Two recently published books provide insights into safe manufacturing and on new leadership practices.
Safety Beyond the Numbers is a guide to help organizations take ownership of safe manufacturing operations. It's by industrial psychologist Ken Chapman and Tony Orlowski, executive vice president of waterworks manufacturer McWane Inc. in Birmingham, Ala.
"We invest a great deal of time and effort into learning how to use new equipment that puts more distance between hazards and ourselves," they write. "Yet it is just assumed that everyone knows how to lead themselves well. … It is our experience that everyone does not know."
The Buddhist CEO is a little different. It's a novel by Scottish author Thane Lawrie, former CEO of Scarf Enterprise Services, an energy consulting firm. The book applies Buddhist principles as it follows the story of a CEO of a struggling nonprofit organization who works to combine material and spiritual values. Those concepts can have value to nonreligious readers as well.
Lawrie's book has been described as "a prescient read…for all who consistently overdo it in life." That sounds to me like a description that would match many plastics CEOs.
Safety Beyond the Numbers is more practical, while The Buddhist CEO is more philosophical, but both are worth checking out.
Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]