January 31 2022
By: Shawn M. Galloway
Years ago, when hired by a manufacturing plant in California to help them improve upon their existing behavior-based Safety process (BBS), I coined a term. Sinchuwr BBS was born. Afterward, I saw it often. Being from Texas, the southern part of the United States, we tend to speak with a drawl, or sometimes it appears just lazy. "Since you were," becomes sinchuwr.
This plant once had a practical, focused process to identify organizational influences on behavior, but scope creep showed its ugly face. Knowing there was a process where employees were watching work to determine the influence on risk, other leaders began piling on. Well, since you were... I'd like you to also look for these ten things. Over the years, more was added to this BBS observation strategy. The original quarter-page list of items to observe became two pages front and back.
Recently, while teaching a class attended by enterprise-level safety professionals, I heard another piling on example. When leaders are sent out to locations with a particular objective in mind, more gets added. "Well, sinchuwr visiting the area, go ahead and perform some observations, go ahead and conduct some Gemba walks, go ahead and..."
There seems to be a propensity with many well-intended leaders to try to do everything. Safety needs to be strategic. Strategy is about value creation. It is strategic to decide what not to do or what to stop doing. Take a hard look at what you are asking of others on your journey to excellence. Is it the most important thing or the best use of time? Is it necessary? Does it add value? Is it what the customers and consumers of your improvement efforts need? If you keep coming up with an answer of no, perhaps less is more.
"I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up." - Erma Bombeck
"The difference between the greats and the legends is their ability to focus for longer periods of time." - Jordan Burroughs
Shawn Galloway, CEO of ProAct Safety, is an expert in safety excellence. With almost thirty years of experience, he is a highly sought-after advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. Shawn has become a trusted partner to leading organizations across various industries worldwide. He ranks in the top 1% of the most prolific writers in his field, having authored over 500 articles and several bestselling books. He also launched the world's first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence©. As a recognized authority in safety, Shawn has received awards such as being named among the Top 50 People Who Most Influence EHS and a Top 10 Speaker, among others.
He is a regular guest on Bloomberg, Fox News, The Daily Mail, Dubai One, U.S. News & World Report, Sirius Business Radio, Wharton Business Daily, and leading safety magazines and podcasts. Shawn also serves as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Business Council, and Fast Company Executive Board, enabling his influence to shape safety thinking and strategy at the executive level.
