Productive Safety Management

This book discusses the realm of operational risk management, exploring the intricacies of managing safety, production and quality simultaneously. It offers a fresh perspective on the dynamic and complex nature of risk, highlighting the ever-changing landscape that organisations must navigate. The reliance on current understandings of residual risk is deficient, particularly as systems of production are prone to degradation over time. This degradation leads to an increase in ‘entropic risk’, resulting in losses in daily production that, if left unchecked, could culminate in catastrophic consequences.

Productive Safety Management, second edition utilises practical experience to offer context and application to the concepts surrounding risk that are introduced. It explores the residual and entropic risks present in production systems before shifting focus to the same risks within organisational elements such as leadership, competencies, management systems and resilience. The degradation of these factors can lead to a toxic enterprise culture. Traditional risk management methods have resulted in the creation of functional silos. This book advocates for a multidisciplinary approach, positioning it as essential reading for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this era, the ability to effectively manage risks and capitalise on opportunities will be crucial for operational success.

This comprehensive title is designed for operational managers and supervisors, and risk-related professionals in engineering, OSH, environment and quality management.

Tania Van der Stap spent the last 20 years since writing the first edition of Productive Safety Management in managerial and technical positions responsible for safety, health and environmental management. Having experience in staff and contractor roles means she understands how to achieve results, whether within the organisation, owners’ team, project team or as an external technical expert. The industries and organisations she’s worked in have been diverse – gas, mining, exploration, construction, rail transport, engineering, agribusiness, professional organisations and regulatory authorities. She has in-depth knowledge of different strategies according to each organisation’s level of maturity, leadership capability, resource availability and most importantly, the operational reality of the enterprise. Tania’s qualifications are in commerce, which have throughout her career resulted in a business lens on operational performance. She is an unequivocal advocate of a risk- and opportunity-based approach to HSE, production and quality.