Safety and Risk Due Diligence as a Moral Activity Some excellent additional resources and free videos at the end of the article............. There are checklists that abound that give the impression that Due Diligence is either a mathematical equation or ‘tick the box’ exercise. However, this … [Read more...] about Safety and Risk Due Diligence as a Moral Activity
Robert Long
Making the World fit the Safety Worldview
Making the World fit the Safety Worldview One of the drivers of the work of Martin Heidegger was his reaction to the determinist and reductionist view of Rene Descartes . The Cartesian worldview understands the world in an atomistic way, reducing certainty down to first causes. This is the view … [Read more...] about Making the World fit the Safety Worldview
Ten Secrets to Risk and Safety Motivation and Ownership
Ten Secrets to Risk and Safety Motivation and Ownership (republished by request) Here they are: 1. There are no secrets. What we need to know about motivation is already out there, trouble is, in the risk and safety sector, education in the social sciences is minimal. The best place to start is … [Read more...] about Ten Secrets to Risk and Safety Motivation and Ownership
The New Safety Saviour – Algorithms
The New Safety Saviour – Algorithms In the dreams of denial of life in Safety Utopia , we wait for the next scheme or propaganda to hit the safety airwaves. In the world of safety reality such waiting is like free entertainment, waiting to see what dumb down group buys the next bottle of snake oil. … [Read more...] about The New Safety Saviour – Algorithms
Safety Curves and Pyramids
For many years DuPont have perpetuated the myth that they are the “Worlds Safest Company” and a “world-class safety leader”. In the 1940s the company developed the safety philosophy that “all accidents are preventable”. Encouraged by their perception of success, DuPont eventually turned safety … [Read more...] about Safety Curves and Pyramids
Safety Icons and Communicating to the Unconscious
Safety Icons and Communicating to the Unconscious It is not surprising that many organisations who ‘profess’ an interest in people use objects as their icons in safety. With slogans that are about how much they ‘care about safety’ (not care about people), they chose icons of hard hats, cones, … [Read more...] about Safety Icons and Communicating to the Unconscious
Pascal’s Wager and Sacred Safety
Pascal’s Wager and Sacred Safety Pascal's Wager in the 1640s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager) sets out the fundamental idea of the Precautionary Principle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle ). The Precautionary Principle errs on the side of least loss, regardless … [Read more...] about Pascal’s Wager and Sacred Safety
Systems Serve Humans not Humans Serve Systems
Systems Serve Humans not Humans Serve Systems There is nothing wrong with having systems or checklists, nor technology to assist such (see “Who Said We Don’t Need Systems”). However, when those systems and checklists become an ‘end’ in themselves they take on a ‘force’ and ‘energy’ of their own. … [Read more...] about Systems Serve Humans not Humans Serve Systems
Hazardman Disappears
Hazardman Disappears!! Safety is one of those activities that is excellent at addition but very poor at subtraction. As we most often see, even with the most obscene, unethical and dumb idea in safety (eg. Dumb Ways to Die - DWTD), are easy to bring in and impossible to take away. This is the … [Read more...] about Hazardman Disappears
New Free Video Release–ALARP
New Free Video Release–ALARP Dr Rob Long has released a new video from the set from Risky Conversations, this time on the subject of ALARP. One of the fascinating points made by WHS Lawyer Greg Smith in the video is that the ideology of zero harm directly contradicts ALARP and hence the spirit of … [Read more...] about New Free Video Release–ALARP