Creativity and Local Knowledge: The IRS Phase Two

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Creativity and Local KnowledgeThe IRS Phase Two

• Dr. Peter Strahlendorf
• School of Occupational and Public Health
• Ryerson University
• October 2008

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• Phase Two ?
• What was Phase One?

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• IRS Phase One
• The traditional approach where everyone looks for
  defects, contraventions and hazards and tries to
  get rid of these bad things.

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• IRS Phase Two
• Everyone thinks of better ways of doing what
  theyre doing using their local knowledge, and a
  reduction in risk comes as a side effect of
  creative improvements.

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The Dilemma

• We are doing very well. We have instituted
  various OHS programs and brought our lost time
  down to an acceptable level. We are better than
  .X. Things have reached a plateau. Cant go
  any further. In fact, been some recent spikes
  and an upward trend

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The Dilemma

• The lost time statistics look like surfing
  along the bottom of the graph.
• We go a month or so with zero lost time, and then
  have an incident or two. Then we go 2 or three
  months with zero, and then an incident. Then
  another zero period and then another spike in
  accidents. Why cant we stay at zero?

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World Class Performance

• Let us arbitrarily peg world class performance
  at a minimum of 2 years with zero lost time (if
  doing moderate to high risk work,
  industrial/construction).

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• Why do we get stuck at pretty good?
• How do we get to world class levels?

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Complacency and Motivation

• 1. When we are doing pretty good, the
  workplace does not reveal obvious defects,
  hazards and contraventions. We get lulled into a
  false sense of security. We are by nature
  optimizers, not maximizers. When we have
  enough bananas we quit picking and do something
  else.

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Complacency and Motivation

• 2. Not only does motivation go down with partial
  success, safety is notoriously difficult to
  motivate people with. Safety was never sexy
  and fun. To motivate people to drive risk down
  to the lowest levels it can reasonably go were
  going to have to find some motivator other than
  safety.

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Complacency and Motivation

• Maslows Theory of Motivation
• Once people feel safe, they do not experience a
  need for safety, and safety cannot motivate them.

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Complacency and Motivation

• Rule
• The more successful we are with safety, the less
  motivated we are to do anything about safety.

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Complacency and Motivation

• According to Maslow, we can
• Move down the stairs by scaring people
• Or
• 2. Operate at a higher level, motivate people
  with enhanced social involvement (friendship),
  recognition for achievement, or opportunities for
  self-actualization

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Obliquity

• Are there some things you cant get by aiming at
  directly?
• Happiness? Love? Sincerity? Leadership?

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Obliquity

• Aim at A and get B as a side effect, even
  though B may be what you really want.
• To be happy, you must aim at completing
  challenging activities result is satisfaction
  or happiness.

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Obliquity

• After a certain point you cant get more safety
  by aiming at safety directly. You plateau.
• To achieve world class status, an organization
  has to aim at individual creativity in improving
  the processes individuals are involved with and
  we get continued risk reduction as a side effect.
  The opportunity to be creative is what motivates.

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IRS Phase Two

• We shift away from aiming at safety directly to
  aiming at creative improvements in the work
  processes by everyone, and we get reduced risk as
  a side effect of the improvements.

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IRS Phase Two

• The motivation is the satisfaction people get
  when they use their talents, skills, experience
  and knowledge to change their environment,
  particularly where we recognize and reward this
  creativity, and where it is done in a team
  environment.

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Two Ideas Phase One

• Everyone is responsible for integrating health
  and safety into his or her job, and should take
  every precaution reasonable in the circumstances
  to avoid losses.

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Two Ideas Phase Two

• Everyone should personally take every measure
  reasonable to continuously improve processes such
  that, among other benefits, the risk of
  occupational injuries and illnesses is driven
  down as low as it can reasonably go.

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Getting to Zero

• If you focus on defects and contraventions alone,
  you will surf along the bottom of the graph.
• But if you focus on creative improvements -- risk
  is reduced as a side effect -- you can suck
  lost time down to zero and keep it there for a
  very long time.

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To Reiterate

• Creative improvements continue to drive risk
  down, when you otherwise would have gone on a
  holiday you otherwise would have become
  complacent about safety. We switch to a new set
  of motivators to continue to drive risk down,
  when the old motivators have gone cold.

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The Original IRS
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The Internal Responsibility System

• The philosophy behind the OHSA
• The IRS is a way of allocating responsibility,
  authority and accountability for safety that
  precedes law
• First named in the 1976 Ham Royal Commission
  Report
• Not mentioned directly in OHS legislation, except
  NS

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James Ham

• James Ham got it right in 1976
• OHS should be integrated into production its
  not a separate function.
• Everyone should be doing OHS directly as part of
  his or her job.

