This blog synthesizes two of my passions – reading and Scouting.
The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”. When asked what Scouts should be prepared for, Lord Baden-Powell’s response was “Why, for any old thing”. B-P developed the Scouting program and movement with a firm intent for young men to always be “in a state of readiness in mind and body to do” their duty.
One of the most effective self-development books I have read is Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit #2 is “Begin with the end in mind”. According to Covey, this habit challenges you to envision where you want to be vs. where you are. Subsequently, we should strive to create this future version of ourselves by first blueprinting a mental model and then building the physical product.
I often like to combine the above two commands when attempting to guide and mold my son and daughters.
Prepare with the end in mind.
Like every command, it is imperative – vitally important and bound by duty. When it comes to PSM, this synthesized mantra is a good anchor regarding the sustainability of a program. Excellence, improvement, and progress are only achieved when they are sustained. AND, sustainability of a program has to be planned out during the mental blueprinting of a program and not built on the fly during product creation.
As we interact with clients and colleagues, we often discuss the evolution of PSM from a rule-based, OSHA 1910.119, 14-element set model driven by compliance to a risk-based, best practice intrinsically-driven culture. Companies are strewn across this evolutionary spectrum with pockets of success regarding high-integrity PSM program sustainability. Why only pockets of success rather than effective evolution across the board?
The right people are not in the right place at the right time doing the right thing – preparing with the end in mind.
If your current PSM program is effective, but still primarily driven by compliance to 1910.119; perhaps it is time to consider transcending to a higher state of excellence. The risk-based process safety model developed by the Center for Chemical Process Safety can seem daunting and overwhelming, but it is designed to address identified gaps with the dated 14-element model of 1992. Although letters of interpretation have provided supplemental guidance and “teeth” to the performance-based structure of 1910.119, critical facets to high-integrity PSM programs are still often not addressed by the government’s direction on the original PSM mandate. These critical facets include culture, leadership, metrics, and sustainability – all of which play an integral role in preparing with the end in mind.
If you would like to hear more about my thoughts regarding this topic, please visit booth #607 at the 14th Global Congress on Process Safety in Orlando, Florida, during the week of April 22nd, 2018.
