Bravo Rich !! I don't think I could have crafted a better answer in two weeks of wordsmithing.
On Tue, 27 Aug 1996 13:14:00 -0700 Rich Nute wrote: > > > > Art Kampmeier and Gabriel Roy raise some interesting questions regarding > selection, qualification, and evaluation of the safety professional. > > Unfortunately, I think they both missed the basic question: What do you > want your safety professional to do? That is, what is his output? > > If you don't have the answer to this question, then you can't select, > qualify, or evaluate your personnel. > > I would expect that the safety professional would be responsible for > assuring the safety of products produced by the organization. He may > also be responsible for obtaining safety certifications from various > third-party safety certification organizations. > > But, this may not be the case for your organization. I would be curious > as to what your organization expects you to do. And, I would be curious > as to how your organization evaluates your effectiveness. > > For example, if you are responsible for the safety of products, then I > would suggest that you would or should be measured by the number of > injuries caused by the product. Other measures would be the number of > injuries ALLEGED as capable of being caused by the product even though > an injury did not occur. Yet another measure would be the number of > product recalls for safety reasons. The number of production-line > shutdowns due to safety problems. For each of these, the goal would > be zero. > > If you are responsible for obtaining third-party safety certification, > then I would suggest that you should be measured by having those > certifications complete by a planned date. Another measure would be > the number of changes required by the third-party. (A GOOD safety > professional should be able to submit a product with NO changes > required of the product.) Another measure would be the number of > variation notices found by third-party production inspectors. > > If you want your safety professional to advise R&D engineers about > ways in which the design can meet the safety standard, then you may > require your safety professional to be trained as an engineer. > > If you want your safety professional to test products and provide > feedback, then you may need your safety professional to be trained > in testing and report-writing. > > Etc. > > The point is, if you know what you want your safety professional to > do, then you can establish criteria for selection, qualification, > and evaluation. > > > Regards, > Rich > > > +===========================================================+ > |Richard Nute |Quality Department | > |Hewlett-Packard Company |Product Regulations Group | > |San Diego Division (SDD) |Tel : 619 655 3329 | > |16399 West Bernardo Drive |FAX : 619 655 4979 | > |San Diego, California 92127 |e-mail: [email protected] | > +===========================================================+ > > > Dan Teninty P.E. Senior Design Engineer Product Safety [email protected] FLUKE Corporation Everett, Washington (206) 356-6035 (206) 356-6490 fax
