How to Improve Quality - Part 1

The causes of poor quality management, and a framework for improving the quality of management, services and products, are outlined by Prof John Smallwood.

Research into the views of construction clients, bodies, and contractors, revealed these causes and drivers of poor quality management;

• Lack of uniform understanding of quality and quality management
• Cost and time are more important than quality
• The importance of quality varies according to roles
• Pre-occupation with cost and time marginalises quality
• Pre-occupation affects contractors’ quality related performance (rating)

South African construction quality can be substantially improved. Quality performance is influenced by the sector in which construction is undertaken and the contributors.

An improvement process is important in terms of achieving quality (TQM). A range of interventions / systems are important relative to the achievement of quality. An informal approach is adopted relative to the achievement of quality (prevalence of documented QMSs).

A range of perspectives, practices, andsituations contribute to the achievement of quality. Management commitment is critical. A range of interventions and situations are barriers to achieving quality, such as poor site management.

The level of quality knowledge is generally inadequate. The sources of quality knowledge are predominantly informal.

Absolutes of Quality Management

Prof Smallwood revealed statistical evidence in a presentation on quality management in the built environment, at the KZN MBA Building Industry Forum in March 2014. He noted the ‘absolutes of quality’ as;

• Conform to requirements
• Set a performance standard at zero defect
• Use a system for prevention
• Measure the price of non-conformance.

Conventional wisdom, however, views and reacts to quality differently, as;

• Goodness or excellence
• Set a performance standard at certain quality levels
• Use a system of appraisal
• Measure indexes or process levels.

How to Improve Quality Management

The 14 steps of quality improvement, according to Crosby, are;

• Management commitment
• Quality improvement team
• Quality measurement
• Calculating the cost of quality
• Quality awareness
• Corrective action
• Zero defects planning
• Education and training
• Zero defects day
• Setting goals
• Error-cause removal
• Recognition
• Quality councils [institutionalisation]
• Do it over again.

A quality mangement intervention should have at least five categories of ingredients;

• Integrity
• Systems
• Communications
• Operations
• Policies.

Quality Management System (QMS) Elements
Any QMS should address at least these elements:

• Management responsibilities
• Contract reviews
• Document use and changes relative to the quality system
• Suppliers and co-contractors, regarding quality
• Material / service identification and traceability during all stages of construction
• Construction procurement control procedures
• Inspection and testing
• Inspection, measuring and test equipment with respect to calibration
• Ability to determine inspection and test status of all materials and elements
• Controls which prevent non-conforming material / elements being installed or processed
• Corrective action procedures which include investigations and analysis
• Quality records which verify the achievement of quality standards and the effectiveness of the system
• Quality audits which verify the effectiveness of the quality system
• Training of personnel who will perform the activities that effect quality during construction.

ISO Quality-Related Standards

Four standards in the quality family are ISO 9001: 2008 (requirements of a quality management system). It is implemented by about a million organisations in 170 countries. In South Africa, less than ten in 4000 CIDB-registered GB and CE Grade 5 to 9 contractors were ISO 9000 accredited three years ago.

ISO 9000: 2005 covers the basic concepts and language.
ISO 9004: 2009 focuses on how to make a QMS more efficient and effective.
ISO 19011: 2011 sets out guidance on internal and external audits of QMSs.

Check in again next week where we bring you Part 2 of How to Improve Quality.

Ebola Raises Health Care PPE Skills Risk

Ebola virus infection of some health care workers, despite wearing PPE, demonstrate the need to raise health care PPE skills.

Breach of health care protocol and PPE removal procedures at a USA hospital where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan was treated before his death, led to the infection of a health care worker with the deadly virus. Other caregivers may have been exposed.

The infected health care worker’s personal protective equipment (PPE) included a gown, gloves, mask, and shield. She could not explain how the breach might have occurred, said Dr Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Duncan was the first person in the USA diagnosed with Ebola.

Some workers take off their PPE incorrectly, leading to contamination. Investigators will also check procedures for dialysis and intubation, the insertion of a breathing tube in a patient’s airway. Both procedures have the potential to spread infectious material.

A Spanish nurse assistant became the first health care worker infected outside West Africa during the ongoing outbreak.

She helped care for two priests who were brought to a Madrid hospital and later died. More than 370 health care workers in West Africa have fallen ill or died since the epidemic began earlier this year. A dog belonging to the Spanish nurse was euthanised.

