There is no shortage of companies saying they are putting safety first and claiming to be contributing as good stewards of our environment. Unfortunately we find that all too often those are nice words - probably conjured up by marketing departments. By-and-large those companies pay only lip-service to the words and fail to follow up with action. There is a clear cut relationship between reliability and safety.
As reliability increases the number of failures experienced by equipment and systems is reduced. Since many industrial accidents happen during maintenance activities or during the process of responding to failures it is only logical that reducing the failures will lead to fewer industrial accidents. Ron Moore, in his book, "Making Common Sense Common Practice" (2004, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA) shows this relationship graphically. So, why is this relationship ignored?
Truly effective reliability improvement programs do not exist in many companies. It's not enough to have a program with the word "reliability" in its title. Insurance companies recognize this all too well. The June 2007 issue of "Uptime" (the magazine for PdM and CBM professionals) includes an excellent article on the relationship between insurance and physical asset management. In summary the article points out that it's not what you say you are doing that matters if you want your risks (and insurance premiums) reduced it's what you achieve. Integrating those "reliability" programs into your operations and maintenance processes and delivering real results is what they look for. It all boils down to the success of implementation of those programs, not just an attempt at yet another "program of the month".
We specialize in helping companies truly implement those reliability technologies - and not just the tools (software, hardware, methods and processes). We help with the "soft" part - the very human element of dealing with resistance to change, overcoming fears that lead to that resistance and the blockages that result. Change management is far more than the effective communication of program objectives and results. To truly accept and internalize a change such as those required when reliability programs are implemented it is important to capture more than the minds of the individuals involved - you need their full commitment - their emotional buy-in. It has to be as important to them as their own personal safety. And it needs to permeate the entire corporate environment - not just maintenance.
Are you having trouble with change? Not getting the desired results? Give us a call.
