Introduction to Fire Safety Management

4.7.2 Production 
demands
An important way that management can signal their 
commitment to safety is to ensure it remains a priority. 
There are some occasions where this becomes more 
diffi cult. Pressure on production can lead to managers 
taking short cuts in safety. There are many instances 
of serious accidents that have been directly caused or 
exacerbated by pressures on production. The case of 
Piper Alpha, the North Sea oil production platform that 
suffered a series of explosions and fi re which resulted in 
the tragic loss of life, was caused in part by the pressure 
on engineers on the platform to maintain production 
and other production platforms in the area continuing to 
pump product to the stricken Piper Alpha for fear of los-
ing vital output from the oil fi eld.
Of course the consequences in less hazardous 
workplaces of the commercial pressure to maintain 
production are fortunately nowhere near as dramatic; 
however, lives are lost every year by managers and the 
workforce coming under pressure to sacrifi ce safety for 
production.
4.7.3 Communications
It counts for little if the management of an organisation 
feels a genuine commitment to safety and maintains 
safety as a priority in the light of changing demands of the 
market, if their intentions, policies and practices are not 
communicated clearly and consistently to the workforce.
The tools available for effective communications 
in organisations are discussed later in this chapter, but 
whatever methods are used to communicate safety 
throughout the workplace effective communication will 
have the minimum key components:
➤
Messages will be clear and unambiguous
➤
Messages will be consistent through a range of for-
mal and informal media
➤
It will be made in a medium that is understood by 
the target audience
➤
There will be informal and formal feedback 
opportunities
➤
Communication will be effective horizontally across 
an organisation and vertically both up and down 
lines of responsibility.