(54k) Keeping the Tiger in the Cage

Keeping the Tiger in the Cage

The hardest part of process safety can be connecting stakeholders with what is process safety. One group of stakeholders (Group A) are senior leaders, who certainly have accountability, and who control the decisions around resources we will commit to process safety, monetary and personnel. Another group of stakeholders (Group B) are entry level operators, maintenance personnel, or other ‘front line’ people who are physically the closest to the hazards process safety is intended to control.

With each of these groups, the term ‘process safety’ may not convey the intent. Each of those two words have multiple meanings and the combination of the two does not intuitively convey the intent. Generally, the word safety prevails over the term process safety. I find this especially true when explaining my title to friends, neighbors, and family.

I thought about how to simplify the message and decided that “Keeping the Tiger in the Cage” just might be an effective way of explaining… and it worked. In some cases, I have to briefly explain that the tiger represents the hazardous material and the cage is the process: pipes, vessels, reactors, and so on. In short it works.

As for stakeholder engagement, it really helps Group A and Group B connect with their importance and accountability in process safety. Group A understands their responsibility to ensure a high integrity cage and to keep the tiger content to remain in the cage. Group B quickly associates with the analogy, as being the ones first attacked by the tiger if the tiger escapes.

So why stop there. From that, I have used the analogy to build out educational materials and metrics.

In short, this paper will cover the concept of intended message versus perceived message. Many persons who have become exposed to this concept, especially in Group A and Group B, have commented that the “Tiger in the Cage” analogy helped clarify the difference in process safety and occupational safety. Feedback has also supported that the simplicity of the educational materials and metrics conveys the value and interconnectivity of the various process safety programs more clearly than some of the more traditional training.

This paper will share some of the educational material, and concepts, as well as the framework for the metrics. There will be visual imagery, using the Tiger in the Cage to illustrate program effectiveness.