Are You Creating an ‘Obeyience Culture’? When I started consulting in risk and safety, people would regularly contact me and ask “are we meeting our legal requirements?” or “are we doing all we need to do, ‘under the law’”. Consulting in risk and safety seems to attract these questions, and people … [Read more...] about Are You Creating an ‘Obeyience Culture’?
Lead and Lag Indicators
The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety
The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety Rather than measure what we value, we tend to value what we can measure Many safety mottos and mantras for organisations are sent to me and I recently saw one for a mantra and motto of ‘safety beyond measure’. The strange thing about the … [Read more...] about The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety
Groundhog Safety Day
Everything we see, smell, hear, feel and taste leads our brains to think equal to everything familiar in our reality. Neuroscience theory tells us that our brains are organised to reflect everything we know in our environment, in the form of knowledge and experience. Our brains are equal to our … [Read more...] about Groundhog Safety Day
Measurement and Psychosocial Safety
If you ask the wrong questions, you collect the wrong data Rather than measure what we value, we seem to value what we can measure - Unknown Generalisations are always problematic, because there are always exceptions. However, it is sometimes handy to use generalisations like a story, to … [Read more...] about Measurement and Psychosocial Safety
Do You Believe in Good and Bad Luck?
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?
The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started We can learn a great deal from our fundamentalist friends and people with addictions after all, these are the experts in conversion. If you are a safety officer or a risk manager you must wonder why it is so hard to convert people to becoming … [Read more...] about The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
Numerology and Psychic Numbing
Numerology and Psychic Numbing Numerology is the belief in a mystical relationship between numbers and events. I can remember as a kid being challenged by the coincidence between numbers and events, later learning that the fascination between numbers and proofs dates back to the Early … [Read more...] about Numerology and Psychic Numbing
Near Miss or Near Hit
Near Miss or Near Hit One of the Great Misnomers of Nomenclature in Safety. A very difficult one for most organisations to get their heads around. Do we report, don’t we report, do we just ignore it? This article is probably the best I have ever seen on the subject and well worth a read. As the … [Read more...] about Near Miss or Near Hit
Misleading Indicators
Misleading Indicators By Phil La Duke on HIS BLOG Nearly every safety professional worth his or her salt has been told that he or she needs to look at both leading and lagging indicators; it’s good advice, in fact, it’s advice I’ve given many times in articles and speeches over the years. But … [Read more...] about Misleading Indicators
Target Trade-Offs and Numeric Goals
Target Trade-Offs and Numeric Goals We learn recently that Victorian Police – a supposed institution of trust, has fabricated numbers over the past 5 years in order to meet targets. It is reported today that Victoria Police have fabricated 258,000 breath tests in order to meet targets. How is this … [Read more...] about Target Trade-Offs and Numeric Goals