Olympian Culture of Safety
Patient Safety Quality Monthly
March 23, 2010
Building a culture of safety is an ongoing commitment. We need to keep people interested and aware of the implications of all the things we do daily for our culture of safety. To keep this conversation fresh, it often helps to have good talking points to bring the culture of safety to life.
A great recent example was the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We may not initially connect the Olympic Games with our hospital culture of safety, but there certainly are some interesting areas for discussion.
With the games starting with a tragic death, followed by two weeks of athletes spinning 30 ft. overhead in freestyle skiing or snowboarding, rocketing down slopes or slides at close to 100 miles per hour, or even skiing with guns, we may be tempted to conclude that there is no culture of safety there.
But is that really the case? In some ways, the Olympics are not only a world-class athletic event, but also a tremendous case study in safety and reliability.
What can we learn or use in discussions from the Olympics?
- Following the death on the luge track, there was a rapid analysis (root cause analysis) and the track was changed (corrective actions). Can we respond rapidly within our facility and actually make changes in a matter of days, or does it take us months?
- The organizers were willing to make significant changes in a matter of days even in the face of significant public opinion—they didn't worry too much about outside opinions. Hopefully, we are willing to make significant changes when required, including temporarily closing units or stopping admissions.
- There may have been early indications of excessive risk that were not heeded prior to the event. Think about our FMEAs and occurrence reporting. Do we pay attention to our early warnings?
- Athletes practice and hone their skills. Those who made it to the competition had spent years in continuous practice. Do we recognize the value and requirement of practice when we are trying to perfect skills in our hospitals? Do we practice Olympic-quality "code blue" or rapid response drills? We may worry that we don't have the time to put that level of practice into our activities. But isn't preventing harm or death really a gold medal in our world? Isn't it worth practicing?
- What about the opening ceremonies? There were performers spinning and repelling down from the ceiling of the stadium. They all had fall protection (PPE). They didn't sacrifice their personal protection because it would "look bad" on worldwide television. What about the simple use of gloves, gowns, and splash shields in our world?
As you build your own culture of safety and reliability, it probably is good to step back and evaluate whether you are approaching this with Olympic seriousness. If not, maybe it's time for a culture adjustment.
Ken Rohde, March 2010
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