Never-ending Checklists

Some well intended safety people were reviewing an activity on site. First they checked the paperwork which included daily checklists for the equipment being used.

Then they checked the equipment and found it to have various defects that must have been present for days if not weeks.

They concluded that the checklists didn’t work.

Yay!! And they were right.

Procedures don’t drive behaviour, behaviour drives procedure. The environment created by the well intentioned safety bods supported a tick box culture as the people were often measured on the completion of paperwork.

Unfortunately, however, in their wisdom, they concluded that another checklist was required to check the process and the checklists within.

So close yet still so far....