Risk Management Magazine

The true danger of normalizing deviance lies in its subtlety. Initially, deviations might seem minor and inconsequential. Examples include skipping a procedural step due to a time crunch, deferring a minor maintenance procedure because "it's never caused a problem before" or bending the rules on driver training due to competing priorities.

In college, I worked as an intern for a mechanical contractor, installing HVAC and plumbing for large industrial projects. During the last of my four semester rotations at this company, I was assigned to work at a vehicle manufacturing plant that was being built in the area. There, I would learn a painful lesson on the importance of always wearing your personal protective equipment.

CE-SOHMS is designed to change an organization's safety program from compliance based to one where it is second nature to every employee. Rather than just following a regulation or checklist, the entire organization takes an ownership role. Organizations implement CE-SOHMS in three stages.