ISSUE 4     GLOBAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
ENGINEERS' FORUM

Safety Standards Should Come With Resources For Enforcement

I am an occupational safety & health manager with the U.S. Military. I deal primarily with OSHA, NFPA, Uniform Building Code and Military regulations.

The standard that is most important to me is the one that the local supervisor has developed that shows how they will comply with all of the required consensus standards.

I continuously battle with people over the development of new controls for hazard mitigation. Everyone wants to sit behind the computer and write regulations with little regard for who is responsible for the implementation. Do not bother to write the regulation if you are not willing to dedicate the resources to make it happen. Too many times I see standards applied after the fact ( I told you so - CYA).

To me standards are a four part process:

  • Part 1. Identify a quantifiable need to standardize.
  • Part 2. Develop the standard.
  • Part 3. Train to the standard.
  • Part 4. Enforce the standard.
Without any one of the four steps in place you will have a difficult time attaining the expected result unless compliance was never your intention. My opinions only.

Keith Stelljes
NSA La Maddalena
Safety Manager

JOIN IN! We'd like to know how you feel about standards. Please e-mail me at the address below. Tell us who and where you are, and what position you hold. Then, kindly answer the following questions:

1. What kinds of standards are most important to you in your work?
2. How do you use them?
3. Are they updated on a timely basis?
4. What is YOUR definition of a "good" standard?

We will print a representative sampling of the answers we receive, and, unless notified otherwise, we will provide attribution. Please let us know if you do not wish to be identified and/or to have your employer's name listed if you're among the people whom we quote.

Thanks,
Jaren Green, Editor
jaren.green@ihs.com
Global Engineering Documents, A Division of IHS Engineering


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