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

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
      • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) 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 2023
      • 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
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • 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
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • 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
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL 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!
  • THEMES
    • Psychosocial Safety
    • Resiliencing
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Due Diligence / But We Have Safety Systems in Place

But We Have Safety Systems in Place

November 15, 2022 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Originally posted on January 11, 2018 @ 12:06 PM

But We Have Safety Systems in Place

safety systemOne of the most successful myths of Safety is that one is protected by having systems in place. What we learned from Greg Smith in Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/risky-conversations/) was that having a system in place means nothing in court unless one can demonstrate that the system is effective. Having a system in place is meaningless unless one can demonstrate that the system actually ‘works’. This means that the system must be proven to achieve what it says it does. What evidence could you provide that demonstrates that your systems actually work?

This is why risk matrices, Heinrich pyramids and Swiss cheese are all dismissed by the law as nonsense because none of this Mumbo Jumbo works. Indeed, much of the symbols and models that have emerged in risk management like the risk matrix are as effective in assessing and tackling risk as an Ouija Board. The risk matrix is at best an act of theatre and at worst a delusion that makes people think they have undertaken a risk assessment.

One of the reasons why people are comforted by the theatre of their system and moreso the size of their system, is the mythology that the courts requires ‘paper systems’ as evidence. Most often in court it is your testimony not the systems themselves that demonstrate Due Diligence. Having a system in place demonstrates that one is good at putting systems in place, it is not evidence that people know how to use the system nor that it ‘works’. But we feel so comfortable when a system is in place and this comfort is the greatest risk. Unless the organisation can demonstrate Due Diligence (or non-negligence) then pulling out a system or a set of folders in court means nothing.

It’s like producing a licence as evidence that I am a good driver or a white card to demonstrate I know something about safety. All the tickets I collect simply demonstrate I am good at collecting tickets or licences, they are not evidence of good driving or safety. Similarly, paper systems can be bought at Officeworks and put in place. And when the court discovers you have been using generic systems, watch out! Generic systems are a demonstration that you don’t know your systems or indeed that they work. The court is interested in action undertaken not reams of paper.

I know of one tier one organisation that has six layers of risk systems and none of them actually work. Indeed, the more the organisation multiplies its systems the easier it is to demonstrate that they can’t ‘work’. A culture that believes excessive systems demonstrates Due Diligence is fundamentally deluded and invites prosecution for incompetence. When human beings are faced with excessive systems they invent a new risk called ‘tick and flick’ a greater risk than having no system at all.

When I help organisations improve systems in Due Diligence i add no paperwork to what they do. Indeed, effective systems do not imply paper-based actions. The real way to Due Diligence is having actions that work in tackling risk not cosmetic colour changes on some obscure impulse on a coloured grid. Recording a change in colour by ‘being careful’ or by increasing ‘awareness’ is meaningless.

If you want to learn about Due Diligence and how to enact effective systems then you may wish to come to the two day workshop with Greg Smith and Dr Rob Long in Sydney on 1,2 February.

You can find out more and register here: https://cllr.com.au/product/due-diligence-workshop-unit-13/

You can see Rob and Greg discuss Due Diligence here: https://vimeo.com/162493843

4. DUE DILIGENCE from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Dr Rob Long

Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Dr Rob Long

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

  • Safety as Zero, The Perfect Event - September 25, 2023
  • Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero - September 25, 2023
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety - September 24, 2023
  • If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health - September 23, 2023
  • Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk - September 23, 2023
Dr Rob Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Due Diligence, Robert Long, Safety systems Tagged With: Due Diligence, Safety Systems

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them belowCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,509 other subscribers.

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • Rob Long on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Rob Long on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Matthew Thorne on Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • rosa a carrillo on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Matthew Thorne on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Rob Long on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Matt Thorne on Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Rob Long on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Rosa Carrillo on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Brent Charlton on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Anonymous on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Rob Long on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Rob Long on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Rob long on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Anonymous on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Joseph D Zinobile on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Jason Martell on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health

Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk

7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden

Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health

If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking

Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work

CLLR Newsletter July 2023

Playing With Mental Health in Safety is Dangerous

STOP ‘BREAKING’ PEOPLE! The notion of Psychological Safety

Learning to Learn Socially

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Footer

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Safety as Zero, The Perfect Event
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format
  • Icebreakers and Games that Safety Trainers Play

Recent Posts

  • Safety as Zero, The Perfect Event
  • Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health
  • Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk
  • Embodied Enactivity in Safety
  • The Meaning of Myth in Risk
  • Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Icebreakers and Games that Safety Trainers Play
  • The Power of Safety Myths
  • What Do You Mean By Performance?
  • Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Podcast – Dr Rob Long With John Morlan and The Risk Matrix
  • What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Free Videos, Podcasts and Books on Zero
  • Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • If You’re Happy in Safety, Clap Your Hands
  • Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Zero Hour Part 5 – Surfacing the Unconscious
  • Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious
  • Auditing the 7 Golden Rules of Zero, A Miserable Fail
  • 7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden
  • The Non-Golden Rules for Leadership in Zero
  • Seven ‘Golden’ Rules for Zero and Yet No Ethic
  • Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health
  • Is this Your Safety?
  • SPoR Workshops Canberra 18-21 September
  • The Dominance of Zero as the ‘Common Denominator’ of Safety
  • Zero Hour Episode 3
  • Goal Setting and Zero
  • Zero as a Worldview
  • If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking
  • Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Breach of Faith and Psycho-Social Risk
  • Zero Harm is Never Zero Harm
  • Why Would You Want to be a Safety “Geek’ or Hero?
  • The Mental Illness of Identifying as Safety
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a place holder
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a Philosophy
  • CARING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
  • Care is NOT a Factor and Yes, Your Model Matters
  • Care Ethics and the Ethics of Care, in Risk
  • FEAR AND CONTROL – Dialogue in a technological society
  • Of Course, Method Matters in Safety
  • Day 12 SPoR in Europe
  • Free Study Module Following-Leading in Risk August-September
  • Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work
  • CLLR Newsletter July 2023

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick

Accidents Happen Because You Don’t Put Safety First

What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?

Speaking a New Language in Safety

Human Factors is Never About Humans

Mental Health, Risk and Safety – Part 2

A Scaffolder’s Journey in SPoR – A Podcast

Ten Secrets to Risk and Safety Motivation and Ownership

Suicide Prevention – a Social Psychological Perspective

The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety

It Works! A New Approach to Risk and Safety

Managing the Unexpected

Even Safety Is Fallible

The Reason Safety Has Gone So Crazy

Right Then Children, Sit Up Straight and Take Some Safety

The Social Politics of Risk Workshop

Hoodwinked by Heinrich

Day 1 SPoR In Europe

The Dance of Death and Randomness

C. G. Jung on Risk and Safety

Embodiment, Risk and Safety

What Safety and Risk Could Learn From Patch Adams

Innocence and Justice in Safety

Actions in ‘Bad Faith’

The Different Levels of Wrongness!

Critical Thinking At Risk

THE KING’S CORONATION

Podcast – Dr Rob Long With John Morlan and The Risk Matrix

Day 4 SPoR in Europe

Real Risk for Real Life

Subjecting and Objecting About Risk

Practical Case Studies in SPoR Presented at Vienna Workshops

Safety Gives Me the Right over Other Rights

Study at The Centre for Leadership and Learning in Risk

STEM Safety in Drag

The Sully Effect

Why Would You Talk That Way?

Visualising Risk

Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts

The Human Safety Newsletter is Out

More Posts from this Category

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,509 other subscribers.

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY