Injury Response I’ve had several conversations with safety people about response to events and incidents on site. One mate on a tier 1 site explains the Safety Advisor role as simply ‘demoralising’. So I thought I would try to mimic the typical safety spud head response to an … [Read more...] about Injury Response
Accidents and Incidents
Sesame Street Safety
Sesame Street Safety Sesame Street was first broadcast in 1969, a TV show aimed to help preschool children prepare for schooling, particularly in literacy and numeracy. As I presented to safety advisors this week at a conference I was stunned that no one in the room (all highly experienced safety … [Read more...] about Sesame Street Safety
Suffering – Sometimes There Is No Reason
Suffering - Sometimes There Is No Reason In general when a puzzle sits in front of safety, it must solve it and in safety all problem solving is deemed good. There is little talk of faith, sustaining contradiction, suffering, uncertainty, paradox, wisdom, discerning or doubt when one must find a … [Read more...] about Suffering – Sometimes There Is No Reason
We need to make sure this can never happen again
We need to make sure this can never happen again Can you picture this scenario? Manager: So Ben, I’ve just read through the incident report and I see you injured your back when you ran the forklift into the bollard. I need to ask you a few questions as we need to make sure this type of incident … [Read more...] about We need to make sure this can never happen again
When the Target Drives the Method
When the Target Drives the Method I was in a group at a conference recently where the presenter paraded out statistics on injury rates. We were shown graphs, charts and symbols all paraded in trends and patterns. Then right at the end the presenter said: ‘and this is why we are all motivated for … [Read more...] about When the Target Drives the Method
A Philosophy of Safety
A Philosophy of Safety Philosophy is about the study of existence, beliefs and ideas. The word ‘philosophy’ actually means the ‘love of wisdom’ and has been ascribed to the work of Pythagoras. The word ‘wisdom’ is not a word one hears very much in the safety industry that is far more consumed by … [Read more...] about A Philosophy of Safety
A Much Better Way To Think About Incident Investigations
I’ve recently seen and done a few incident investigations which really fell short of any mark except for ticking the box on the form that says ‘investigation completed’. There are ongoing debates about whether ICAM is better than TapRoot or if that is better than Root Cause Analysis or BowTie or … [Read more...] about A Much Better Way To Think About Incident Investigations
Dealing with Incidents
Dealing with Incidents Most approaches to incident investigation focus on technique and process. This is important, gathering facts and compiling important information is critical. However, what most approaches don't consider the range of biases that come with being human. In particular, it is … [Read more...] about Dealing with Incidents
Numerology and Psychic Numbing
Numerology and Psychic Numbing Numerology is the belief in a mystical relationship between numbers and events. I can remember as a kid being challenged by the coincidence between numbers and events, later learning that the fascination between numbers and proofs dates back to the Early … [Read more...] about Numerology and Psychic Numbing
There’s a Hole in Your Investigation.
There’s a Hole in Your Investigation. Any fatality is sad news for family and loved ones of those who have died. It is even more sad when there are no definitive answers for cause. Many who die working alone cannot be interviewed, one can never know the root cause. Root cause is the concoction that … [Read more...] about There’s a Hole in Your Investigation.