The Safety Silver Bullet I found it! You can buy your official silver bullet HERE >>>> The idea of finding a silver bullet is that there is a perfect solution to a problem. It’s a simple idea that comes from binary absolute thinking. Such thinking is very common in safety and proposes … [Read more...] about The Silver Bullet
critical thinking
In Praise of In-Between Thinking in Risk and Safety
In Praise of In-Between Thinking in Risk and Safety As much as Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow is helpful, it also sustains the idea that the human mind operates in a binary paradigm. As much as Ariely’s book Logically Irrational helps people understand the nature of human decision making, … [Read more...] about In Praise of In-Between Thinking in Risk and Safety
A Picture Tells a Thousand Lies in Safety
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ ‘Seeing is believing’ These are common aphorisms about photographic media and images. Unfortunately, these aphorisms have never been true. No image is objective or neutral but rather carries a story that must be interpreted. Now, more than ever with … [Read more...] about A Picture Tells a Thousand Lies in Safety
Why Myths in Safety Work
Why Myths in Safety Work Update: See our expanding series on Safety Myths HERE As I look back across the 1000 blogs I have written there are many common themes, in a way indicating common concerns of an industry that is most confused and lost. One of the common themes throughout concerns the power … [Read more...] about Why Myths in Safety Work
There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
One of the fascinating delusions of the safety industry is the myth of objectivity. There is none so, get used to it and work with it. This is why it’s important to educate people in critical thinking. Sorry to tell you, but every risk assessment design, form and checklist carries the bias of the … [Read more...] about There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
What is Critical Thinking in Safety?
What is Critical Thinking in Safety? Everyone thinks but not all think critically…. There are countless books out there on supposed ‘critical thinking skills’ but many are not about critical thinking. Many of these books don’t even define critical thinking well. Let’s take for example Cottrell, … [Read more...] about What is Critical Thinking in Safety?
The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget
The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget Image Source One of the favourite activities of Safety is downloading and sharing templates. This is promoted by the idea that paperwork is an end in itself. Once the paperwork is completed in comes ‘set and forget’, nothing to worry about except the next … [Read more...] about The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget
Who Leads the Way in Safety?
Who Leads the Way in Safety? One’s ethos is a vocational methodology, one’s driving meaning and purpose in being. It is from one’s ethos that we develop a method or ethic. An ethic is essentially the systematic construct of what one believes about life, being and personhood. For example: If one … [Read more...] about Who Leads the Way in Safety?
The Deficit Focus and Safety Balance
The Deficit Focus and Safety Balance So much of the activity of safety has a focus on the deficit nature of loss. Safety, by its very remit counts the number of times things are unsafe, when things go wrong. Rather than take a focus on the abundances of fallibility, the wealth of goodness in … [Read more...] about The Deficit Focus and Safety Balance
‘Professional’ Challenges for the Risk ‘Industry’
‘Professional’ Challenges for the Safety ‘Industry’ Download the full paper, including references: Professional Challenges for the Safety Industry by Dr Robert Long Introduction I have been in conversation with large organizations/businesses recently that are in the process of changing the nature … [Read more...] about ‘Professional’ Challenges for the Risk ‘Industry’
