Dan Petersen
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By: American Society of Safety Engineers
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Safety Management: A Human Approach 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Techniques of Safety Management: A Systems Approach, Fourth Edition Dan Petersen has made enormous contributions to occupational safety and health and this fourth edition of Techniques of Safety Management continues the tradition. This book is a companion volume to Techniques of Safety Management: A Human Approach. A systems approach emphasizes systems but also includes information about the human element.
Petersen discusses numerous changes occurring in the rapidly evolving safety field. For readers who have an earlier edition of this book, the best thing about the fourth edition is the updated material - both revised and new. Petersen does a nice job updating relevant information and including pertinent new topics such as statistical safety control, ISO standards, fault trees for specific safety system elements, and Six Sigma.
The book is well organized into six parts. The first part provides a thorough historical framework of safety including recent changes affecting safety professionals. Petersen has a unique ability to see the big picture and yet skillfully dissect and clearly explain specific techniques successful safety professionals need. He reviews ten safety management principles, then covers the related roles, drivers, and measurement involved in managing safety in Part two.
Part three and four cover proactive and reactive system elements. These are important concepts for safety professionals and safety students to comprehend, because (in the reviewers' opinion) proactive approaches and effective reactive approaches are not commonly performed very well in safety management. Proactive safety approaches are unfortunately missing in many organizations. Proactive topics include changing behavior, changing physical conditions, using ergonomics, and changing the management system. The section on proactive system elements covers about 100 pages and includes valuable information on topics such as motivation, measurement, and risk analysis.
Additional system elements such as complying with OSHA, fleet safety, product safety, and other safety-related programs are reviewed in part five. The Appendix includes over 20 fault trees for safety system elements. Examples of system safety elements include supervisory performance, effective discipline, effective training, support for safety, and management credibility. These are unique to my knowledge and potentially very useful to the safety professional. The book is worth purchasing for these "fault trees" alone.
Petersen emphasizes research as an underlying criterion for sound decisions. He includes a wide variety of studies and authors, and draws upon extensive real world innovations and best practices. The book is replete with useful checklists, templates, and meaningful exhibits. Many of the checklists and formulas are ready for the reader to customize for their own use. One example provided and explained in detail is the Justification Formula. The Justification Formula is used to assess risks, and "provides both Safety and Management with guidance in deciding whether the cost of a proposed safety project is justified...and gives a solid foundation upon which Safety may base its recommendations for corrective action" (p.179). The Justification Formula appears to be a genuinely valuable tool for safety professionals.
The book has the broad aim to be of value to students, safety professionals, industry specialists, part-time safety specialists in industry, line managers, private consultants, and insurance safety engineers. Each of these groups should find Petersen's book a helpful guide containing numerous tools and techniques they can effectively use.
Editorial Review:
This book describes the essential elements of a behavior-based safety program as well as describing some of the barriers to full implementation. The author also discusses how to evaluate supervisory performance and training methods. Drawing on his training and expererience in industrial psychology and organizational behavior, Dr. Petersen presents a model for teaching safe behavior and building a safe work environment. Approaches to encouraging greater participation in safety programs are examined. The author also examines what effects stress has on safe behavior, and the need for wellness programs. Substance abuse effects on worker behavior are explored and recommendations for developing an employee asssitance program in substance abuse are presented.