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The Internal Responsibility System

• Followed across Canada
• Often misdescribed
• An OHS Act may or may not be based on the IRS.
  It may inadequately portray the IRS. The Canada
  Labour Code is a good example of reform efforts
  going off the rails, and away from the true IRS.

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Muddying the Waters

• After Ham, some have gone to great lengths to
  muddy the message.
• The True IRS versus Labour Relations View
• An individual coming to OHS from a labour
  relations background finds it almost impossible
  to understand or agree with the true IRS model.

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Power of the IRS

• It is the only philosophy that captures the
  knowledge, experience, skill, insight,
  observational position, initiative, creativity
  and enthusiasm of every human mind in the
  workplace.
• It is the ultimate expression of respect for the
  human element in the workplace.

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Power of the IRS

• The IRS is the people framework around which
  the management system is built.
• An OHS management system without the IRS is
  lifeless.
• Programs and techniques are built on top of and
  around the IRS.
• A weak IRS will sabotage any other OHS initiative.

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MOL IRS Study

• IRS audit in 6 Ontario mines showed that an IRS
  audit can measure the IRS and that a high IRS
  score goes with a low accident rate, while a low
  IRS score means more accidents.The results from
  4 of the mines (the other 2 didnt have
  appropriate data) were

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Definition

• The IRS is a system, within an organization,
  where everyone has direct responsibility for
  health and safety as an essential part of his or
  her job.
• An individual does health and safety in a way
  that is compatible with the kind of work that
  person does. Each person takes initiative on
  health and safety issues and works to solve
  problems and make improvements on an on-going
  basis. A person does this both as an individual
  and in co-operation with others.

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Nova Scotia

• s. 2 The foundation of this Act is the Internal
  Responsibility System which
• (a) is based on the principle that
• (i) employers, contractors, constructors,
  employees and self-employed persons at a
  workplace, and

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NS Definition Continued

• the owner of a workplace, a supplier of goods or
  provider of an occupational health or safety
  service to a workplace or an architect or
  professional engineer, all of whom can affect the
  health and safety of persons at the workplace,
• share the responsibility for the health and
  safety of persons at the workplace

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NS Definition Continued

• (b) assumes that the primary responsibility for
  creating and maintaining a safe and healthy
  workplace should be that of each of these
  parties, to the extent of each party's authority
  and ability to do so

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NS Definition Continued

• (c) includes a framework for participation,
  transfer of information and refusal of unsafe
  work, all of which are necessary for the parties
  to carry out their responsibilities pursuant to
  this Act and the regulations and

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NS Definition Continued

• (d) is supplemented by the role of the
  Occupational health and Safety Division of the
  Department of Labour, which is not to assume
  responsibility for creating and maintaining safe
  and healthy workplaces, but to establish and
  clarify the responsibilities of the parties under
  the law, and to support them in carrying out
  their responsibilities and to intervene
  appropriately when those responsibilities are not
  carried out.

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• There are many good things to be said about
  putting a definition of the IRS in OHS
  legislation.
• One downside is that many people will view the
  IRS as something that comes from law and is
  expressed solely in terms of legal duties.

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IRS

• Internal many meanings
• Responsibility its about obligations not
  rights
• System its a true system, requiring
  systems thinking

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Internal

• Health and safety is
• internal to the workplace
• internal to the individual
• internal to the job description of everyone
• internal to routine decision-making
• driven by internal motivation

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Internal to the Workplace

• OHS is the responsibility of the workplace
  parties (as individuals)
• OHS is self-regulated, self-monitored to a
  very large extent
• External Responsibility System not directly
  responsible for OHS

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Internal to the Job Description of Everyone

• Everyone, no exception
• Staff and line
• Workers, supervisors, managers, officers and
  directors
• Personal, individual responsibility
• Do the kind of OHS work that fits with authority
  and control

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Internal to Routine Decision-Making

• OHS not an add-on, an afterthought
• OHS not a separate function
• As you do your ordinary work you think about
  risk, hazards, controls and adjust your work
  accordingly
• Easy to see with workers and supervisors
• Hard to see with mid to senior managers and with
  staff positions

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External Responsibility System

• Ministries/Depts of Labour
• Safety Councils
• Safe Workplace Associations
• Compensation Boards
• Set standards, enforce, educate, etc. but dont
  do it for you

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Wrong IRS Description

• The IRS is a partnership between labour,
  industry and government to ensure a safe and
  healthy workplace.
• Refers to a tripartite policy-making process
  (e.g. the development of WHMIS), but not the IRS.

