mean. Though these words are normally lumped together, they do not share similar definitions and connotations. Diversity can be defined as, “Everyone is individual and different,” while equality can be defined as, “Everyone has equal access to opportunities.”
Inclusion however, is an all-encompassing word that Bell defined as, “a sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can do your best at work.”
“Inclusivity should be your goal,” Bell said. “You want your team to feel like they belong, like they are valued and that they are respected.”
The FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee: Here’s What Happened
Developing a Safety Culture in the Drone Community
The second major agenda item for the meeting was a report from Task Group 8, led by Captain Joe DePete, focused on developing a culture of safety in the community of drone flyers. The Group is at the beginning of their project: but emphasized the need for developing a learning focused environment – and building trust between regulators and pilots at all levels.
Washington Traffic Safety Commission Announces Update to ‘Target Zero,’ Adds Five New Initiatives
… The new initiatives being introduced by the WTSC include leveraging the state’s traffic safety culture, focusing on health equity and multicultural communications, updating cooperative automated transportation, prevention through safe systems approach and identifying the best practices in licensing and regulation.
Washington has a strong traffic safety culture, according to the WTSC, with the state’s seatbelt use rate at 93 percent, one of the best in the nation. Target Zero’s first initiative is to enlist the majority of Washingtonians who practice safe driving to encourage the minority of drivers who engage in riskier driving behavior.
Target Zero’s second initiative identifies that people living in poverty or vulnerable and marginalized populations are more likely to be involved in serious or fatal car accidents and would make investments in education and infrastructure for underserved areas were needed.
The Dry Bulk Management Standard – equipping owners with a pathway for continuous improvement
When it comes to fostering organisational-wide safety improvements, culture is key. A robust safety culture means that practices, systems and procedures are followed and developed, even when they are not being scrutinised or evaluated. With many competing priorities, this might seem hard to properly pursue, so it is crucial that the right tools are on hand to help create a strong safety culture for dry bulk.
The Dry Bulk Management Standard (DBMS), which was launched as a draft, open for industry feedback in March 2020, represents a significant development as we look to improve safety across the entire dry bulk sector.
DBMS is based on deep collaboration amongst a representative cross-section of dry bulk owners, managers and risk management experts, all who have a common vision of a consistent culture of safety and improving standards across the entire dry bulk fleet.
The emergence of the occupational health and safety profession in Australia
The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) profession is well established in Australia and it would be rare, if not impossible to find a medium to a large public, private or government organisation without an OHS professional department. This paper explores the development and current status of the OHS profession in Australia. To be recognised as a profession, any occupation needs to satisfy a number of individual, collective and external professional criteria. This paper reviews the OHS profession in Australia, through these professional criteria and we describe the: role and career path, defined knowledge and skill base, ethical code of practice, professional status, professional organisations, professional entry criteria, professional education, external requirements, stakeholders, and societal recognition. To further examine the extent to which the OHS occupation deserves professional status we explore in detail the professionalisation strategy of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) over the past 8 years. Since 2010 the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), the largest and broadest Australian OHS professional organisation, has rigorously pursued a strategy aimed at increasing the professionalisation of the OHS profession through concurrent programs of: professional certification, university curriculum accreditation, and the development of an ‘OHS Body of Knowledge’. This paper concludes that the OHS profession in Australia can be considered an ‘emerging profession’. An emerging profession is a recognised discipline or occupation that has established, although not consistently implemented the structures, capability and recognition necessary to be considered an established profession. The current and future challenges and opportunities for the OHS profession are discussed.
Ep.31 Do pre-surgery checklists improve patient safety outcomes?
EPISODE NOTES We use the papers to frame our discussion: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness, Compliance, and Critical Factors for Implementation of Safety Checklists in Surgery; Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effect of the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist on Post-Operative Complications; and The Effects of Safety Checklists in Medicine.
Tune in to hear our thoughts on this potentially life or death issue.
Topics:
The good reputation of checklists. Equipment Failure. The decrease of information loss. Do checklists slow things down? How closely checklists are followed. The rhyme of reason for checklists.
MADISON, Wis., June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – In a new study conducted by Wisconsin Safety Council (WSC) and Rural Mutual Insurance Company, 85% of respondents said they “sometimes” or “often” see a coworker come to work sick even though he/she should have stayed home. In the current environment, exposure to sick coworkers is the leading safety concern for workers in Wisconsin.
In an effort to identify top workplace safety concerns and provide solutions during National Safety Month in June, WSC and Rural Mutual polled more than 180 WSC members, the majority of whom are safety professionals working in Wisconsin trades, including contractors, manufacturers and construction workers. The study was completed in April.
“Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we know businesses and organizations across the state are looking to create safer work environments now more than ever,” said Aaron Huebner, WSC executive director. “This study revealed safety professionals should focus on establishing initiatives that prevent the spread of infection and reduce exposure to employees who are sick.”
