• 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

Bounded Rationality–How Can Too Much Safety Be Bad For You?

June 15, 2015 by Admin 8 Comments

Bounded Rationality – How Can Too Much Safety Be Bad For You?

bounded rationalitySomeone just sent me a safety slogan: “Safety – It’s Never Enough”, normally I would just brush it off as another meaningless, demoralising aphorism but it got me thinking……Join me in reflecting back over the last few serious incidents you have been involved in…. was one of the common issues uncovered that there wasn’t enough paperwork or procedures in place? Or, is it more the case that what was supposed to happen just didn’t? Information overload is one of the major causes of incidents but you wont ever see that in an investigation report!

A recent incident I was investigating involved a serious injury to a labour hire employee just an hour into his first day on the job. The task he was performing was potentially very high risk, if not done right, and hence it was well covered in extremely comprehensive procedures and inductions – but, the induction process was so complicated and time consuming that, due to production demands and the safety guy not working Saturdays, this poor guy was put straight to work. Interestingly, his supervisor turned up at hospital with induction paperwork to sign and was eaten alive by an angry mother!

A recent debate on LinkedIn indicated that many realise and lament that safety is convoluted and overly bureaucratic, yet the sunk cost and fear of non-compliance over-ride any thoughts about rationalisation.  We’ve all heard that the paperwork is necessary to “cover your arse” but that same paperwork could actually be detrimental to your case in court where judgements are usually decided on cultural issues rather than systems – its not about what you say you do but about what you actually do.

This all started making sense to me when I learned about the concept of “Bounded Rationality”. (If you would like to extend your thinking even further then type “Exformation” or “Satisficing” into our search box!)

On our resource page “Understanding the Social Psychology of Risk and Safety”,  Dr Rob Long describes Bounded Rationality as:

First by Herbert Simon (1978) bounded rationality is the idea that in decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a decision. The truth is humans are limited by what our mind and social constructs can manage. Humans have to make decisions without all possible information available.

A quote by Rob Sams:

We need to be aware that people have ‘bounded rationality’ and that ‘flooding’ people with information is one of the greatest causes of incident because they become distracted with so much detail. We need to think about how people ‘sift’ through all of the information that is provided to them and consider how they ‘discern’ what knowledge is valuable and what is not?

I have a lot more to learn about Bounded Rationality but a few of our recent articles explain the effects of it very well:

 

Flooding is Dangerous, and I don’t Mean the Water….

Parts of the east coast of Australia have experienced heavy rain over recent weeks and it has become common to read headlines of flash flooding causing road closures, cars washed away and sadly a man in Sydney was killed when he was swept into a drain. The …… Read the rest of the article

Is Safety a Choice You Make?

image_thumb.png

Is Safety a Choice You Make? One of the things safety seems good at doing is developing illogical slogans and sayings. Some examples are: ‘all accidents are preventable’ and ‘safety is no accident’. The trouble is what we say affects the thinking of others and sets cultural agenda. Half of this silly stuff comes from people …… Read the rest of the article

Its All In The Sign

Depositphotos_10767376_xs_thumb.jpg

Its All In The Sign A brilliant essay by Max Geyer, submitted as part of his study for the Graduate Certificate in the Psychology of Risk – published here with his permission: Norretranders (1998) provides ample evidence that the unconscious plays a major role in communication. This paper looks at the critical nature of unconscious communication in relation …… Read the rest of the article

 

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety

clip_image004.png

In response to a number of emails I have received and conversations I’ve been having (and sadly some very ignorant comments posted on LinkedIn) I thought it would be a great idea to republish this excellent summary of the principles by Dr Rob Long. Understandably, given how the same …… Read the rest of the article

This Toaster is Hot

image_thumb.png

Warning, please stop and “Take Five”! Guest Post by Rob Sams – inspired by this “Hot Toaster” page  Before you read any further, I feel compelled to warn you that reading this article may be harmful for your health, it may even cause an injury. I have no idea how or why, but …… Read the rest of the article

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: Safety Procedures, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: bounded rationality, court cases, flooding, this toaster is hot

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

  • 21,322,423 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

  • Bernard Corden on Intuition and Safety
  • Rob Long on You Can’t Believe in Zero and Learning at The Same Time
  • Bernard Corden on You Can’t Believe in Zero and Learning at The Same Time
  • Jason Robertson on Are You a Safety Clown?
  • Rob Long on You Can’t Believe in Zero and Learning at The Same Time
  • Rob Long on Zero Vision Creates Mindless Gobbledygook
  • Michael Dale on You Can’t Believe in Zero and Learning at The Same Time
  • Wynand on Zero Vision Creates Mindless Gobbledygook
  • Wynand on Poisoning the Professional Waterhole
  • Rob Long on Zero Vision Creates Mindless Gobbledygook

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Featured Downloads

  • Health and Safety Risk Assessment Checklist (8172 downloads)
  • Supervisor-Induction-Checklist.docx (346 downloads)
  • Understanding-the-Social-psychology-of-Risk-and-Safety-3.docx (3063 downloads)
  • Supervising Children Around Water (7203 downloads)
  • Field Activity Risk Assessment Form (670 downloads)
  • Presenting-Dos-and-Donts.pdf (358 downloads)
  • Manual Handling Risk Assessment Form (362 downloads)
  • Effective-Safety-Management-Systems.docx (4992 downloads)
  • WHS-Legislation-A-to-Z-2012.doc (57607 downloads)
  • Manual Handling Risk Assessment Template (399 downloads)
  • OHS-Policies-and-Procedures-Manual.doc (5778 downloads)
  • National-Emergency-Risk-Assessment-Guidelines.pdf (1187 downloads)
  • Guidance-FOR-the-beginning-OHS-professiona1.docx (20870 downloads)
  • Presentation-Skills-Toolbox.pdf (450 downloads)
  • Training-and-Development-Needs-of-OHS-Personnel-23.docx (2543 downloads)

Recent Posts

  • Intuition and Safety
  • The Linguistics of Zero
  • You Can’t Believe in Zero and Learning at The Same Time
  • Poisoning the Professional Waterhole
  • Zero Vision Creates Mindless Gobbledygook
  • 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

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
    • Intuition and Safety
    • The Linguistics of Zero
  • 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

Don’t Hold the Hand Rail

Incommensurability and Discourse in Risk

A Philosophy of Safety

Europe – International Workshop Social Psychology of Risk Introduction

I Just Want Clear Answers

Subjecting and Objecting About Risk

The Challenge of the Consciousness Taboo

Suicide Prevention – a Social Psychological Perspective

Goals and Vision in Safety

Understanding Habit, Habituation and Change

SEEK Investigations Workshop

Adverse Events: Eliminate or Anticipate?

Safety and The Sunk Cost Fallacy

Why Resilience Cannot be Engineered

How Groupthink Works

The Lexicon of Safety Gibberish

Reflections of a ‘Doer’

The Essentialist Pleasure Of Safety

How to Do the Best Risk Assessment

‘Can’t Means Won’t Try’ – The Challenge of Being Challenged

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.