• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

Discover More on this Site

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE RESOURCES
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • PSYCHOLOGY OF SAFETY & RISK
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Covid-19
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
    • Covid-19 Returning to Work Inductions, Transitioning, Safety Start Up and Re Entry Plans
    • Covid-19 Work from Home Safety Checklists and Risk Assessments
    • The Hierarchy of Control and Covid-19
    • Why Safety Loves Covid-19
    • Covid-19, Cricket and Lessons in Safety
    • The Covid-19 Lesson
    • Safety has this Covid-19 thing sorted
    • The Heart of Wisdom at Covid Time
    • How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?
    • The Semiotics of COVID-19 and the Social Amplification of Risk
    • Working From Home Health and Safety Tips – Covid-19
    • Covid-19 and the Hierarchy of Control
  • Dr Rob Long Posts
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no HIERARCHY of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • Quotes & Slogans
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
    • When Slogans Don’t Work
    • 77 OF THE MOST CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • 500 BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2020
    • 167 CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
    • Safety Acronyms
    • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
    • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
    • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
    • Safety Slogans List
    • Road Safety Slogans
    • How to write your own safety slogans
    • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
    • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
    • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
    • Safety Slogans for Work

ACTOR + ACTION + TIME = EVENT

April 26, 2013 by Admin 1 Comment

ACTOR + ACTION + TIME = EVENT

A weird and wacky hypothesis from Doug Wakefield CPMSIA RSP(Aust.) – SSHE analyst & trainer at Safe Measure Pty. Ltd. – www.safemeasure.com.au

You can also download Doug’s FREE OHS Manual Template HERE

This formula (Actor + Action + Time = Event) is a philosophical, theoretical, proposal for the safety community’s consideration – probably even broader.

I have discussed the formula with various associates and so far have no variables thrown at me that alter the formula, so see what you think.

I think this theory is like the discovery of the atom, in that it provides the essential ‘stepping stone’ from whence all events spring. (Yes, I do acknowledge atoms have since been ‘split’ into smaller particles and what what-not, and once you read down, you will note how this formula can be used in all the various sub-sets likely to open in a decent drill-down – yea, unto Time itself – Tempus edax rerum – ‘time devours all’)

The formula (I believe) empirically states that within our temporal universe, for any ‘Event’ to occur, there must be the three – and three only – essentials of Actor, Action and Time. No more, no less. (Mind you, each of the essentials is a huge ‘catch-all’, and, as stated above, in drilling down, we discover more sub-sets of A+A+T=E.)

In the simplest of terms, I define each of the elements as:

ACTOR

This includes EVERYTHING, whether animate or inanimate, – ie anything you can put a name to – in this temporal universe. It all plays its part…INCLUDING ENERGY!

ACTION

No matter how miniscule, everything is doing something – even if it is simply ‘be-ing’’. (Certainly everything is in a state of decay without an input of energy.)

TIME

All actors & actions are bounded by Time.

EVENT

The outcome(s) – in the moment of the here-and-now of Time – arising from the Action(s) of the Actor(s).

Why am I proposing this concept?

This came about through my attempts to reduce things to their ‘seed’ level – to get to the nub from where things grow. Sort of like the proverbs of old which still hold true today (‘A stitch in time saves nine’; ‘Too many cooks will spoil the broth’; ‘You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink’, and so on).

By bringing an investigation (or an inspection or audit for that matter) to this ‘seed’ level, we can expand from there, and get closer and closer to ‘the truth’. (Especially using the old Conan Doyle character Sherlock Holmes’ statement: ‘When we eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’)

When using what I call ‘The Investigator’s Rhyme’ of “How and Why and Where and When, And Who and What and back again” (to be done three times to ensure no oversights), on each of the elements of People, Parts, Position and Power (the ‘4 P’s’*) to capture all things, great and small – and perhaps indifferent – we allow ourselves to create manageable bite-sized chunks for scrutiny in our investigation/inspection/audit.

I will use the following example of how this ‘drill down’ package might be applied.

Initiating incident:

“Around 2 p.m., a strong Northerly wind blew a ceramic tile off a roof. The tile was smashed when it fell the footpath below, narrowly missing a couple passing-by. Apart from clean-up and replacement of another tile on the roof, no-one was hurt.”