The USA CDC said the “missteps” with the first patient and the infection of a caregiver was a warning to all health care workers worldwide.

Police stood guard outside her apartment complex and told people not to go inside. Officers made automated phone calls and passed out fliers to notify people in a four-block radius, although the risk is confined to close contact with Ebola patients.

The deceased patient came from Liberia to visit family, sought medical care for ‘fever and abdominal pain’, and told a nurse he had traveled from Africa. He was later placed in isolation.

Liberia is one of the three West African countries most affected by the Ebola epidemic, which has killed more than 4000 people, according to World Health Organisation figures. The others are Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Ebola Symptoms and Exposure Management.

Ebola is caused by a virus. Initial symptoms could start within two days of contact with an infected person or body: fever, tiredness, headache and nausea.

Later symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhoea, cough (which may contain blood), and bleeding from nose and mouth.

It spreads by people in direct contact with people who have ebola, or contact with dead bodies, or some animals.

Keep away from sick or dead patients with Ebola. Do not touch an infected person or their body fluids. Wash your hands often with soap.

Do not touch or eat bush meat or bats.

If you suspect ebola, call your medical centre and tell them about your illness. Listen to the advice, you may be sent to a special hospital.

Keep away from others so they don’t get sick. Be especially careful with your bodily fluids such as spittle, cough, blood, urine, feces.

USA health authorities confirmed; “Ebola spreads through close contact with a symptomatic person’s bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen. Those fluids must have an entry point, like a cut or scrape or someone touching the nose, mouth or eyes with contaminated hands, or being splashed.”

The World Health Organisation confirmed that “blood, feces and vomit are the most infectious fluids, while the virus is found in saliva mostly once patients are severely ill. The whole live virus has never been culled from sweat.”

USA customs and health officials began taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at airports from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in a stepped-up screening effort.

The health care worker had reported a fever as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the CDC. The hospital has stopped accepting new emergency room patients.

In the health worker’s neighborhood, one police officer said an industrial barrel outside contained hazardous biological waste taken from inside the building.

Officials said they also received information that there may be a pet in the health care worker’s apartment, and they have a plan to care for the animal. They do not believe the pet has signs of having contracted Ebola.

Disclaimer: This post is to raise awareness. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Should you have questions or concerns about any topic described here, consult your medical professional.

Source; Buildsafe SA. Press of Atlantic City.

This article by Edmond Furter

Nigerian Church Slab Collapse Confirms Our Safety Responsibility

The Nigerian church slab collapse in September 2014 that killed 84 South African pilgrims, reminds us that safety is a human responsibility that cannot be delegated to God.

“In the first century, a large tower in Jerusalem fell, killing eighteen people (Luke 13:4). Still many scaffoldings and buildings worldwide kill workers and other people.” I wrote these words three years ago, urging churches to integrate health and safety values in their practices.

There is no city in the world prayed for as much as Jerusalem. The Psalmist declares: “Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces”. Yet a tower in Siloam fell and killed 18 people in Jerusalem.

Churches should take a leaf out of the Vedic literature, that non-injury is the highest of all virtues; Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah.

The legal code of Babylonian King Hammurabi of BC 220, prescribes punishment of overseers for injuries suffered by workers.

There is a misperception among some believers that religion and safety are incongruent, or that religion places all trust in the higher hand. This is a fallacy! Safety is an age-old management responsibility, as confirmed even in religious history.

The first five books of the Old Testament by Moses, include social and safety values, cultural codes, and health codes including diet. The church should be built on rock and faith.

The body is a temple, and sacred gatherings are collective spiritual weddings. Everyting has to be safe, healthy, with low environmental impact, and of high quality, or ‘Sheq’.

One of the human challenges is the ability to distinguish the essence of matter from form. We have to start with form, then we are free to invest form with substance.

The responsibility for safety is a human responsibility which cannot be delegated to God.

Spiritual Intelligence Supports Safety

We look at incidents in a ‘rear view mirror’, with the wisdom of hindsight, but there is often less wisdom in our prevention efforts.

We need intellectual, emotional and spiritual intelligence, the latter based on multiple meanigs and value in a wider human context, writes Mabila Mathebula.

