I’ve noticed recently a few books released on ‘head and heart leadership’ and similar titles. Using metaphor to privilege one part of the body over another is nonsense. If you want to ensure leadership for the whole person, then one must have an ethic and linguistics of personhood that … [Read more...] about A Leadership Worldview for Psychosocial Safety
Mental health
Psychosocial Safety, Following-Leading in Risk
We released the book Following-Leading in Risk, A Humanising Dynamic in 2014. For free download here: https://www.humandymensions.com/product/following-leading-risk/ The book provides many positive and practical tools and guides for how to approach Psychosocial Safety in the workplace. The … [Read more...] about Psychosocial Safety, Following-Leading in Risk
Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
Most people would agree that wanting a Psycho-Socially safe workplace is a desirable thing. The Federal Government of Australia definitely thought so when they introduced Psycho-Social Hazards into managing Health and Safety see SafeWork Australia . All of us have biases that reflect our … [Read more...] about Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
Continuing with our series on Psychosocial Safety Dos and Don’ts Don’t ever associate Psychosocial and Mental Health with hazards. Whilst Psychosocial and Mental Health pose many challenges for organisations, these challenges are NOT hazards. Such language can only ever toxify the workplace … [Read more...] about How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
As we read through the ISO Standard 45003 we see so much nonsense language it is difficult to know where to start. So, let’s just progress through the document and respond to the language used. (We will tackle the complementary codes of practice another time). Point 1 in Scope we have this: ‘It … [Read more...] about ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
The foundation for behaviourism is the myth of ‘in and out’. This simplistic discipline imagines that fallible humans respond to positive and negative reinforcement like computer-like objects. Behaviour then becomes the sum of inputs and outputs. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of this … [Read more...] about Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
One of the principles of Wicked Problems is that any attempt to ‘fix’ such a problem usually makes things worse. Indeed, taking an accepted ‘problem solving’ approach to a wicked problem is not just futile but dangerous. Rittel and Weber identified ten primary characteristics of wicked … [Read more...] about The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
Well, you have to hand it to the zero industry. Going into the abyss in a tissue box armed with a Cert 4 OHS. And what is this minefield? ISO 45003:2021 OHS Safety Management – Psychosocial Health and Safety at Work – Guidelines for Managing Psychosocial Risks. Only the industry of zero, metrics, … [Read more...] about Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
No Good Reason to Follow Reason
Whenever Safety puts conditionality on culture is no longer talks about Culture but rather the adjective that qualifies thinking about culture. We see this with the work of Reason who applied 5 adjectives to define a culture of safety. These are: ‘reporting’, ‘informed’, ‘learning’, ‘just’ and … [Read more...] about No Good Reason to Follow Reason
The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult
Whenever we hear the slogan of ‘zero harm’, we know that it is selective. There is never any discussion in the zero-harm cult about ‘moral harm’ or ‘psychological harm’. Out of sight out of Mind. Whenever Safety focuses on the silly idea that the presence of injury represents safety … [Read more...] about The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult