Issue No.

13 Nov 2005

QHSe Bulletin
Customer Satisfaction
Measurement
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In 50 Words Or Less
Measuring customer satisfaction is important in improving business operations. Four common measurement techniques include satisfaction- only, gap analysis, the importancesatisfaction model and the multiplicative approach. When establishing priorities for action, management should use multiple techniques.

Quality management has become a widely practiced way to improve product quality, reduce costs and improve customer service. The significance and relation of customer satisfaction measurement to the quality management process drives the need for measuring company performance from the customers' perspective. Not only should managers seek to determine their company's level of performance as perceived by their customers, but they should also use customer satisfaction research to guide their decisions as to where to make improvements within their company. Four Techniques Researchers and practitioners have developed and studied various methods to determine which would provide management with the best information from which to make such decisions. At the completion of every customer satisfaction study, management should be able to identify what it needs to do to improve the company's score or satisfaction index and, ultimately, the company's bottom line. The models discussed here include those commonly used not only to obtain a measure of customer satisfaction but also to help management identify the actions it needs to take to improve business. The four techniques are as follows: Satisfaction-only: Most customer satisfaction surveys ask respondents to indicate how well the organization performs on a series of attributes using a seven-point Likert scale, in which one equals totally dissatisfied and seven equals totally delighted. (A five-point scale is also common.) The mean scores on each attribute are computed, and those items that have the lowest satisfaction rating are deemed the ones that need to be improved. Because this method does not take into account the importance of the attributes to the customer, management does not have any data that can help it prioritize actions or break ties in satisfaction scores. Gap analysis: Gap analyses take the investigation one step further by computing the discrepancy between each respondent's importance score and satisfaction score. The importance score is also measured on a Likert scale, except this time one equals not important at all and seven

Equals very important. This method of analysis alleges importance is a surrogate measure for the customer's expectation of what the company's performance should be on each attribute. Attributes with the greatest gaps are then tagged for improvement. To be most effective, however, the attributes should also be ranked by importance rather than simply using the gap as a method of prioritizing. For example, an attribute with an importance rating of 6.2, a satisfaction rating of 5.0 and a gap of 1.2 should receive higher priority for action than an attribute with the same gap but an importance rating of 4.5 and a satisfaction rating of 3.3. Attributes with the same or similar gap are not necessarily of equal importance to customers and would not have the same impact on customer satisfaction. Attributes with higher importance should be given priority for action when gap levels on various attributes are the same or close. Importance-satisfaction (I-S) model: Similar to the gap analysis, the I-S model uses a quadrant map to identify areas for improvement by comparing the satisfaction level and importance of the various attributes measured. It emphasizes the value of knowing which attributes customers consider most important in addition to those in which the business is performing poorly. Unlike the gap analysis, which examines the discrepancy between importance and satisfaction, the I-S model examines the relationship between the two. Priorities for action are determined using a graphic depiction rather than a computed numeric value, and items with high importance and low satisfaction receive the highest priority for action. The goal is to find the attributes located in quadrant two improve (see Figure 1). If several attributes are located in this quadrant, and the company does not have the resources to improve them all, it should prioritize the attributes by focusing on those with the higher degree of importance and the lower satisfaction level.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience - Ralph W Emerson

QHSe Bulletin
Customer Satisfaction Measurement
(Continued from page 1) areas for improvement. Because notable differences emerge when using the various techniques, management should use a combination of techniques when prioritizing actions to be taken based on customer satisfaction data. DIMS details the procedure for customer satisfaction measurement in QA&QC/SOP-07 and the supporting formats are: Customer Feedback Form QA & QC/Form-15 Customer Satisfaction work Sheet QA & QC/Form-17

Behavior-Based Safety
Traditional safety and health management systems rely on informal feedback, on compliance with safety procedures, safety audits, safety awards, safety meetings, management support, hiring practices, rewards, training, employee participation training and special activities (posters, etc). Multiplicative approach: The multiplicative approach uses importance as a weighting variable and eliminates the assertion that importance is a surrogate for the customer's expectation of the company's performance. The difference between the highest possible satisfaction rating (totally delighted) and the customer's perception of the company's performance (satisfaction rating) is computed to obtain a dissatisfaction score. The dissatisfaction score is then weighted according to the importance score. The weighted dissatisfaction score is used to prioritize areas for improvement. Attributes are ranked in descending order by the weighted dissatisfaction score. Again, in the event of a tie in the computed value, the attributes should be ranked by importance to determine which should have priority for action. Comparison of Techniques A comparison of the ranked priorities for action for each of the four approaches discussed, it tested would reveals varying results obtained from each of the techniques. However, some consistencies among the techniques exist. Customer satisfaction measurement can help management decide which direction to take to improve its company's performance. However, the data must be carefully analyzed so critical mistakes aren't made. Excellence (or substantial progress in safety and health performance) requires more. It requires deliberate safety and health intervention beyond an effective safety and health management system and effective engineering controls. This includes the incorporation of a safety culture and the maintenance of a behavioral process. Safety culture, a part of the overall corporate culture, is an attitude and effort by which all organizational members direct their actions toward improving safety. Elements of a strong safety culture include the optimization of the surroundings/environment, people and behavior. Employees' perceptions of management's attitudes and behaviors toward safety, production and issues, such as planning, etc. are one of the most useful measurements of an organization's safety culture. Elements of BBS processes include training, specifying critical behaviors and goals, conducting observations, providing feedback and analyzing data (from which to modify the environment, equipment or systems) and monitoring the performance. BBS does not work when there is: - distrust between management and workers; - management abandonment of its responsibilities for safety; - a perception by employees of increased employee accountability; and - adversarial employee-management relationships. Establishing a Behavior -Based Safety Process Most behavioral safety processes are tailored to the work and management environment of the site. Despite these variations, all behavioral safety processes have three major components:

Customer satisfaction measurement can help management decide which direction to take to improve its company's Performance.
This comparison of techniques emphasizes the significance of measuring importance when evaluating customer satisfaction and, consequently, the potential problems that may arise when using only satisfaction ratings to determine

There is a sufficiency in the world for mans need but not for mans greed - M K Gandhi

QHSe Bulletin
Behavior-Based Safety
(Continued from Page 2) ESTABLISH PROCESS NEED AND PARAMETERS s Assess need for behaviourial Safety Program s Determine Goals for process s Bring management and workers on board s Identify Management Champion and Steering Committee behavior. Removing these barriers lowers the workers' exposure to at-risk conditions and makes it easier for employees to work safely. Removing barriers and communicating successes increase employee involvement in the process. Many of these employees take these tools home, which helps decrease off-the-job injuries. Identifying At-Risk Behaviors A very important step is the development of a list of at-risk behaviors. This inventory is supported by a list of definitions and examples of critical behaviors based on information extracted from injury reports, interviews, and observation of ongoing tasks native to a site's work environment. This inventory of behaviors, customized for your facility, is the basic tool of observation. The observation data will ultimately be used to develop plans for risk reduction. Customizing the inventory is also critical in promoting acceptance and ownership of the process by the employees. The behavioral definitions and examples should be written so that they are observable. Critical behaviors should be organized by risk factors, ranked in order of their potential severity. Resources utilized for extraction of critical behaviors: Accident/Incident Reports: Information extracted from the investigations will indicate behaviors that have placed employees at risk for injury in the past. Review of these reports will often result in more than one critical behavior contributing to an injury or incident Job Safety Analysis, Job Hazard Analysis, and PPE Assessments: Personnel who work closest to the risk should generate these documents. Information derived from these documents will assist in determining hazards on a task to task/step by step basis. Task Observations: Conducting observations of typical work tasks will not only validate behaviors that have already been extracted from historical sources, but may also reveal new critical behaviors that have not yet resulted in recordable injury. Observations can also provide a means of engaging employees in the development of the site process. Employee Interviews: Interviewing employees from various work groups can provide an opportunity for workers to explain how they perform their jobs safely. Knowing what behaviors are used to perform jobs safely can aid in determining the risks of not performing a job in a behaviorally safe manner. Brainstorming: Group interviews can help identify critical behaviors in work teams that have historically low injury rates and low risk perception.

Perform Safety Evaluation s Evaluate Incident Reports s Conduct Job Hazard Analysis s Identify At-Risk Behaviors

Design the behavioral Safety Process s Develop rules for Observation s Develop Observation Process s Establish Feedback Process Implement the Behavioral Safety Process s Develop Observer Training/Train Observers s Develop Worker Familiarization Training/Familiarize Workers s Establish Behavioral Baseline s Begin Observation/Feedback Process Maintain the Behavioral Safety Process s Evaluate Observation data s Improve Process
FIG: Behavior Based Safety Process

1. Development of a list of at-risk behaviors, 2. Observations, and 3. Feedback. The process starts with a behavioral hazard analysis to identify at-risk behaviors. These can be determined using accident/incident reports, job hazards analysis, employee interviews, and brainstorming. In some instances, a combination of all these tools could be used. Using the at-risk behaviors, a checklist is then developed to assist in the observation of work behavior. In addition, a list of corresponding behavior definitions is helpful in maintaining consistency between observers and the resulting data. Observers record safe and at-risk behaviors on the datasheet and provide feedback to workers about their performance. This feedback reinforces the necessity for safe behaviors. The observation data are used to identify barriers to safe

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry - Thomas Fuller

QHSe Bulletin
Behavior Based Safety
(Continued from page 3)
TIP For promoting safe behaviour! Discipline- Clear responsibilities, accountabilities and standards of performance that are consistently applied Reward- Motivation is the art of providing desired rewards for specific behaviours, rewarding can be a powerful means of promoting good safety culture. Inform- Raise people understanding of the reasoning behind precautions and performance standards. Fear of outcome Raise the perception of hazard Train- Develop competence by influencing attitudes and reducing risk of mistakes. REMEMBER!