SQ is soul’s intelligence by which we recognise universal values, beyond the conventional, as Zohar and Marshall wrote in 2000. Indications of a highly developed SQ are:

• capacity to be flexible (actively and spontaneously adaptive).
• high degree of self-awareness.
• capacity to face and use suffering.
• capacity to face and transcend pain.
• quality of being inspired by vision and values.
• reluctance to cause unnecessary harm.
• tendency to see the connection between diverse things (holism).
• tendency to ask “Why” or “What if” and seek fundamental answers.
• field-independent‘ facility for working against convention.

Noah followed safe construction instructions from God. He used the right materials, dimensions and coating inside and out.

We dare not delay the implementation of health and safety management in our churches, mosques and synagogues. A religious organisation without health and safety management is not built on rock.

Churches have to embrace the five elements of wise reasoning proposed by Grossman (cited in Southey);

• Willingness to seek opportunities to resolve conflict;
• Willingness to search for a compromise;
• Recognition of the limits of personal knowledge;
• Awareness that more than one perspective on a problem can exist;
• Appreciation that things may get worse before they get better.

In the article titled Churches should promote HS values and culture I wrote three years ago: “We need a safety indaba in the Evangelical industry to highlight the hazards, risks and opportunities for enhancing values and culture, including transport risks, fatigue risks, fire risks, and work task risks”.

For the conservative paradigms of churches to change, they need to become learning organisations and abandon the ‘pharisee’ mentality that deveopes only on theory and is insulated from the real world and from learning.

This article by Edmond Furter via SheqAfrica.com

We're Hiring!

We are looking for an individual to join us permanently to manage our clients health and safety systems and procedures, as well as to look after our accreditation on the training side.

To apply, you must have the following or at least the majority of it;

• Intro to SAMTRAC (Hazards identification, Risk Assessment, Procedures).
• Safety Management/Supervisors Certificate
• Understanding of the OSHAct. (Executive Legal Liability)
• Incident Investigation Certificate.
• Auditing
• 6 months of experience.

Ideally we're looking for a person with a SAMTRAC qualification, and Incident Investigation, and 2 years of experience.

Salary will be negotiated based on the individual's set of skills and resume.

All CV's can be mailed to dalwyn@srg.co.za

Dangers Lurk in Poor Health & Safety Communication

Communication in Occupational Health and Safety is of cardinal importance.

The structure of communication must focus on communication from management downwards to the general worker but also from the general worker upwards to management.

It has become clear to me during my encounters with the Health & Safety management systems of clients, when performing legal compliance audits, that a lot of companies still see health & safety as a window dressing, or paper, exercise.

They are so Wrong

Employers believe that the odds of getting away with window-dressing are good because:

1. Something bad will never happen to them, and
2. They believe that having a document on file is sufficient in complying with legislation and safeguarding them against liability claims in the event of an incident.

Health and Safety Communication

Health and Safety communication and training, although not the same, are two of the more important aspects of Occupational Health and Safety.

It is explicitly required of an employer in industry in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, section 8 (2) (e) “Without derogating from the generality of an employer’s duties under subsection (1), the matters to which those duties refer include in particular- providing such information, instructions, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees” and section 13 “Without derogating from any specific duty imposed on an employer by this Act, every employer shall-

(a) as far as is reasonably practicable, cause every employee to be made conversant with the hazards to his health and safety attached to any work which he has to perform, any article or substance which he has to produce, process, use, handle, store or transport and any plant or machinery which he is required or permitted to use, as well as with the precautionary measures which should be taken and observed with respect to those hazards;

(b) inform the health and safety representatives concerned beforehand of inspections, investigations or formal inquiries of which he has been notified by an inspector, and of any application for exemption made by him in terms of section 40; and

(c) inform a health and safety representative as soon as reasonably practicable of the occurrence of an incident in the workplace or section of the workplace for which such representative has been designated”.

The equivalent under the Mine Health & Safety Act 29 of 1996 is section 10 (1)“As far as reasonably practicable, every employer must-

(a) provide employees with any information, instruction, training or supervision that is necessary to enable them to perform their work safely and without risk to health; and

(b) ensure that every employee becomes familiar with work-related hazards and risks and the measures that must be taken to eliminate, control and minimise those hazards and risks”.

