PreAccident Investigation Podcast

Welcome guest Safety Momenteer Marc Yeston to the Operational Excellence stage.  Marc is going to tell a story and you should listen for several reasons:  1.  Marc is a good story teller.  2.  It is a good story  3.  The story is a great way to teach some important safety concepts about learning and worker engagement.  Pull up a chair, open an adult beverage (unless you are at work), and listen carefully.  You will be smarter for it.

Todd and Ivan talk like old friends - because they are old teaching buddies.  In this conversation Ivan Pupulidy, Director of the Office of Learning at the US Forest Service, talks about the new view, learning, and the journey we are all taking to see the world in a new light.  Ivan's has an extensive background in Aviation Safety, Fire Fighting, Operational Safety, and Accident Investigation and Learning.  This conversation is fun, fast, and entertaining.  You will like what Ivan has to teach us.  Don't miss this episode.

This Safety Moment features a thoughtful quote about the investments we make and the pay-offs we get.  Sometimes it is hard to justify the resources we spend for the benefits we really get.  The problem is... it is really hard to measure nothing... and when we make investments the very best pay-off we can have is nothing happens.  This episode is a discussion on this very topic.  Enjoy and share!

Last month a young pilot flew his plane directly in to the side of a mountain.  Dr. Marc McElhaney is the founder and Managing Director of Critical Response Associates, a national team of psychologists and behavior specialists who specialize in threat and risk assessment. Marc is a noted expert in threats of worker reliability, one of the best in the business.  In this conversation Marc and Todd talk about the intersection between mental stability and workplace safety.  All the discussions we have had about actual violation of safety rules take on a new light in today's episode.  You don't want to miss this conversation.

If one of your workers is ever surprised by a condition they discover while doing work - you want to know.  Asking workers about surprise conditions is a powerful way to start a post-job brief or after action review.  We all struggle with understanding how work is done when the work is successful.  One great way to begin those conversations is to ask workers if they were surprised.  Try it and see what you think?

The Complex Interactive Processes Institute is holding a conference and you are specially invited to attend.  Consider this a VIP invitation only available for people who listen to the podcast.  You are special! Your Mom was right!    The Conference theme is:  How to deal with crises?  Complex interactive processes as a determining factor for successful risk/crisis management.  This is the Second International CIP event to be held July 2 and 3, 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

This is Marc Yeston.  He is the Chief Ranger at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  Marc Yeston is a long-time student of Human Performance and High Reliability, but from a much different approach, Marc gets the chance to practice these skills and approaches almost every day.  Marc talks about his experience in leading teams doing heli-rescues, high-angle rescues, and tons more interesting - high-risk/high-value operations.  Perhaps what is most important about this episode is Marc's ability to talk about the responsibility in leading this type of worker.  Marc talks directly about what he has learned (and who he has learned from) about field leadership and high functioning - high risk work.  You are going to love this podcast.  Learn much!

How do you know what you don't know?  How do you know what you know?  How do you know you know what you know?  How do I know I know until I know?  How do you know?

Let's check in with Bob Edwards for the second part of his podcast visit. This episode is exclusively about Learning Teams.  Bob has been a part of hundreds of operational learning activities for Human and Organizational Performance all over the world.  I think it would be safe to say no one knows more about HOP learning - Bob is a master.  If you are interested in learning and improvement...This podcast is for you.

This safety moment talks about just how normal "drift" is in the way workers do their work.  Everybody drifts...everybody.  So, if drift is normal what do we do with drift?  Listen and think about this questions. Remember...drift is normal.  You can't remove it, so we MUST understand it.

Randy Cadieux is a Aviation guy....and that is just where Randy starts his career in safety, reliability and performance.  Randy comes from the HRO side of the tracks and his expertise makes him quite a force...but you can talk to him about this stuff, because Randy's experience is from the world of Aviation safety and practice - more practice - less theory. Enjoy this episode.  It is great.

Here's a question:  "How did we get to a place where we started thinking that we could reward workers for not getting hurt?"  There are many companies that have long-running safety incentive programs, often at great expense and effort of the organization.  How did this become an idea that we thought would make a difference? If we believe we can reward workers for not getting hurt, then we must believe that getting hurt is a monetary choice made be workers with full knowledge of the outcome. That is crazy talk - and yet very good and very smart companies have these programs. Who is right?  See what you think.  

This episode is fun.  Bob Edwards was the lead field Human Performance expert for GE - specifically GE Appliances.  He talks about the new view from a very important perspective - a safety guy who has actually done it (and is still doing it even today).  Bob brings real experience with these programs to the table and has much to say.  Bob was in the area, I was home for a couple days, and we ate burritos and chatted about Safety.  This is part one of two episodes - part one is an introduction to where, how, and why Bob is so good at this work.  Enjoy - no burritos where harmed in this podcast.

The Lost Podcast...was found!  This is Steve de Albuquerque, Global Manager of Safety and Health at ConocoPhillips.  This podcast was lost to time and I had given up on ever getting to put this out into the world...until yesterday when Steve called and said we could publish it. Her you go.  I think you will enjoy it.

What else is there to say?  You will be amazed at the difference when you simply change one word in your safety learning activities.  Changing from the word "Why" to the word "How" makes a huge difference in the way you think about an event, and more importantly the way workers talk about an event.  Try it you will like it!