Michael Bournazian

By Michael Bournazian, Eng., Newsletter Editor, ASQ Senior Member, Quality Management Professional, CSSGB with Rolls-Royce

The announcement earlier this month from the World Health Organization that COVID-19 no longer needs to be deemed a global health crisis was of little reassurance to me. As someone who is immune compromised and in daily contact with my Mom who is elderly, my mask wearing continues, and if I stick out like a sore thumb, then so be it.

When I go into the office to work, I have consistently been the only one wearing a mask for about the last 3 months. Since I started going back to seeing live indoor concerts in 2022, I double-mask. Eating at a restaurant in the past 3 years happens only if said restaurant has an outdoor dining area. And when I go indoor shopping (whether it be for groceries or something else), a mask can still be found on my face.

That said, in another instance of my work life encroaching into my personal life, in March 2023 I have found myself needing to practice “RISK ACCEPTANCE“.

With the 2015 revision of the ISO 9001 standard, we were finally brought into (perhaps kicking and screaming) the world of Risk Management and Risk-based Thinking. Along with it came terms that previously had more of a foothold in the financial world, such as Risk Assessment, Risk Analysis, Risk Mitigation, and as I mentioned above, Risk Acceptance (also called Risk Retention). It ultimately means exactly what you think it does . . . which is that you are aware of a potential or inherent risk, but you knowingly decide to not act upon it in order to minimize its effects (aka mitigation).

Well, some recent examples of me assessing risk and then (in one instance) accepting risk included the following:

• The funeral of a family member in March 2023 (all events occurring on the same day):
  • Attending the church service – mask worn, as there is no need to eat during the service and it is indoors;
  • Riding in the hearse with 5 other people to the cemetery – mask worn, as I had not had much contact with them in the past 3 years and we are in a small closed space;
  • At the cemetery – mask not worn, as we are now outside and COVID is less transmissible outdoors;
  • Reception at the church’s restaurant – indoors but mask not worn, as I would be eating regularly (risk accepted).

Over the next 10 days after this difficult day (for numerous reasons), I conducted a total of 3 rapid tests on myself, all of which came back negative. Would I have been surprised with a positive result? Not in the least, but as I stated above, I accepted the risk and so did my Mom who was with me the whole time and masked in the same manner as I did.

Risk Management . . . it’s all around you.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, I know, the “C” word was used during the writing of this article.

**********************************************

Any feedback? Click on the link and let me know.

ALSO . . .  Please contact me or any one else on the Leadership team if you would like to:
1) Write and submit an article to be published in the Newsletter.
2) Write a review of one of the upcoming monthly webinars for the “Had You Been There” section.

Thank you, all the best and none of the worst.

By Michael Bournazian, Eng., Newsletter Editor, ASQ Senior Member, Quality Management Professional, CSSGB with Rolls-Royce

Back in March 2021, I wrote in this very section about the ice storm that had hit Texas. I concluded in the end that it was not really my place to point the finger at the state’s lack of preparedness, given eastern Canada’s lack of preparedness during the 1998 ice storm that affected us 25 years ago (happy silver anniversary!).

In present day Quebec (and Montreal specifically), we  experienced an unexpected sense of deja-vu when, low-and-behold, another ice storm hit the area on April 5th. Not as severe as 1998, but still a large proportion of the Montreal region was once again plunged into darkness, which meant no electricity and, unlike in 1998, no Internet as well (yes, I know, the Internet was around in 1998, but without the stranglehold it has on our lives like it does now).

So did Hydro Quebec do a better job of dealing with the emergency this time around compared to 1998? If I strictly look at my own personal situation, I went 4 days with power this time around, as opposed to 2 weeks as I did in 1998. So by those numbers, I should be happy. That of course did not stop me from cursing (loudly in my mind) every 5 minutes or so that my power was still off yet I was seeing other neighbourhoods regain their power almost immediately.

But overall I do feel that Hydro Quebec dealt with this storm better than the previous one, so kudos where they are due for lessons learnt and improvements made. That said, this ice storm took place during the warmer month of April, whereas the 1998 storm occurred in January and continued into February, the veritable “dead of winter”, so not exactly the same “test conditions”. And no, I am not wishing for an ice storm to strike in January 2024 😉

Hopefully by the time you read this, your power has returned and you are back to surfing Internet-style and not sleeping under 2 blankets and wearing 3 layers of clothing. All the best for a warm summer.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Neither the “C” word nor the “P” word were used during the writing of this article.

**********************************************

Any feedback? Click on the link and let me know.

ALSO . . .  Please contact me or any one else on the Leadership team if you would like to:
1) Write and submit an article to be published in the Newsletter.
2) Write a review of one of the upcoming monthly webinars for the “Had You Been There” section.

Thank you, all the best and none of the worst.

By Michael Bournazian, Eng., Newsletter Editor, ASQ Senior Member, Quality Management Professional, CSSGB with Rolls-Royce

Expiry dates. Best before dates. They are in our everyday lives all the time, and as anyone who has done audits during their Quality career knows, they can come up regularly during these activities as well: calibration dates on measuring equipment, expiry dates on chemical products, even certain documents (ex. quality plans, workmanship criteria) may be valid for only a certain period of time or for a certain quantity of product.

But if you have read these posts of mine long enough, you know that I love it when my work life finds a way of barging into my personal life 😉

During my regular weekly grocery shopping recently (March 5, 2023 to be exact), I wanted to buy some Cheez Whiz (yes, I can be a sucker for punishment). I usually buy the light variety with the blue label, however the first jar I grabbed contained the following surprise:

An even bigger surprise was the fact that every single jar that was there (approximately 10 in total) had the same expired Best Before date of February 15, 2023.

Of course, the Quality practitioner in me (as well as someone with a weak stomach) was outraged, although not to the point of losing my cool in the middle of the store. I found the manager on duty and pointed the issue out to him. When I asked him if the grocery store chain had a process on assuring that products with expiry dates get removed once the date is passed, he gave an answer that left me with raised eyebrows . . . “We should”.

I have since raised a customer complaint on the store’s official website and I am awaiting a reply. I know that they are good at responding, as I had raised a complaint back in 2020 when I noticed that some employees were not capable of properly wearing face masks.

We’ll see how this latest complaint (aka FINDING, in AuditorSpeak) gets resolved. In the meantime, you don’t really need Cheez Whiz in your diet, right?

EDITOR’S NOTE: Neither the “C” word nor the “P” word were used during the writing of this article.

**********************************************

Any feedback? Click on the link and let me know.

ALSO . . .  Please contact me or any one else on the Leadership team if you would like to:
1) Write and submit an article to be published in the Newsletter.
2) Write a review of one of the upcoming monthly webinars for the “Had You Been There” section.

Thank you, all the best and none of the worst.