I’m always a bit taken aback by the number of industrial companies I come across in my client engagements that, although they’ve been around for a while, still have no formal hazard assessment policy or procedure for new or modified jobs they may be doing. The reasons vary and range from “no time to do it,” to “overly complex forms,” to “didn’t really understand what was being asked,” to (my personal favorite) “Do you want me to DO my job, or do you want me to WRITE about it?!”
Eric Svendsen, Ph.D., is Principal and lead change agent for safetyBUILT-IN, a safety-leadership learning and development organization. He has over 20 years experience in creating and executing outcomes-based leadership development and culture change initiatives aligned to organizational goals, and he personally led the safety-culture initiatives of a number of client organizations that resulted in “best ever safety performance” years for those companies.
I’m always a bit taken aback by the number of industrial companies I come across in my client engagements that, although they’ve been around for a while, still have no formal hazard assessment policy or procedure for new or modified jobs they may be doing. The reasons vary and range from “no time to do it,” to “overly complex forms,” to “didn’t really understand what was being asked,” to (my personal favorite) “Do you want me to DO my job, or do you want me to WRITE about it?!” 
