Introducing 4RP
In the context of this website, 4RP deals with messages that define, maintain, improve, audit and promote Safety Cultures.
The supporting book called "Managed Message: Safety" can be obtained online at the Amazon.com Kindle store.
Building a Safety Culture
4RP builds on the analysis of any process, near miss, accident, or incident and the subsequent repackaging of the resultant messages for delivery, audit and follow up on an ongoing basis. The messages and follow up are relentless and delivered before any subsequent events can occur. Specific and detailed messages from accidents are managed; they are not forgotten. Accidents are prevented.
A Safety Culture consists of the pool of ideas, thoughts, images, practices, written text, and beliefs that all constitute messages and guide our actions in the workplace. 4RP is designed to support existing practices and replace some of those that are less effective.
Simplifying Safety Messages
4RP simplifies the transmission of safety messages, information and ideas. Single messages will be easily handled and not lost in the sea of competing communication.
In its most simple form, a message is an idea a person either receives, or conceives and can communicate to another person. Messages include training, posters, hardhat stickers, safety manuals, operations manuals, speeches, and communications of all kinds. A message can engage any combination of the five senses: hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste.
Safety messages convey ideas to recipients. If the messages make sense and can be imitated they lead to a safer workplace.
4RP makes sense out of, and organizes thousands of possible safety messages. 4RP maintains and improves safety within the context of a Great Safety Culture.
How 4RP Works
Consider some safety concept, issue, or idea to send out to the team. A message needs to be clear concise, memorable, and un-conflicted. It is then inserted into the 4RP delivery system. From there it is a guaranteed process. That message will form a part of the Corporate Safety Culture from that point forward. It will be repeated at appropriate intervals to maintain it as an active issue.
A user who signs up for 4RP will have access to his own online database where he can load in his or her safety messages. These messages are linked to user specified areas with user specified targeted venues for delivery.
Once the database has been set up, it is a simple matter of reviewing the priorities and items on the list from time to time. The use of the site is controlled by username and login and carries a monthly fee.
Using 4RP, a company would typically assign the task of managing the delivery lists to a safety representative or clerical staff. Typically, the user would log in, verify the areas of interest, the venues for delivery, add, delete, or change contents of the master list, modify the delivery instructions as required, and hit the send button. The delivery lists would then be automatically sent out to the targeted recipients with the appropriate instructions for delivery and follow up.
Managing Safety Through Delivery Lists
Delivery lists are subsets of the master list and can be sent out to all venues and people identified on the email lists. Emails containing delivery lists usually include instructions on how to deliver messages; how to keep records and how to deliver feedback. Typically, the recipient is asked to go over the list and present it at the indicated venue in the specified way. He could for instance give a weekly toolbox talk. The list of topics would be reviewed by people in attendance, signed off on by participants and action items flagged for follow up. The hardcopy can be filed for due diligence reasons.
If someone misses a meeting, there is always another meeting. Each delivery list is independent of each other delivery list.
There is no need to keep track of what messages have been delivered to make a future delivery conditional on the status of past deliveries. This avoids introducing unnecessary complications and burdens on staff.
4RP provides for record keeping and signoffs.
4RP assumes people are genuinely interested in working safely. Given this interest and due to pressures in the workplace, 4RP assists by simplifying the delivery of safety messages. 4RP uses a targeted and methodical approach without the mind-numbing and expensive rigor that exists in some systems.
4RP uses short targeted checklists for ongoing attention to the issues. Therefore, appropriate time and attention can be devoted to each issue. This is in contrast to trying to deal with a large list of many items and not being able to attend to each item on the list.
4RP acts as a quick measure of workforce safety compliance by providing compliance scores. These scores can be tracked and provide a measure of the Safety Culture. This can all be done at the same time training is delivered.