The respondents indicated several other top safety risks in the workplace:
Interacting with hazardous materials (80%) Driving for work-related activities (80%) Standing for more than two hours in a row (79%) Working in high noise levels where a raised voice is needed to talk to people less than four feet away (76%) A new, free e-book from Rural Mutual and WSC is now available to help safety professionals and trade workers in Wisconsin address these leading safety concerns. The ‘Work Safe in Wisconsin’ e-book offers easy to implement solutions for a safer and healthier workplace.
Captive owners spending more on analytics to drive down costs and improve safety culture: CICA panel
Captive owners are increasing their use of analytics, and spending more time understanding their data, as they look for ways to mitigate and minimise factors that contribute to losses in the workplace, according to Gordon Padera, executive vice president at Gallagher Bassett.
Speaking on a Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) webinar titled “Culture is Key”, he said captives are spending more on technology that can help them prevent accidents.
Andrew Johnson, chief risk officer at Captive Resources, stressed the important role captives can play in installing a culture of safety in workplaces, by strengthening the link between reduced losses and reduced premiums.
Other Voices: Maintain a vibrant safety culture with a holistic approach and meaningful training
As our industry celebrates National Forklift Safety Day, it is important to remember that a successful safety program must include multiple efforts that encourage forklift safety.
In fact, what is ideal is a holistic approach to safety that stresses how every individual is critical to fostering and maintaining a safe working environment. There are a variety of ways this can be accomplished, and your forklift equipment supplier can help you identify capabilities, tools and best practices that will give you a more integrated safety program.
Regardless of the approach and steps you take, there are five foundational elements of a holistic approach that you must consider.
Use of Human Performance Tools Resolves Blocked Valve Gearing
While performing a valve line up on the By-Pass Demineralizer (BPD) system at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), operators noticed a pressure change in the Primary Coolant System (PCS). Normally this procedure would not impact the flow of the PCS. Faced with an unexpected situation the operators stopped the procedure and placed the system in a safe configuration. The cause for the problem was discovered after a bit of detective work using both situational awareness and a questioning attitude.
IESCO Chief For Adopting Safety Measures During Maintenance Work
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jun, 2020 ) :Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Electric Supply Company (IESCO) Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary has urged the staff to adopt all precautionary and safety measures during maintenance work on transmission lines.
He said the line staff was our precious asset and a slight negligence and carelessness could prove fatal. Health and life protection of line staff was top priority of the company, he said in a statement issued here Sunday.
He maintained that safety culture would be promoted in the company as there was no substitute of human life.
He asked the officials to ensure following all safety SOPs during maintenance work. Use proper safety gears including helmet, gloves and belt etc.
The CEO also directed all field officers to follow the safety measures in letter and spirit and check them during maintenance work.
He also warned that strict action would be taken against those staff members found without safety gear during the maintenance work.
Ep.30 What do safety professionals believe about themselves? Topics:
The distinction between role and identity. The stereotypes about the safety profession. What to consider when hiring safety employees. The role of Tertiary safety education. Change and the journey of safety. The values of safety professionals. What is important to talk about, when talking about safety professionals.
Quotes:
“Very few safety people describe themselves as bureaucrats.”
“…Just that word, ‘Professional’. It tended to be the case that people who had tertiary education thought of that as being important as part of being a professional.”
“We value belonging and involvement, but we also require authority to do some of our role.”
Ball awards Myanmar branch sustainability award
According to a statement by the Ball Corporation, it awarded its plant in Yangon with the 2019 R. David Hoover Sustainability Award for significant operational and social improvements. The statement claimed that the Yangon plant had consistently improved its electricity effciency by nearly 23 percent, enhanced overall safety culture with better methods of reporting and more focus on corrective actions as well as succeeding to raise awareness of the sustainbility of the aluminum can.
Factors such as achieving zero accidents, minimizing environmental impact, supporting local communities, and educating consumers about the importane of beverage can recycling were considered of all applicable candidates for the award.
The plant’s General Manager Asa Robinson praised the entire Yangon team for embracing Ball’s sustainability strategy, monitoring the plant’s sustainability metrics and working hard to achieve the set key performance indicators while taking into account the broader performance indicators for the entire plant.
Four barriers to cultivating a safety culture in ASCs
Surgery centers have obstacles to overcome when striving for “top-notch quality and safety,” according to One Medical Passport, an ASC software provider.
Four obstacles and how to overcome them:
Resource scarcity. Provide staff with the tools they need to comply with safety protocols, including additional training when appropriate. Consider how center shutdowns during the pandemic have affected education and training.
Time constraints. Address inefficiencies in areas such as patient outreach and administrative paperwork to free up time for focusing on safety.
Ineffective leadership. Leaders who actively engage in safety seminars and other improvement efforts will cultivate an environment in which employees feel comfortable reporting mistakes.
Unclear communication channels. ASCs should have “an organized, robust system in place for recording feedback related to safety,” according to One Medical Passport.