The technical detail available to members of our profession is incredible. It also has the potential to be suffocating as the voluminous regulations, ISO policies, procedures, local site requirements, paperwork, basic training, etc. become overwhelming commitments of our time and effort. With all this focus on reactive and condition-based issues, where is the time for a safety engineering focus that goes beyond traditional safety? Is there a time when this traditional approach to safety gives a marginal return on investment of our time and efforts that approaches zero? In short: “The juice is no longer worth the squeeze.” A performance plateau has been reached that requires another set of tools and techniques to deliver beyond the current status quo.
In the competitive business world, performance plateaus are a common occurrence. There are numerous books written about new techniques and technologies that, when innovators give them a try, are all about increasing more juice for the amount of squeeze being applied. And when the next new technique plateaus another innovator does more research into hardware, software and people approaches which deliver a renewed return on the investment; more juice for the new squeeze.