• 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 / Due Diligence is NOT Quantitative

Due Diligence is NOT Quantitative

March 2, 2023 by Dr Rob Long 2 Comments

Originally posted on August 25, 2022 @ 7:19 PM

imageOne of the grand delusions of approaches to Due Diligence is that it is a quantitative concept. Due Diligence is similar to ALARP and is a 100% qualitative idea that cannot be measured.

Our successful Due Diligence program will be run in Perth 3,4,5 October 2022.

https://spor.com.au/home/workshops-perth-3-7-october-2022/

Place are still available for registrations.

Due diligence is essentially a moral activity (https://safetyrisk.net/safety-and-risk-due-diligence-as-a-moral-activity/) that provides a framework for helping, care and support of people as they seek to tackle risk.

Due Diligence is NOT a policing activity, measuring activity or about mechanical compliance.

Nothing as set out in the WHS Act about Due Diligence can be measured.

If you want to know about Due Diligence you can watch Greg Smith in action here:

4. DUE DILIGENCE from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

Or watch my discussion here:

Due Diligence from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

The real give away about Due Diligence is the language in the WHS Act (http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/whasa2011218/s27.html). Just like ALARP (https://vimeo.com/162637292) Due Diligence is about ‘taking reasonable steps’ to:

  • Keep up to date
  • Understand operations
  • Ensure ‘appropriate’ resources
  • Ensure ‘appropriate’ processes
  • Commit to obligations under the Act and,
  • Verifies resources and processes

All of the language used in the WHS Act regarding Due Diligence is qualitative.

The real energy of Due Diligence is based in mutuality and reciprocation.

Whenever the word ‘duty’ is used (as it is in the AIHS BoK Chapter on Ethics) it invokes a moral dimension towards others. This too is not quantitative but qualitative. One can chose to frame this morality as deontological or there are many other approaches to moral duty that better capture the complexity of moral orientation towards others. A deontological ethic, as proposed by the AIHS BoK Chapter, makes duty a ‘fundamentalist morality’ as if what is good is mystically known by everyone, something akin to ‘common sense’. Hence why the AIHS BoK Chapter pivots on such an obscure notion as ’check your gut’ (https://safetyrisk.net/the-aihs-bok-and-ethics-check-your-gut/).

There is no such thing as ‘common sense’, natural law or objective ethics. There is no absolute in ‘do the right thing’ and ‘check your gut’. Such language is misleading and delusional.

All moral behaviour is situated and contextualised. There is no metaphysical objectivity that directs moral orientation despite what Kant proposed 200 years ago.

So, when it comes to Due Diligence rather than seeking a moral absolute, the law really proposes a problem-solving approach to tackling risk. https://safetyrisk.net/safety-and-risk-due-diligence-as-a-moral-activity/

This is why the WHS Act uses language such as ‘appropriate’, ‘reasonable’ and ‘minimize’.

There is no demand for zero in any legislation associated with safety.

There is no checklist or paperwork process that can ensure Due Diligence.

Due Diligence is anchored to one’s worldview and orientation to others (https://safetyrisk.net/the-safety-worldview-and-the-worldview-of-safety-testing-due-diligence/) and as such, a behaviourist lens or engineering lens will never satisfy.

Due Diligence is about how one is oriented towards risk and those who tackle risk under one’s ‘care’. This is the moral essence of duty under the Act. This is why the omission in the AIHS BoK Chapter on Ethics of any mention of care, helping or personhood is so telling.

I you want to learn more about what Due Diligence is really about, you can register for the Perth workshop or start watching the free video series Risky Conversations (https://vimeo.com/showcase/3938199).

If you want to learn about what can be done practically to assure Due Diligence then register for the workshops in Perth. https://spor.com.au/home/workshops-perth-3-7-october-2022/

  • 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 Tagged With: ALARP

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wynand says

    August 25, 2022 at 8:20 PM

    I always feel that, especially in safety, the word “due” is ignored. To my mind, due means something like “what is needed”, “what is expected”, “what is required”. To me it sounds like “did you do enough?”. And the word “enough” implies a moving target – what is good enough today may be too little (or too much) tomorrow. That said, my mind would then go to ask “what is appropriate for the situation?”. If I go to the shop and buy something that looks as if it will do the job, I did my “due” diligence – I do not need to make a 5 hour study to determine if the $5 frying pan is good enough, or do I need to buy the $6 one? However, when I buy a car, a few hours of comparisons and test drives will form part of my personal “due” diligence.

    Reply
    • Rob Long says

      August 26, 2022 at 7:23 AM

      Good observations Wynand. Also ‘due’ is a metaphor for time, payment and readiness.
      It gives us the idea of nowness, don’t delay and something owed/expected.
      When something is due we await its delivery.
      What is delivered needs to be sufficient to the expectation, which is care for workers.
      A great expectation for an industry that rarely talks about care and never discusses care ethics.

      Reply

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

Safety is an Art

Meeting is NOT About Technique

New Video Available – Semiotics Walk Workshop

Critical Thinking At Risk

The Ethics of Safety

Test Your Reaction Times

The Common Sense Fallacy

Understanding Risk

Toward Zero, A Failed Goal

Training Workshops CLLR April to July 2020

STEM Safety in Drag

OMG – Big Words and Safety

The Emperor has no Clothes – Beyond Behaviour-Based Safety

Psychology and safety

Zero Accident Vision Non-Sense

The Deficit Focus and Safety Balance

Chronic Unease is Not Enough

Study at The Centre for Leadership and Learning in Risk

Collaborating, Cooperating and Cohesion in Risk

None so Blind as Those That Don’t Want to See – Due Diligence

Symbols Have Power

The Tension of Opposites and Binaries in Risk

Why is Safety an Easy Target?

The Essentialist Pleasure Of Safety

The Less You See, the More Likely to Die

A Small Change and ‘Y’ it Matters?

Thinking About Harm

Understanding Just Culture

The Challenging Psychology of Ergonomics

Just Tell Your Mind to Stop It

Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?

Managing Risk Rather Than Striving for Absolute Safety

Update on SPoR in India, Brazil and Europe

My thoughts during a walk in the Forests in Vienna

Y is Being and Doing

Don’t mention the ‘V’ Word

‘Man Up’ Safety

We need to make sure this can never happen again

3 Things I learned about Safety from Buddhism

The Social Psychology of Distance-Safety

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