Do You Believe in Good and Bad Luck? First published in Sept 2012 Soon it will be the football final and Melbourne Cup season again and millions of Australians will prove to each other that they believe in good and bad luck. There will be arguments about odds and probabilities, bank … [Read more...] about Do You Believe in Good and Bad Luck?
Risk Management
Risk You Can Eat
The risk and safety industry just continues to get more absurd as it ventures into conceptual metaphor of eating and diet as it seek to make sense of the unquantifiable nature of risk (https://safetyrisk.net/quantifying-the-unquantifiable/). Then the industry goes into complete gobbledygook mode as … [Read more...] about Risk You Can Eat
Risk and Safety Maturity
Risk and Safety Maturity There are many programs which advertise about ‘safety leadership’ and ‘safety culture’ but advocate little more than tightening up systems, vigilance in policing and raising penalties for non-compliance. Whilst systems, policing and compliance are important, they are not … [Read more...] about Risk and Safety Maturity
You Can’t Predict the Unpredictable
Fresh off the presses in talking nonsense to people (https://safetyrisk.net/safety-experts-in-speaking-nonsense-to-people/ ), Safety revels in contradiction and nonsense. For example, that structure creates culture (https://safetyrisk.net/structure-does-not-create-culture/). It’s pretty simple in … [Read more...] about You Can’t Predict the Unpredictable
Effectiveness in Managing Risk and Cultural Change
Effectiveness in Managing Risk and Cultural Change A blast from the past (August 2013) article - The need to change safety culture In recent times it has occurred to coroner's at inquests, auditors and government (eg. Cole Commission) that poor safety culture has a central role in normalising … [Read more...] about Effectiveness in Managing Risk and Cultural Change
We are thinking about it the wrong way!
Traditional thinking about Safety & Risk Management just isn’t working As any regular reader of this site would know, I am an ardent fan of the work and teachings of Dr Robert Long. His book, Risk Makes Sense (download here FREE), was a god send to me as it helped “arationalise” (NOT … [Read more...] about We are thinking about it the wrong way!
Ritual Performance and Risk
Ritual Performance and Risk One of the by-products and effects of safety bureaucracy is the reduction of personal agency. That is, people are controlled by process, systems and rituals rather than by relationship, interactive engagement and human mediation. The process of displacement then makes … [Read more...] about Ritual Performance and Risk
One Brain, Three Minds
One Brain, Three Minds You have all enjoyed the articles by Dr Robert Long. he will be presenting in Perth and Albany next week (see the flyer below). One of the Keynote presentations is called One Brain, Three Minds: The Key to Understanding Risk. If you cant make it to presentation then will be … [Read more...] about One Brain, Three Minds
Barry Spud’s Hazard Control Tips
Barry Spud’s Hazard Control Tips - The Hierarchy Of Hazard Control Barry Spud tells: “The Hierarchy of Hazard Control (I call it the “HOHC”) is the one of the main weapons, in the Safety Crusader’s arsenal, in the war on lost time injuries. It takes a certifiable Safety Expert like myself to know … [Read more...] about Barry Spud’s Hazard Control Tips
Managing Risk Rather Than Striving for Absolute Safety
One of the great texts that smash the notion of zero risk/zero harm is by Amalberti, R., (2013) Navigating Safety, Necessary Compromises and Trade-Offs Theory and Practice. Springer. New York. Amalberti is a professor of medicine, ergonomics and physiology and argues for ‘risk realism’ in the Health … [Read more...] about Managing Risk Rather Than Striving for Absolute Safety