2. Inputs of products, semi-finished products or energy, which are outputs from other processes (economic input).

Similarly, there are two kinds of outputs: 1. Outputs of emissions (environmental output). 2. Outputs of a product, a semi-finished product, service or energy (economic output). With information about each process and a process tree of the life cycle, it is possible to draw up a life cycle inventory of all the environmental inputs and outputs associated with the product or service. The result is called the table of impacts. Each impact is expressed as a particular quantity of a substance. The table below displays an example of a small part of the table of impacts for the production of two materials. A complete table can have hundreds of rows!
Emission CO2 NOx SO2 CO Polyethylene (in Kg ) 1.792 -3 1.09110 -6 98710 67010-6 Glass (in Kg) 0.4904 -3 1.58610 -3 2.652 x10 57.00 x10-6

DRIFT

LCA
A Way forward to Sustainable Development

Some impacts from the production of 1 kg of polyethylene and 1 kg of glass.

What is LCA? The complex interaction between a product, activity or service and the environment is dealt with in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. It is also known as Life Cycle Analysis or Ecobalance. LCA systematically describes and assesses all flows to and from nature, from a cradle to grave perspective. There are two main steps in an LCA: 1. Describe which emissions will occur and which raw materials are used during the life of a product, service or activity. This is usually referred to as the inventory step. 2. Assess what the impacts of these emissions and raw material depletions are. This is referred to as the impact assessment step. A product's or system's life cycle can be presented as a process tree.

First Aid Box

Drug Overdoses
When someone overdoses, speed is the most important factor, even more so than the substance that was overdosed on. This is because the longer someone goes without treatment, the more the drug is absorbed, and the more damage is done. People can die from drug overdoses. - If the victim is unconscious check vital signs. If you need to, begin EAR (pulse present) or CPR (no pulse). - If the person is unconscious check the airways and clear them out (remove any pills, vomit, etc) - Once the unconscious person is 'stable' place them in the recovery position (lying on their side) and wait for help to arrive while keeping a close eye on them. - If you find pills, syringes, medications, bottles & containers (from medications or drugs) or drugs around the person save them and give them to the medics when they arrive. If available save a sample of the vomit as well. - If the person is conscious ask them what happened and most importantly keep them as awake and alert as possible. - DO NOT try to induce vomiting unless instructed to do so by a medical professional. - DO NOT give the person anything to eat or drink unless instructed - DO NOT leave the person alone - Try to figure out the time when the drug was taken and what quantity was taken GET EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY

Example of a process tree. Each box represents a process which forms part of the life cycle. Every process has defined inputs and outputs.

Process inputs can be divided into two kinds: 1. Inputs of raw materials and energy resources (environmental input).

Because we do not think about future generations, they will never forget us - Henrik Tikkanen

QHSe Bulletin
LCA
(Continued from page 4)
It is clear that such a table does not provide an immediate answer to a question such as whether 1 kg of polyethylene is more or less environmentally friendly than 1 kg of glass. Impact assessment methods have been developed which simplify this task of interpretation. LCA: A stepwise approach The LCA methodology is described in detail by SETAC (Society of Ecotoxicology and Chemistry) and many research institutes. EDIP (Environmental Design of Industrial Products) is one of the most simplified and effective methodologies developed at Institute of Manufacturing and Management, Technical University of Denmark. In EDIP's code of practice, LCA is divided in the following stages: If EDIP methodology is further exploded to understand the stepwise approach of LCA it would be divided into five steps: 1. Planning - Statement of objectives - Definition of the product and its alternatives - Choice of system boundaries Choice of environmental parameters - Choice of aggregation and evaluation method - Strategy for data collection 2. Screening - Preliminary execution of the LCA - Adjustment of plan 3. Data collection and data treatment - Measurements, interviews, literature search, theoretical calculations, database search, qualified guessing. - Computation of the inventory table 4. Evaluation - Classification of the inventory table into impact categories - Aggregation within the category (characterization) - Normalization - Weighting of different categories (valuation) 5. Improvement assessment - Sensitivity analysis Improvement priority and feasibility assessment It is generally recognized that the first stage is extremely important. The result of the LCA is heavily dependent on the decisions taken in this phase. The screening LCA is a useful step to check the goal-definition phase. After screening it is much easier to plan the rest of the project. move ahead towards sustainable development. Consequently governments and our customers simply expect that we pay attention to the environmental properties of all our products and services. ISO 14000 series demand continuous improvement in our environmental management system. LCA and its utilization for product/process improvement is the way to meet this demand.

Smile

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Why use LCA? As the human population, economic and industrial activity continues to increase and so does the consumption of raw material, energy with increase in environmental pollution. Industrial sector is largely responsible for the pollution in the world over all. Therefore, it is pivotal that all industrial process/technologies, new or old, should be assessed to

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QHSE shall welcome all useful information regarding Quality, Health, Safety, & Environment for inclusion in the forthcoming Issues.

Nature provides a free lunch. But only if we control our appetites - William Ruckelshaus