Every time I heard these acronyms during the meeting, I wanted to say - why are we getting tortured by these but couldn’t say that in front of the management m0re-0ns.
At least I can do this on this board.
What a waste of time and money! They do all these dumb things and turn around and PIP some poor souls.
Frcs
This cr-p was one of the many reasons I retired. Any time I heard one of these terms or had to do anything with them, I threw up a little in my throat.
FRCS meaning
@dkj - you must have been at Paulsboro as well! I had exactly the same discussion with my supervisor: "It doesn't matter what activity you observe - just submit something so that we get 100% participation." So I observed myself - putting more paper in the photocopier. What a crock of sh!t. At least we didn't have the same system as Clinton, where they identified non-participating members of staff to site management (presumably for discussion at ranking meetings).
Glad I turned 60 in 2020, 38 years of my life all about forgotten. Between LPS and yearly PR’s like the song (What have you done for me lately) I hope the new generation can deal with all of the extra BS!
One of the reasons that I got PIPed was for not contributing much during LPS meetings. lol
The origins of LPS:
Bunch of ex- Exxon safety employees (look it up) were drinking in a bar. One says, i bet we can make a fortune selling the worlds biggest pile of sh– and be rich. Safety is becoming the new hype, like lululemon, "green", anti-vax, etc. The other says, ya and you know who is stupid enough to pay millions for this sh–?
They all quit and start up LPS, get the contract because their buddies are high up and award the contract. The rest is history...
Conspiracy? maybe, maybe not. muahaha
The much heralded "Safety Culture" across industry is very seldom about a legitimate concern for employee and contractor well-being. There are simply too many workforce contradictions as to how people are generally treated for any company to say that they really care about you. It goes along with 'people being our greatest asset' and other nonsense that sounds good but doesn't represent reality.
So why all the emphasis on safety? A minor reason is to avoid costly lawsuits that result from people being seriously injured or k–led. But even that is a relatively small concern.
The big issue around safety is that it is widely viewed as a leading indicator of performance. It is the classic canary in a coal mine. The logic is that when a company has all kinds of safety requirements (JSA, LPO, etc.), if a team still has safety incidents occurring, then they must not be focused, paying attention to detail, following company procedures, etc. And that's when major projects get into trouble with budget and schedule. Careless safety performance often signals other problems which can lead to carelessness in the execution of core business processes, so it is a warning sign of problems among a particular project team, group, etc.
This early warning indicator is not a bad thing, because if a major project is about to head south, the company needs to get out in front of the problems before they result in major unnecessary costs and delays.
But, I just always felt it was disingenuous to make out like the safety culture was all about protecting the employee. The employee may enjoy some associated benefits, but the main driver of the emphasis on safety is all about core business execution and compliance.
"Loss Prevention" indeed. What was XOM profitability and stock price when they started using LPS and what are they now? As Dr. Phil would say, how is that working out for you?
LPS, Inc was founded by former XOM executives. I wonder how many millions of dollars XOM has paid to LPS, Inc over the years. I assume part of the reason for the quotas on all the LPS metrics is not only for the manager's bonus, but also that LPS, Inc gets payment for every LPO, QI, NLI, LI, and FRCS. Think about it. Not only the waste of time doing the LPS activity, but XOM is paying out money for every one that is done!
Has anyone ever asked ‘Why’ 5 times? I tried so many different ways to do this and not come across as a j3rk. It’s impossible.
they feel good saying abbreviations others not aware of...just a feel good factor
Proof that LPO's and LPSA's are just "check the box" activities ..... when these were first introduced at our site (as "Observations"), I embraced the concept wholeheartedly. I went out of my office and talked to people, trying to find the most hazardous operations on site and asking to perform observations. Usually, that meant that every 3 months, I spent a couple of hours watching, asking questions and writing notes, followed by another hour or so writing up the report. I was regularly complimented on the depth of my reports and for the detailed analysis and recommendations for improvement. A few times, I was really "lucky" and was called by that department's manager for further discussion.
All that changed when I became aware of the standard of Observations, LPO's and LPSA's submitted by other office workers. So many of them were basically just "I watched my co-worker at their desk" (you can guess the rest). So I stopped going out of my office and started just making stuff up about stuff going on around me. No one really noticed or seemed to care. I thought I was pushing it one time, when I wrote an observation about changing the toner cartridge in a photocopier (recommending people use rubber gloves, safety glasses and a face mask for dust) - but again, no comments or questions.
Finally, I just gave up doing them (although it was a site "requirement" that everyone do them). The first time, it seemed that no one noticed - but after the metrics were calculated for that quarter, our section safety rep came to see me. He asked why I hadn't submitted a report and I explained. He told me "Well, please write up something for this quarter - even if it is just watching someone in the next office. The metrics look bad if you don't." I told him that was the problem. It was just about ensuring we had 100% participation (like United Way), and not that the work and reports had any value or usefulness. (The site safety people never bothered me after that, and I don't think I was included in the site statistics anymore).
Just more "check-the-box" work. Pretty much sums up the majority of our time spent "working." Very little value added in this company and that gets to the core of the problems with Exxon: not COVID, not OPEC, not alternative energy, and not politicians. The failure of the company is internal.
It is ExxonMobil Pipeline Company's priority to make sure ... Job Loss Analysis ( JLA) ... (LPSA). • Loss Prevention Observation (LPO). • Near-Loss Investigation ( NLI). • Loss Investigation (LI). • Factors ...
For details, see
https://www.pipelinesafetyinfo.com/user/file/Louisiana%20(PAL)/ExxonMobil_Pipeline_Company.pdf
LPOs for office work. That adds value...
LPO's were a joke. Hated them.
Made up scenarios. Trying to be serious about them. Yawn
Cannot imagine the man hours that went into them.
Always wondered if executives had to do them.