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Wrong IRS Description

• IRS is a set of three rights
• 1. To know about hazards
• 2. To refuse unsafe work
• 3. To participate (through committee)
• Missing the main element personal duties of
  everyone

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Wrong IRS Description

• A group of people working together to improve
  health and safety in the workplace
• Vague. Unhelpful unless you want to slip the
  Titanic through the gap.

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Wrong IRS Description

• Labour and management co-manage OHS through the
  Committee. The Committee IS the IRS.
• The labour relations version of the IRS.
  Missing personal contribution of individuals.

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Wrong IRS Description

• The company/employer is responsible for OHS, not
  the government.
• Fails to raise the corporate veil and identify
  all individuals as personally responsible.

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Wrong IRS Description

• The IRS is a good OHS management system.
• The IRS is part of the management system not a
  competing idea, nor is it synonymous with it.

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The IRS is NOT

• An OHS management system
• An off-the-shelf program you buy
• Something you dont have
• A partnership between labour and management
• Collectivist (groups)

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The IRS is NOT

• Bipartite
• Labour relations
• The health and safety committee
• Primarily about rights
• The same as due diligence
• Regulatory compliance

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The IRS is

• An element of the OHS management system
• Something you already have
• Individualistic
• About the personal responsibility of each
  individual
• Is primarily about duties

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The IRS is

• Is monitored and supported by the committee
• Is connected to due diligence (tells us who must
  be duly diligent)
• If it works well will ensure regulatory compliance

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Where Does the IRS Come From?
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Accident Theory IRS

• Descriptive
• 1. Who can cause an accident? Anyone
• 2. Who can prevent an accident? Anyone
• Prescriptive
• 3. Who SHOULD prevent accidents? Everyone
• 4. Who SHOULD be doing OHS here? Everyone

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Origin of IRS

• IRS isnt true by definition or created out of
  thin air by policy.
• IRS is based on physical causation of accidents
  in the workplace by people all people in the
  organization.
• IRS is true because of basis in accident theory.

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Workers

• Following regulatory procedures
• Following employer's procedures
• Following supervisor's procedures
• Identifying defects, contraventions and dangers
• Using initiative to reduce risk
• Applying discretion to solve OHS problems
• Reporting unresolved problems
• Working cooperatively with co-workers,
  supervisors and others

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Supervisors

• Using initiative to reduce risk
• Applying discretion to solve OHS problems
• Responding properly to reports
• Encouraging reports
• Training
• Ensuring qualifications

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Supervisors

• Safety talks
• Job planning
• Tailboard conferences, pre-job briefings
• Coaching
• Job observation

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Supervisors

• Post-job assessments
• Enforcement of rules and regulations
• Discipline
• Working cooperatively with workers, other
  supervisors, managers and others
• Taking unresolved problems to senior management

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Managers

• Using initiative to reduce risk
• Engaging in leadership activities for OHS
• Applying discretion to solve OHS problems
• Responding properly to reports
• Encouraging reports by supervisors

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Managers

• OHS performance evaluation
• Holding others accountable
• Developing, implementing programs
• Post-project/program assessment
• Properly allocating resources
• Staffing decisions

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Managers

• Considering system wide problems
• Taking unresolved problems to senior management
• Working cooperatively with workers, supervisors,
  other managers and others

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Executives

• OHS Policy
• Ensuring the development of an OHS system
• Ensuring periodic "system audits"
• Responding properly to reports by managers
• Ensuring that a proper IRS is functioning
• Ensuring that competent professionals are hired

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Executives

• Sufficient resource allocation
• Leadership taking initiative inspiring others
• Holding subordinates accountable
• Considering system wide problems
• Taking appropriate, unresolved problems to the
  directors

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Directors

• Setting the broad vision for OHS performance
• Ensuring that the officers are capable and
  motivated to establish and maintain the IRS and
  the OHS management system
• Requiring evidence that in fact the IRS and OHS
  system are functioning well
• Responding properly to reports by officers
• Holding the officers accountable for their OHS
  performance

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IRS and Teams

• IRS is not command and control old fashioned.
• Teams with leaders, where individuals are
  empowered to both think and do...they are
  continuously improving the process
  themselves...this IS the IRS in action.
• A question of driving down authority