The Wikipedia definition for communication is “Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning “to share” ) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of ideas, feelings, intentions, attitudes, expectations, perceptions or commands, as by speech, gestures, writings, behaviour and possibly by other means such as electromagnetic, chemical or physical phenomena. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or more participants (machines, organisms or their parts)”.

Communication requires a sender, a message, a medium and a recipient. The communication process is complete once the receiver understands the sender’s message.

Proving that the Communication was Understood.

It is very evident from the above-mentioned definition and brief explanation of communication that communication is only successful if the receivers understand the information conveyed to them.

To bring Health and Safety into the discussion I would like to refer to simple things such as having a Prescribed Medicine Policy as required in terms ofGeneral Safety Regulation 2A (3) as well as PPE and the requirements relating to it in terms of regulation 2 of the regulation mentioned above.

Having a policy to protect employees in the place of work due to the detrimental effect of fatigue is not sufficient if that policy is not communicated to staff.

It is also important to be able to prove that information was communicated. Here one has to distinguish between lower and higher level employees.

With higher level employees an informative session followed by the signing of an attendance register is sufficient.

With lower level employees more effort should be put in. These employees must be trained on the policy, its contents and their duties in terms thereof, followed by a test. We have eleven official languages in our country which means that a person that is informed in a language which is neither first nor second can use/abuse that against an employer. With these employees an attendance register would merely show that the individual was present, but not necessarily an understanding of the information conveyed/communicated.

Ensure that your Health and Safety policies and procedures are communicated and employees informed of them.

This article: by Gerrit Augustyn via SheqAfrica.com

SHEQ Managers are not Human Resource Practitioners

Confronting the question of the organisational position of SHEQ managers.

Are we part and parcel of human resources (HR), or separate? In my experience we are separate from HR, and are more technical and operational.

SHEQ Managers and the CEO

SHEQ Managers internationally should report to the CEO or MD. This is common practice in most of the companies I have worked.

In my last role, as HSSE Commissioning Manager for a petrochemical refinery, it would have been impossible to ‘report to HR’. So perhaps we should first look at the industrial sector.

In retail and non-technical industries, SHEQ people may report to HR, but in technical operations Sheq managers must report to the CEO or MD, on par with the other departments with their line management silos.

I would hate to report to HR personally, as they too are internal organisational service providers. HR should report to Health and Safety, or HSE or SHEQ.

In the modern behavioural approach to psycho-social issues in the UK, the HSE chaps deal with it, and a survey indicated that HR and psychologists were only supporting these psychosocial workplace issues. -Shane Lishman, in response to a report by Rudy Maritz (see his report on workplace SHEQ culture in the UAE, in another post on Sheqafrica.com).

Where do SHEQ Managers and Courses fit in?

Unisa apparently sees OHS as part of management, judging by its current change of the Safety Management degree to a BCom degree with safety modules.

In the earlier post, Rudy Maritz wrote that most SHEQ managers worldwide agree that we are a profession, but some see us as a sub-field of human resources management. The South African occupational framework, OFO, sees OHS or SHEQ managers as working in the human resources (HR) discipline.

The DoL adopted the use of the OFO (which extended ANZCO by incorporating additional occupations and occupational categories identified through research and consultation) as a tool for identifying, reporting and monitoring scarce and critical skills, and maintained it through an annual updating process.

This process and responsibility was taken over by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) five years ago.

Health and Safety and the OFO

According to the 2013 Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO), occupations are classified in eight main groups.

In the OFO, Health and Safety Managers (SHEQ managers) fall in the main group of managers, and the sub-group of Human Resources. From a skills level point the HS or SHE Manager is on par with the HR manager, Recruitment Manager, Training Manager, Compensation and Benefits Manager, and Employee Wellness Manager.

The OFO Occupational Code for SHE Managers (121206) notes that this person manages, reviews and evaluates work environments, and oversees the design of programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors.

Clearly, the DHET sees Health and Safety Management as a Human Resources function, and not a health (medical) or safety (engineering) function.

Contrary to Health and Safety or SHE Managers, practitioners fall under the Professional sub-group 226302. This person develops, implements and evaluates risk management policies and programs, trains employees in occupational health and safety procedures, monitors and audits the workplace, and records and investigates incidents to ensure safe and healthy working conditions.

Environmental Managers are described under 226301, with various other options. From a construction perspective, Construction Managers include Construction Project Managers, and various terms in the Engineering field. There is no classification for a Construction (SHE) Agent, Manager or Officer in the OFO.

