Many people use the terms “purchasing” and “procurement” interchangeably, but despite their similarities, they do have different meanings. To clarify, procurement involves the process of selecting vendors, establishing payment terms, strategic vetting, negotiating contracts and actually purchasing the goods. In essence, procurement is concerned with acquiring — or procuring — all of the goods, services, and work that are vital to an organization.
One of the most important aspects of procurement is vetting your employees and contractors to be certain they possess the skills required to not only meet professional expectations but also assure optimum safety. It’s hard sometimes to maintain that consistent vetting process when you utilize services. I’m not saying those services are bad; I’m saying you need to go more in-depth yourself.
Several companies have qualification programs, including the Houston Area Safety Council. They provide the data, but it’s what you do with the data to make the right decision that counts. When I give safety talks all over the country, one of the things I tell procurement managers, business owners and CEOs is they must get out there on their projects — walk it, talk it and see it. My CEO calls it “boots on the ground.” I call it the Jenga® game.
Managers must avoid the trap of looking at their projects and processes from the top down. You’re looking from the procurement office you’re sitting in, and you say, “I’ve got this company and they’re doing great; I don’t have to worry about them.” That may be true. But when you’re looking at it from the top down, everything looks perfect — just like when you look at a Jenga tower from the top down. But company policies that create confusion and conflict, hazardous conditions, poor labeling, misspent time, data transposition, inaccurate documentation, substandard equipment, fatigue or poor housekeeping can cause your tower to tumble.
Steadying the tower
When there are gaps in your company’s Jenga game, you need to put one of the pieces back into the tower. But how do you do that? You’ve got to have that extra hand to steady the tower while you push that piece back in.
Many of the people I work with who own refineries in Texas City get out there on the job at 5:30 a.m. A director of procurement stands in my safety meeting and listens to what my guys are saying.
Not long ago, I was called into a director of procurement’s office on a process safety management (PSM) audit. He said to me, “You know, Bill, you meet all the requirements of PSM, but I want to see us get better. What can we do to get better?”
He continued, “I see you have refresher safety training. That’s a requirement for PSM, but what can we do above requirements? Are you doing refresher training on your skills?”
I hadn’t thought about that, but it was a very good idea.
So, my company developed a training refresher for workers who have been doing things over and over, executing their tasks the same way until it seemed automatic. The refresher training requires them to sit down once a year to analyze what they’ve done. They actually take a test to see if they’re still proficient and if there are any gaps in what they’re doing.
This idea didn’t come from the maintenance manager, and it didn’t come from the safety manager. It came from the procurement manager because he was taking ownership of his people: his contractors and his suppliers. When he got out and looked at the project from the side, so to speak, he had the ability and the perspective to see the gaps in the work processes.
But where does that hand come from? It’s got to come from the plant’s desire to provide a safe working environment and to be the safest company for our contractors. It’s got to come from that procurement manager who says, “I’m standing by you, and I’m going to help you fill those gaps so we will not fall down.”
Otherwise, if those gaps aren’t filled and your project’s Jenga tower falls, it could result in a catastrophe.