Harold Horne, global manufacturing leadership development manager at Eastman Chemical, doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the importance of safety in the workplace.
"We're not making whipped cream. If procedures are not followed, people die," he said.
While considerable progress has been made in recent years in identifying, addressing and eliminating the causes of industrial and process safety incidents, the goal, Horne explained, is to get to zero worker injuries and adverse events.
"Ninety-nine percent is not good enough. The worst things can happen in our industry in that last little gap," Horne said, discussing process safety in a presentation titled "What's Beyond the Gap? Going Above and Beyond for a Zero Incident Culture" at the 32nd Annual Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Seminar held recently in Galveston, Texas.
"In that gap between zero and where we're at in personal and industrial safety, if we want to get to zero, we have to work hard," Horne said. "We have to sustain. We can't be happy with where we're sitting. We have to do things differently."
Sometimes, Horne observed, people don't understand why they're doing what they're doing.
"Our industry is a very energetic one, and we sometimes need to clarify why it's so important to stay focused," he said.
Great operational discipline, Horne said, demands everyone involved in that operation "dots every 'i' and crosses every 't.'"
Workers must maintain that focus for their loved ones, if for no other reason, he said.
"That's what drives me: the people who care about me and the people I care about," Horne continued. "I want to hang onto my hopes and my dreams. I don't want the bad things to happen in our industry. We're in a tough, hard plow of trying to get to zero [incidents], and I will do anything I can to make that happen."
Horne said he believes industry professionals' greatest single responsibility is to determine how to close the safety gap.
"How do we go above and beyond? How do we get there? How do we keep a zero-incident mindset?" he posed. "How do we keep pressing on to 'give all for safety' or whatever your slogan or your driver is to get to zero?"
Admit, ask, accept
A good start, Horne said, is for workers on every level of the operation to admit there is a safety gap, recognize opportunities for improvement and ask for help.
Horne's personal safety gap, he said, was texting while driving, especially with his daughter. Taking his own advice, he decided to ask others to help him with this gap. A friend and co-worker stepped up with a suggestion.
"'Because I care about you, your mom and your family, we can't afford to lose you around here,'" Horne said his friend told him. "'I challenge you to put your phone in the trunk and quit texting when you drive.'"
"The next morning, I got in the car and started driving. I drove about half a mile when I realized my cellphone was lying by my side," he said. "So I stopped, put my phone in my backpack and put my backpack in the trunk."
What may seem like a simple way to close this safety gap required three definitive actions: Horne had to admit his gap and ask for help, and someone else had to care enough to intervene.
"Because somebody cared, they shared an idea to help me get around my gap," he said. "Care enough about others to intervene."
After sharing his story, Horne encouraged conference attendees to share their own personal stories so others can learn from them.
"Everyone has stories like this that are challenging. Maybe you've got an idea that nobody else has come up with," he said. "Tell them to one of your co-workers in the industry. Tell them to somebody you don't want to learn the hard way."