In simple terms we might firstly consider these things from the statement:

ACTORS

Wind;

Ceramic tile(s); (Two, since it one tile came off, and later it was replaced);

Roof;

Footpath;

Couple.

ACTIONS

Wind: Blowing strongly from North; applied lifting pressure to roof tiles;

Ceramic tile: Came loose from roof (force of wind – and perhaps direction of force from North will need consideration); Crashed to footpath (attraction of gravity); A new tile was later repositioned and fixed to Roof.

Roof: Above footpath area; Allowed release of tile (will need more consideration of ‘why’); Later repairs/replacement of tile;

Footpath: Laid beneath and somewhere in range of falling tile; Cleaned-up after event;

Couple: Walking along footpath;

TIME

Approximately 2 p.m., Event occurred.

EVENT

Tile hits footpath narrowly missing a passing couple (yes, we do have other ‘events’, but this is the event that has initiated our enquiry)..

In our second level we might start to note some things implied in the initial statement.

ACTORS

Some ‘implied’ actors from the first reading:

Gravity

Force holding tile onto roof (eg underside wire)

Sound – or lack thereof. May or may not be part of the grand scheme, but still note it at this stage.

Who was involved with original roof work?

Who did the repairs? (Might not be useful for our later summation, but at this stage, note it down.)

ACTIONS

Implied actions:

Gravity: it’s ‘there’;

Holding force on the tile: was there any? (Had a restraining underside wire been cut);

Sound: presumably some sound, but did anyone hear? Does it matter? Still note at this stage.

Did the person who did the original work work correctly?

Ditto re the person making repairs.

TIME

Implied is that within a passage of time before the initiating event, some things have occurred that allowed for the strengthening of wind, and the weakening of support and dislodging of the tile; also passage of couple to the point of near-hit.

EVENTS

Expansion discovers:

1300hrs Wind springs-up from the North.

1310hrs Wind begins to increase in strength.

1340hrs Wind strengthens and gusts begin lifting of tile, with possible consequent weakening of fixing ties. (‘Possible’ because we might later discover a tradesperson has been aloft in the roof space and cut a tie-wire to slide the tile back and not re-tied it.)

1359hrs Couple have begun walking in vicinity beneath roof where tile is being dislodged.

1400hrs After the passage of time, the wind appears to have dislodged tile, which is swept from roof by wind and under the force of gravity, the tile crashes to footpath and shatters.

In further ‘drill-down’, we would look at each element to the investigation to see whether time had any effect on that element, and what the effect might have been within the time-frame.

By now, you should be getting a grasp as to how expansive our investigation becomes – there is a lot that grows form the seed, and each new step along the path requires re-application of the formula.

I certainly do not see my proposed formula as being in conflict with any extant inspection/ investigation/audit tool, but as an easy-to-use, add-on can-opener to your utility belt… and all in the interest of assisting folk to:

ENJOY THIS LIFE!!!

*NOTE THERE IS NO CONFLICT BETWEEN MY ‘4P’s & THE ‘7Ps’ OUTLINED WITHIN THOSE EXPANDED UPON BY TERRY FLANDERS FSIA RSP(AUST.) IN HIS TRADEMARKED ‘RADAR’ SYSTEM: ‘4’ OR ‘7’ MY HYPOTHESIS STANDS (WELL, UNTIL YOU SHOOT IT DOWN IN FLAMES, OF COURSE!!!

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: audits, Inspection, investigations, root cause, root cause analysis

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

Visit Count – Started Jan 2015

  • 21,281,787 Visitors

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join over 30,000 other discerning safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
  • Bernard Corden on The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
  • Rob Schroder on The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
  • Rob Long on Measurement Anxiety in Safety
  • Antony on Measurement Anxiety in Safety
  • Rob Long on The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety
  • Bernard Corden on The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety
  • Bernard Corden on Are You a Safety Clown?
  • Atharva on Road Safety Slogans
  • Rob Long on It’s Always About Paperwork

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Featured Downloads

  • Hazardous Substances Risk Assessment Form (339 downloads)
  • Public-Event-Risk-Management-Checklist-HD.doc (2368 downloads)
  • Low-Bridges.pps (2148 downloads)
  • Volunteer-Risk-Assessment-checklist.pdf (739 downloads)
  • OHS-Policies-and-Procedures-Manual.doc (5748 downloads)
  • Abdukadirov_UnintendedConsequences_v11.pdf (862 downloads)
  • Event Risk Management (392 downloads)
  • Europe-SPoR-Workshop-Flyer.pdf (196 downloads)
  • Seven-Essential-Safety-Reminders.pdf (683 downloads)
  • Guidance-FOR-the-beginning-OHS-professiona1.docx (858 downloads)
  • Plant Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Form (578 downloads)
  • Too-Much-Safety-eBook-Rev-01.pdf (1428 downloads)
  • Linz Workshop-17_18-Jan.pdf (537 downloads)
  • Pre-Purchase-Risk-Assessment-Checklist.pdf (797 downloads)
  • Task Risk Assessment Template (389 downloads)

Recent Posts

  • The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
  • Certificate, Diploma and Masters Studies in SPoR
  • Measurement Anxiety in Safety
  • Are You a Safety Clown?
  • The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety
  • Balance in Risk and Safety
  • It’s Always About Paperwork
  • Sin-Eaters for Safety
  • Mixed Messages but No Redemption
  • The Silver Bullet

Footer

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • AHH$ Covid$afe Chri$tma$ New$letter
    • Paradise by the dashboard light
  • Bill Sims
    • Employee Engagement: Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry?
    • Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
  • Craig Clancy
    • Task Based vs Activity Based Safe Work Method Statements
    • Safety And Tender Submissions
  • Daniel Kirk
    • It’s easy being wise after the event.
    • A Positive Safety Story
  • Dave Whitefield
    • Safety is about…
    • Safety and Compliance
  • Dennis Millard
    • Are You Risk Intelligent?
    • Honey they get me! They get me at work!
  • Drewie
    • Downturn Doin’ Your Head In? Let’s Chat….
    • How was your break?
  • Gabrielle Carlton
    • All Care and No Care!
    • You Are Not Alone!
  • George Robotham
    • How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
    • How To Write a Safety Report
  • Goran Prvulovic
    • Safety Manager – an Ultimate Scapegoat
    • HSE Performance – Back to Basics
  • James Ellis
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
    • What and how should we measure to support recovery from injury?
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • Who is Responsible for This?
    • Who Are Your People?
  • Karl Cameron
    • Abby Normal Safety
    • The Right Thing
  • Ken Roberts
    • Safety Legislation Is Our Biggest Accident?
    • HSE Trip Down Memory Lane
  • Mark Perrett
    • Psychology of Persuasion: Top 5 influencing skills for getting what you want
  • Mark Taylor
    • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
    • Enculturing Safety
  • Max Geyer
    • WHS Legislation is NOT about Safety it’s about Culture
    • Due Diligence Is Not Just Ticking Boxes!
  • Matt Thorne
    • It was the SIA until someone wanted to swing from the Chandelier
    • Common Sense is Remarkably Uncommon
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
    • Misleading Indicators
  • Admin
    • Certificate, Diploma and Masters Studies in SPoR
    • Merry Covid Xmas–2020
  • Dr Rob Long
    • The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
    • Measurement Anxiety in Safety
  • Rob Sams
    • I’m just not that into safety anymore
    • Social ‘Resiliencing’
  • Barry Spud
    • Barry Spud’s Hazard Control Tips
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • Safety Nerd
    • The Block isn’t portraying safety as it should be
    • Toolbox Talk Show–PPE
  • Wynand Serfontein
    • Why The Problem With Learning Is Unlearning
    • I DON’T KNOW
  • Zoe Koskinas
    • Why is fallibility so challenging in the workplace?

FEATURED POSTS

Unthinkable

Trinket Safety

The SEEK Investigations Donut

The Advisor as Skilled Helper

The Fear of Freedom in Safety

Subliminal and Subconscious Influence

Shopping for Safety

Resilience and Safety

Off to a Flying Start in Learning with CLLR

Understanding Safety as an Archetype

Holistic Ergonomics

safety leadership

The Emperor has no Clothes – Beyond Behaviour-Based Safety

Risk and Safety Starts with Being?

Rhythms, Musicophilia and Safety

safety silence

The Power in Silence

The Mystery of the Emotions

The Village Effect

Test Your Reaction Times

Balance in Risk and Safety

Think Different, Act Differently in Risk

More Posts from this Category

Paperwork

https://vimeo.com/162034157?loop=0

Due Diligence

https://vimeo.com/162493843?loop=0

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.