Essentials for Successful Safety Initiative, Article Critique Example

The Importance of Safety

In the contemporary world of advanced technologies, it may seem that the issues health and safety became more prioritized than in the previous epoch, and therefore the safety of working place became an inevitable part of any business performance. In fact, it is so. However, the level and quality of safety largely is continued by the approach chosen to the safety and issues and consequent measures taken.  The aim of this paper is to conduct a critique of an article discussing the matters of successful safety in the working place by John Peabody.

The essence of the article is demonstrating how a successful safety can be practically achieved in the working place. In this regard, the author argues that by the quality of safety is not in the size of insurance coverage prescribed to a certain technology or work performance task. The successful safety is achieved through the realization of safety in terms of actions and precautions rather than financial regulations. In other words, the author suggests a certain plan of safety norms implementation. First of all, qualified institutions should be involved in the assessment of the potential hazards of the working environment, and then the most functional norms should be developed (Peabody, 2014).

Furthermore, various machines and processes have to be identified, and detailed assessment of procedural safety issues should be outlined. I this regard, the emphasis is placed on collecting the right information, like incident history and estimation of the number of people who would work with these technologies. It is also advised to get the right people involved, meaning specialists and practitioners; then, machines and processes are to be observed in operation to verify the existing theory. On further stages, hazardous areas are to be pinpointed, risk levels identified and evaluated, system costs estimated, all needed services and materials are to be provided, final follow-up assessment conducted with further closeout and signing off the project (Peabody, 2014). Moreover, the author also suggests that the primary role in the process is held by leading manager who ensures the accuracy of the plan execution. The significance of pre-training in safety success is also outlined.

From the evaluative perspective, it can be argued that the article corresponds to its intention of outlining the practical aspect of the development of safety plan, with its author being a qualified practitioner in the field. In this regard, the author is detailed about which practical steps are required for achieving successful safety program. He is objective about potential challenges of achieving various steps efficiently. For instance, he outlines the complexity of viewing the issue of safety beyond the insurance regulation.

Moreover, the author’s argument fits well into the current health and safety discourse that argues for the necessity of systematic and consistent perception of safety aimed at prevention of potential hazards rather than avoidance of their repetition (Chaturvedi, 2005). In this regard, author’s emphasis on the necessity of pre-training is of particular relevance since it can influence the efficiency safeguards and consequent procedures. Another advantage of the article is that it is well-written in a comprehensive way for a wider audience irrespective of the field of readers’ expertise. The author uses relevant practical evidence for the steps he had outlined in the article. On the other hand, the article would definitely benefit if the author took a specific project or industry and followed all suggested steps of safety planning within that project. It would make the narration more systematic and evident (Schneid, 2014).

Regarding the structure of the article, it is very logical with an introduction of the issue, its relevance, the explanation of methodology and process outline, followed by the role of managerial leadership and the explanation of the relevance of pre-training. Conclusions were precise and logical. The overall structure makes the understanding of the argument easier for the non-specialist audience and effective in making the author’s point that the success of safety is a complex matter that requires the effective and constant commitment of various stakeholders. In this regard, the author once again reaffirms the contemporary trend that safety cannot be viewed just as totality of health and safety norms but has to be perceived as safety culture:

“Safety culture is about good safety attitudes in people but it is also about good safety management established by organizations. Good Safety Culture means giving the highest priority to safety. Safety culture is also an amalgamation of values, standards, morals and norms of acceptable behavior” (Chaturvedi, 2005, p. 431).

The primary advantage of viewing safety as a systematic phenomenon or as safety culture, gives the manager more opportunities to influence and improve the state of safety within an organization or a specific working place. By addressing various elements of safety, particularly the human factor, the overall level of safety can be improved, which would result in the improved efficiency of performance and decrease of harmful implications of post-injury or incident recovery (Schneid, 2014).

Overall, from all mentioned above, it can be concluded that the studied article is well-grounded piece of practical discourse on the subject of successful safety and a guide to its practical achievement under various circumstances and segments of industries. Moreover, this article is suitable for specialists in the industrial projects and overall management. The author is convincing in his argument and demonstrates a high level of objectivity and systematic approach to the discussed subject.

References

Chaturvedi, P. (2005). Managing Safety: Challenges Ahead. New Delhi: Ashok Kumar Mittal.

Peabody, J. (April 2014). Essentials for a Successful Safety Initiative. EHSToday,  29-31.

Schneid, T. (2014). Workplace Safety and Health: Assessing Current Practices and Promoting Change in the Profession. New York: CRC Press.