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On 06/11/2011 09:44 AM, Roberta Hennessey wrote:
> I thought people might find this article interesting.
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43361554
>
> Investigation of ski lift accident
> The report said maintenance records were inadequate and that the ski
> resort lacked a complete maintenance manual and a complete record
> of the drawings for the lift.
Anyone out there ever try to sell a company on producing those missing
manuals? I was once on a company's safety committee. (Don't remember
what started the idea that we needed such a thing.) We met just once, in
the hallway, to decide on a time and place for meetings. The actual
committee meetings never happened. There was no push to allow members to
spend time on those "unproductive" meetings. I think the push has to
come from outside, either from a government agency or from something
like an insurance company.
When a maintenance or safety manual does exist, it's often produced in a
vacuum and then ignored (and rightly so, since its contents are
worthless). Written procedures often go untested, and the actual work
methods are developed ad hoc and passed along by grapevine training.
Maintenance records are never kept, or are faked.
Lowe's Home Improvement actually believes in written safety procedures
and the associated training. The store manager and employees at the
Sanford NC store, 13 miles from my home, knew what to do in a tornado.
The storm on 16 April totally demolished the store, but no one in the
store was killed and only a few were injured.
The state of North Carolina inspects rides such as ski lifts and ferris
wheels. They do not inspect the wheels for my pony ride, though, and I
doubt they would have any clue on what to inspect. They would probably
want to see that the brakes worked correctly. But there are no brakes!
The key to safety is proper training for the ponies, something that is
not mechanical and is untestable by anyone who does not understand
horses. There is no safety manual, although I suppose I could write one,
but having one would be pointless. Just yesterday we tested a pony that
we thought we might buy, and immediately rejected her on grounds of
safety. She was "spoiled rotten," and we felt she would need a year of
training before we might trust her not to strike or bite.
Even if there is a maintenance or safety manual for the ski lift, the
actual safety derives from the sound judgment of the operators on duty
and of their management. In my estimation, the accident resulted not
from the failure to adhere to a written manual, but from the management
technique called "deferred maintenance," in which "if it ain't broke,
don't fix it" is only the beginning. Deferred maintenance can show
tremendous cost savings. Maintenance staff are not employed, spare parts
are not kept in stock, and make-do patchwork repairs are tolerated. If
the manager who initiates the deferral jumps ship before the inevitable
catastrophe, he can look like a financial wizard. All the blame will go
to his successors.
Thus I doubt that one can sell the manual and the training to a CFO who
is deferring the maintenance, or to anyone beneath him. The pitch must
be made to the board of directors. Do tech writers ever speak to boards
of directors? How?
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