Unit 9 Maintaining High Reliability and Implementation

Objectives Define the term high reliability organization Describe the importance of mindfulness in maintaining safety and how mindfulness leads to accidents Describe the dangers to the team when there is a preoccupation with failure Describe the importance of a reluctance to simplify and how to build a commitment to resilience Describe why deference to expertise is necessary 2

High Reliability Organizations Maintaining safety, reliability, and performance while performing dangerous work in dynamic environments is dangerous Leaders must choose to remain vigilant Efforts can be time consuming and expensive Cultures that support CRM requires mindful, careful review or problems and points of conflict 3

High Reliability Organizations (cont.) Weick and Sutcliffe “Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in and Age of Uncertainty” Perrow “ Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies” Critical components include –Mindfulness –Inclination towards inquiry and doubt –Updating standard procedures –Commitment to resilience –Willingness to defer to expertise 4

Mindfulness Individual members need to be mindful of their operations, patterns of behavior, and the skills and abilities of their peers, superiors, and subordinates Maintaining mindfulness is difficult, leaders should ask –Is there a sense of team –Does everyone feel accountable for their actions or do they value quality –Does the team understand what can go wrong and how 5

Avoid Mindlessness Absence of mindfulness Falling into a routine and not paying attention Lack of deviation, severe time pressure, or tired leads to mindlessness Good team identify characteristics of situations leading to mindlessness Institute methods to ensure team members avoid mindlessness 6

Inquire, Doubt, Update Inquiry is fostered and encouraged to check their assumption about an outcome against reality Doubt may create conflict but is a necessary component of healthy, team communication A shared understanding is impossible if individuals don’t provide updates about their perceptions and performance Individual context is rich with stimuli 7

High Reliability Organizations Become preoccupied with failure Be reluctant to simplify Be sensitive to operations Commit to resilience Defer to expertise 8

Strategies For Implementation or CRM Barriers include psychological, political, funding, administrative, and training materials “the way it has always been done” Requires rethinking of operational protocols from the top down and from the bottom up Correct implementation can be expensive Administrative barriers can be significant Time is limited 9

The Training Effort After obtaining administrative approval of a CRM program and buy in, the training model is as follows: 1.Train to technical firefighting proficiency 2.Train to CRM proficiency 3.Train risk versus gain 4.Include CRM in the department culture, debriefing, and training 10

The key to successful implementation of a CRM program is constant reinforcement of CRM principles in day to day operations. CRM must become a part of the culture of an organization, not just another safety program. 11

Summary High Reliability Organizations Inquiry, doubt, update Mindfulness versus mindlessness Preoccupied with failure Sensitive to operations Strategies for implementation The training effort 12