Governance Controls Help Prevent Tragedies

Tragedies are continuously heaped upon the world. Governance is not.

The big disasters make the news: contagious diseases, trampled teenagers at a concert, a collapsed Florida apartment, southern California fires caused by power lines, and airplanes shot down. These all experienced loss of lives, not to mention huge financial impacts.

Then there are the ones that rarely make the news: a collapsed crane, electrocution, or trucking accident. The list goes on and on. This means every one of these tragic events has turned upside down a family. What started as a routine day ended in a life-altering event that few fully recover emotionally.

The one thing common with all of these is that if a business or government entity followed a structured governance program, the chance of incurring such a significant tragedy would have been greatly reduced.

A governance program, strictly followed, focuses everyone’s attention on what’s important. Routine inspections, basic safety steps, following procedures, identifying hazards, regular management reviews, and program ownership are examples of what goes into a sustainable and meaningful governance program.

Governance Helps Prevent Loss of Lives and Limbs

Most people mean well and would never intentionally cause a loss of life. Nevertheless corners are often cut and basic controls are bypassed.

Accidents are often an accumulation of small or basic controls that are ignored now and then. But over time, or in conjunction with other reduced controls, shortcuts can cause a serious accident. For example, when parking a utility truck for a downed powerline service call, putting out orange cones around the truck is a basic control. But if not done, you have just increased your chances of a serious accident.

There’s a good chance nothing will happen — THIS time. But sooner or later, it will make a difference.

No doubt there are unforeseen events. But often the root cause of such an event was identified by someone responsible. Including a basic control would have reduced the risk, even if slightly.

Governance ensures that the important controls are followed, that they reflect the current environment, and that everyone involved lives them.

The focus here is not to get into the details of various tragedies. But following government and business inquiries and investigations, a governance plan is usually recommended to prevent such an occurrence in the future.

I recommend that you begin NOW and look at the functions that someone has voiced concerns about. Create a governance plan and regularly evaluate where you stand with compliance.

The loss of a single life, or even a limb, that your organization could have prevented is simply unacceptable.