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The IRS is a Dynamic Problem Solving Machine

• Attempted resolution of problems within each
  level
• Attempted improvements within each level
• The upward flow of unresolved problems and
  opportunities for improvement
• Cooperative interaction between levels for
  problem-solving and improvements
• The number of problems flowing up decreases with
  each level

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Problem Solving Machine

• The number of initiatives that could be taken at
  each level without waiting for an issue to come
  up from below does not necessarily decrease with
  each level
• The nature of the problems and the opportunities
  will be different at each level
• Implication that people at lower levels need to
  be kept informed of what is happening to a
  problem or initiative that was sent up the
  system, or frustration will set in
• Implication that weakness in the IRS can occur at
  any or all levels

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• IRS Phase One . 1 in Decision Cycle
• Everyone is looking for defects, contraventions
  and hazards.
• Leads to pretty good and then complacency.

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• IRS Phase Two 2 in Decision Cycle
• Everyone is thinking of ways they can generically
  improve the processes they are involved with, and
  risk is driven down as a side effect.

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Response Driven by Reactive Due Diligence

• When a person receives a hot potato from below,
  his due diligence position shifts. Now he KNOWS
  about hazard X or non-compliance Y. Proactive
  due diligence is erased. Now what matters is
  response to the standard of the reasonable peer.
  Understanding of DD drives the IRS.

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Initiative versus Response

• IRS at levels above the hands on worker is not
  just about responding to issues from below.
• Individuals at all levels are in the best
  position to see how their own processes can be
  improved.

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• In the IRS Phase One, it was always difficult to
  get people above the level of the supervisor to
  do more than react, since they are not directly
  involved in work where they can see the defects,
  contraventions and hazards.

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IRS Activities

• Individual problem solving identification of
  defects, anomalies, contraventions, hazards and
  risks and their resolution Phase One
• Individual creative and continual improvement of
  work processes Phase Two
• Reporting up when in need
• Cooperative problem solving
• Further reporting up if necessary

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IRS and Risk

• We do not want risk assessment to be done solely
  in a staff function done globally for the
  organization.
• We want risk assessment to be done daily by
  individuals as they are routinely making
  decisions.

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Risk

• Personal assessment of risk allows an individual
  to figure out
• what techniques to use
• when to use them
• how often to use them
• with what emphasis
• what to forego, as resources are limited

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Enemy of Zero

• Complacency
• By thinking that a lost time statistic is the
  goal, or an acceptable level of risk is the goal,
  we ease off (rarely intentional).

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Solution

• Quality thinking is the answer. Shift from
  finding bad things defects, hazards,
  contraventions to improvements in processes.
• BUT done through the IRS !!!!

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IRS and Quality

• We do not want quality to be done solely in a
  staff function done globally for the
  organization.
• We want quality to be done daily by individuals
  as they are routinely making decisions.

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Due Diligence and Quality

• Take every measure reasonable in the
  circumstances to improve processes you are
  involved in.
• For world class OHS performance, we must
  incorporate quality principles into OHS
  decision-making.

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Quality Thinking Phase Two

• I dont necessarily see any bad things
  defects, contraventions and hazards but I can
  see ways of
• simplifying things
• automating things
• reducing the number of steps
• narrowing variation
• applying a new technology
• making it comfortable
• reducing stress

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IRS Phase Two and Obliquity

• If everyone in the IRS is seeking to continuously
  improve the processes they are involved in, there
  will be many benefits
• cost reduction
• environmental protection
• improved service to clients
• better product
• reduced risk to workers

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• Risk Reduction is one of several good things that
  come out of IRS Phase Two. The others are also
  things that are hard to motivate people about
  directly. IRS Phase Two allows for a closer
  integration of OHS and environment (and other
  things) in an integrated management system.

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Example of the Miners Wheelbarrow
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Old Suggestion Box

• Put idea in
• Months later, engineering looks at it
• Not enthusiastic if its not engineering
• Not enthusiastic if its not big
• Someone with no local knowledge is judging
  whether an idea is good

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Old Suggestion Box

• Worker never hears what happens or only hears
  long after its forgotten
• Program actually increases lethargy and cynicism
• Can create suspicions of unfairness if payout
• Many good ideas with local benefit never adopted
• Based on a few big ideas

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New Creativity Program

• Worker convinces crew or team
• Team tests it out
• Company provides resources
• Engineers, OHS professional, Committee advise,
  but do not direct
• Adopt scientific method re proof
• Teamwork and collegiality enhanced (Maslows
  social motivator)

