some companies use "Stop Work" cards

by Jay, San Diego, Monday, April 18, 2011, 14:18 (5547 days ago) @ KGB

Every employee and contractor has a laminated card they carry which states they have the authority to stop any work they feel is unsafe. Everybody in the company, from management on down, goes through the same training, and anyone, regardless of rank, can "pull the card" and effectively halt things without any fear of repercussion, no questions asked.

Of course this grows out of a high-risk industry where accidents are an everyday threat. It would probably be overkill for a place like ND, but maybe not.

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Complete thread:

I'm interested in confirming or refuting (edit) - Jay, 2011-04-18, 09:24
- Read the section in "Outliers" about airplane crashes - Dylan, 2011-04-18, 10:39
  - That's an interesting point re: unequal power relationships. - KGB, 2011-04-18, 14:15
    - Oh, ND is not at all unique in that regard - Dylan, 2011-04-18, 14:21
      - But, I mean, they're still going to fire someone, right? - KGB, 2011-04-18, 15:08
    - some companies use "Stop Work" cards - Jay, 2011-04-18, 14:18
  - And it could have been even more out-of-whack in football - Kevin, 2011-04-18, 11:10
    - I guess it's simpler to believe someone ordered a Code Red - Jay, 2011-04-18, 11:25
      - That hasn't stopped certain blogs - Chris (HCC), 2011-04-18, 21:24
        
        do you have a link to the With Leather post? - Jay, 2011-04-19, 07:49
        
        Here ya go - Chris (HCC), 2011-04-19, 08:30
- Check out The Checklist Manifesto - Jeff (BGS), 2011-04-18, 10:22
  - yep - Jay, 2011-04-18, 10:34
- There's one thing I'll definitely refute... - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 09:43
  - Your first linked article - JRT, 2011-04-18, 10:14
    - Sure, but... - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:26
      - Carrying this over from another front. - JRT, 2011-04-18, 10:29
        
        I think a real issue is that a decision was left up to... - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:31
        
        It wasn't an informed delegation. - JRT, 2011-04-18, 10:33
        
        I'm not arguing that it was. - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:38
        
        Well, if you were anywhere in the upper midwest that day... - KGB, 2011-04-18, 10:52
        
        John Walters tweeted earlier... - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:56
  - Collins, Russ, and Klunder all checked the wind - Jay, 2011-04-18, 09:57
    - I check weather.com, and find their "alerts" easily ignored - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:11
      - Would you ignore a high wind warning - Kevin, 2011-04-18, 10:23
        
        Now, no. - JRT, 2011-04-18, 10:31
        
        If I'm aware of it, probably not. - domer.mq, 2011-04-18, 10:28
        
        I've made the same mistakes, too - HumanRobot, 2011-04-18, 11:17
        
        I had an issue with my alignment a few months ago. - Kevin, 2011-04-18, 11:22
  - Have I ever mentioned how much I hate headline writers? - Chris (HCC), 2011-04-18, 09:49
- Would this qualify as the Swiss Cheese Model? - CW (Rakes), 2011-04-18, 09:30
  - could be - Jay, 2011-04-18, 09:38
    - if there was a single point of failure... - HumanRobot, 2011-04-18, 10:19

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some companies use "Stop Work" cards