Doing Safety Work Well with the 'Three-Step Method': From the 'Sieve' to the 'Comb' to the 'Fine-Tooth Comb'

'Sieve' · 'Comb' · 'Fine-Tooth Comb' ■ Illustration by Wang Qinghou / Author: Zhang Xueshi

Use a 'sieve' to sift out explicit hazards, use a 'comb' to sort through process risks, use a 'fine-tooth comb' to comb out minute blind spots… A certain unit has conducted comprehensive, thorough, and meticulous safety work and has summarized a progressively layered 'three-step method.' This method follows the governance logic of moving from the rough to the refined and from the comprehensive to the in-depth, and is worth drawing on.

Safety means safety—to achieve 'security' (安), one must grasp the 'whole' (全). Passing through the 'sieve' means using an intuitive, rapid approach to screen out those obvious, major safety hazards. 'Hard defects' such as the non-compliant storage of flammable and explosive materials, special equipment operating while faulty, and the absence of safety protective facilities hang over one's head like the 'Sword of Damocles'—if not eliminated in time, the consequences are unimaginable. However, the 'sieve' can only sift out the 'big rocks'; it cannot stop the 'small grains of sand.' If safety work remains only at the stage of passing through the 'sieve,' content with 'no major problems found,' those small hazards that slip through the mesh will be like 'time bombs,' detonated at an unguarded moment.

The characteristic of a comb is that its teeth are dense and orderly, capable of bringing tangled hair into neat order. Passing through the 'comb' is a key step in the systematic sorting of safety work. It not only uncovers scattered hazards but also digs out potential risks such as institutional loopholes, management shortcomings, and process deficiencies, achieving the shift from 'treating existing illness' to 'treating illness before it arises.' Once the 'sieve' has cleared explicit hazards, the focus must shift to systematic, grid-based, and checklist-based management. Like combing hair with a comb, every link, every post, and every process in safety work must be sorted through; a safety responsibility system that extends horizontally to every boundary and vertically to the bottom must be established; hazard investigation checklists must be drawn up, with clear investigation content, standards, frequency, and responsible persons, ensuring that every area, every piece of equipment, and every operation has someone managing it, someone inspecting it, and someone responsible for it.

'One who worries before the matter arises will not be troubled by worry.' The teeth of a fine-tooth comb are far denser than those of a comb, capable of filtering out the finest dandruff from hair. The deeper safety work goes, the more it tests one's ability to control details. 'Heinrich's Law' tells us: behind every serious accident there must be 29 minor accidents, 300 near-miss precursors, and 1,000 accident hazards. Many of these 'near-miss precursors' and 'accident hazards' are extremely small and extremely easy to overlook 'micro-hazards'—a loose screw, a worn plug, a habitual act of non-compliant operation. These seemingly negligible details are precisely the weakest links in the safety line of defense. Only by passing through the 'fine-tooth comb'—with a scrupulous, exacting spirit and a sense of responsibility that is 'never at ease at any moment' (时时放心不下)—carefully investigating every detail, achieving immediate rectification upon investigation and closed-loop management, can safety risks be resolved at the embryonic stage.

Chairman Xi has emphasized the need to earnestly implement the concept of safety-first development, attach great importance to preventing major safety problems, and ensure the safety and stability of the forces. Safety is the cornerstone of development; there are no small matters in safety work, and there is no best—only better. Moving from the 'sieve' to the 'comb' to the 'fine-tooth comb' is not only an upgrade in working methods but also a deepening of the safety concept. At present, we are in the golden period of military training, the critical period of flood prevention, and a period of frequent accidents and incidents, with various safety risks intertwined and compounding. At every level, the perfunctory attitude of 'good enough' and 'passable' must be resolutely abandoned; vigilance akin to treading on thin ice and standing at the edge of a deep abyss must be maintained at all times; the approach of addressing issues early and when small, and guarding against the slightest sign of trouble, must be upheld; nascent problems must be genuinely eliminated at the source; and a bronze wall and iron bastion (铜墙铁壁) of safety work for the forces must be truly built.

(Author's unit: People's Naval News Agency)