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New Creativity Program

• Use of local knowledge is maximized
• People can go and learn new skills in order to
  complete project (Maslows self-actualization)
• Ideas are publicised and team is recognized
  (Maslows esteem motivator)
• Deeply satisfying taking an idea to completion
• Not directly about safety, quality, cost,
  productivity, but get these as outcomes

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New Creativity Program

• Send team to conferences, dinners, tours other
  recognition rewards
• Not wrong to have some element of competition
  between teams
• Be careful about adding in monetary rewards

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Benefits

• Fast
• Flexible
• Built-in motivators
• Uses local knowledge
• Increases human capital
• Highly respectful of people
• Gets many good things as side effects

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Evolution of and Safety

• Safety is a cost. Safety is the opposite of
  production. Do as little safety as you can get
  away wit
• Accidents cost money. It pays to invest some
  in prevention to reduce losses.

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Evolution of and Safety

• 3. Total loss control philosophy the losses are
  greater than we thought 5-50 x workers comp
  costs
• 4. IRS Phase Two how your organization becomes
  world class and dominates the market.

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IRS Analysis

• Analyze every OHS issue in terms of the
  underlying IRS, e.g.
• Inspections
• Investigations
• Complaints
• Orders
• Recommendations
• Work Refusals
• JHSC Activities

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IRS Analysis

• 1. What went wrong with the IRS?...fix it.
• What could go wrong with the IRS?...avoid it
• 3. How can we strengthen the IRS?

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IRS Analysis

• IRS Phase One
• We think of failures in the IRS as failures to
  raise problems about defects, contraventions and
  hazards.
• IRS Phase Two
• We think of failures in the IRS as failures to be
  creative, to seek improvement.

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OHS Driven by Internal Motivation

• Difference between motivation from within the
  person and motivation from without
• External rewards and sanctions
• Internal satisfiers .... pride, sense of
  achievement, self-development, control,
  curiosity, self-respect, morality, etc.
• Which works best for out of sight short cuts?
• Which works best for obtaining creativity and
  initiative for OHS?

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IRS Phase Two and Motivation

• We should be working at the upper level of the
  Maslow model
• Individuals are unique, and so the mix of
  internal motivators will be different
• There will be some people who are not motivated
  by the satisfaction of being creative and
  inventive,

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The Internal Responsibility System is

• A set of responsibilities for every individual in
  the organization
• A hierarchy of responsibility, authority and
  accountability
• A set of values and principles
• A system of processes and activities
• A pattern of individual creativity
• A true system. It has built devices for
  monitoring, feedback and control

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IRS Phase One

• Gets you to pretty good
• Is only about OHS
• Is essentially negative
• Is about preventing losses
• Is about finding bad things
• Is closely associated with legal duties
• Runs out of motivation for safety after some
  success

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IRS Phase Two

• Gets you to world class status
• Is about years without lost time accidents
• Is about creativity
• Is about using local knowledge
• Is about motivation for safety other than safety
• Is about high performance for environment, cost
  reduction, productivity as well as safety
• More than pays for itself

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IRS Audits

• We audit the workplace and we do system
  audits of the OHS management system.
• Can we directly audit the IRS?
• Yes, survey individuals at all levels.

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IRS Audits

• Surveys, interviews and observations to measure
  the health of the IRS at each level of the
  organization identifying strengths and
  weaknesses with a view to correction

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IRS Audits

• Ask questions about
• understanding
• beliefs
• cooperation
• communication
• involvement
• response time
• recognition for initiative

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IRS Audits

• Ask questions about
• individuals perception of how others are
  performing in the IRS
• whether IRS analysis is applied to problems
• whether internal failsafe devices are working
• about behaviour in addition to beliefs

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IRS Audits

• We can measure the climate for the IRS Phase Two
• We ask questions about being encouraged to come
  up with new ideas, about what happens to new
  ideas, about senior managements perceived
  commitment to creativity.

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IRS, Due Diligence, Risk and Quality

• If everyone in the IRS is personally taking every
  measure reasonable to continually improve
  processes he or she is involved in, we can drive
  risk down as low as it can reasonably go.
  Tomorrow, we drive it down a little further. The
  lower the risk, the longer we can go with zero
  accidents.

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Dr. Peter Strahlendorf

• IQSEM Ltd.
• PO Box 565, Stn Q
• Toronto, Ontario, M4T 2N4
• 416-955-9195
• Fax [phone]
• strahlen_at_sympatico.ca

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