Safety falls in various occupational unit-groups, and safety officers fall in some specialist groups, like mine safety officer, marine safety officer, fire safety officer, food safety officer, road safety officer, or safety and security officer.

The ultimate responsibility of SHEQ practitioners (SHEQ managers) is in planning, leading, co-ordinating, controlling and resourcing of those functions that achieve organisational compliance in best practices, wrote Martiz.

SHEQ Cannot Operate in Isolation

SHEQ practice does not operate in isolation, but is an overarching or horizontal function, integrating into every line function (vertical) within an organisation.

The ideal organisational structure should have a SHEQ co-ordinator in each department, reporting to a SHEQ manager and a SHEQ champion at board level.

OHS has a very unique place in the business world. One of the key subjects recommended by Prof Phoon to the ILO, is the organisational functions within the OHS professions. SHEQ managers serve administrative and organisational compliance, and are thus management functionaries.

This article by Shane Lishman via SheqAfrica.com

First-Aid in the Workplace – The Legal Requirements

First-aid in the workplace legal requirements can be found in the General Safety Regulations made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Appointment of First-Aiders

Firstly, the general duty placed on employers is that they should take all reasonable steps that are necessary to ensure that persons at work receive prompt first-aid treatment in the case of an injury or emergency.

If an organisation employs more than five employees, the employer must provide a first-aid box at or near the workplace which must be accessible and available for the treatment of injured persons at that workplace.

If an organisation employs more than ten employees, then at least one person for every fifty employees must be in possession of a valid certificate of competency in first-aid, or in the case of an office or shop as contemplated in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, one first-aider must be available for every one hundred employees.

First-Aid on Day and Night Shifts

The employer must take keep in mind that labour legislation prohibits discrimination against employees based upon the shift which they work – any privileges and services which are available to day shift workers must be available to night shift workers too. In other words, if there are first-aiders available on the day shift, as well as emergency response teams, persons with these skills should be available to the staff who work at night.

It is a common occurrence that there are response teams, nursing sisters and/or doctors on site during the day shift, but that they are merely on standby on night shifts. This will result in serious legal liability consequences for an employer should an employee be injured on night shift, and die as a result of the fact that he did not receive treatment timeously enough.

If a workplace uses high risk substances, corrosives or similar hazardous substances, the first aider must be trained in first-aid procedures that are necessary for the treatment of injuries that may result from exposure to these substances. He should also be aware of the emergency procedures which are necessary in the case of accidental leakage, spillage or dumping of these substances.

Contents of a First-Aid Box

The Annexure to the General Safety Regulations list the minimum content of a first aid box as follows (the quantities required have been omitted):

• Wound cleaner/antiseptic
• Swabs for cleaning wound
• Cotton wool for padding
• Sterile guaze
• Forceps
• Scissors
• Safety pins
• Triangular bandages
• Roller bandages
• Elastic adhesive
• Non-allergic adhesive strip
• Adhesive dressing strips
• First aid dressing
• Straight splints
• Disposable latex gloves
• CPR mouth pieces
• Household gloves
• Disinfectant
• Plastic red bad
• Paper towel

Is that all?

Although this is the list that the Act prescribes, there is a common misconception that an employer will be legally compliant if he has a kit which contains the items listed above. This is not so…

Regulation 3 dictates that an employer must make sure that his first aid boxes contain suitable first aid equipment which includes at least the equipment listed in the annexure. However, he must take into account the type of injuries that are likely to occur, the nature of the activities performed and the number of employees who work at the workplace.

It is evident that the contents which must be included will be dependent on the nature of the risks which will be encountered in the workplace. It will therefore be necessary to peruse the hazard identification and risk assessment of the organisation to determine what other items may be required in the box – for example, if fire is an identified risk, burn kits should be included in the first-aid boxes.

The principle is that for every significant risk which could be encountered in the workplace, there must be sufficient emergency equipment contained in the first-aid kit – only then will the employer be in possession of a legally compliant first-aid kit.

This article by Natalie Graaff via SheqAfrica.com

CLICK HERE to find out more on First Aid training provided by SKILLS

To book your training session or for more information call 086 100 7742 and speak to your Customer Service Agents or simply email skills@srg.co.za with your enquiry & contact details and we'll get back to you.