The Missing Ethic: Safety’s Core Challenge by Simon Renatus For a pursuit that claims to protect lives, Safety is surprisingly quiet about the lives it influences. Unlike professions such as nursing, where respect, kindness, and relational responsibility are core values, Safety remains focused on … [Read more...] about From Procedure to Profession: A Comparison of Safety and Nursing Ethics
Safety Professional
I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock
I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock “We make thousands of decisions everyday in automatic mode without a mistake. Yet we don’t reflect and celebrate this wonderful mode of human decision making at work rather, we put the blow torch on the one moment when it doesn’t work and something goes wrong” So much of … [Read more...] about I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock
The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia
Rightly or wrongly, “Safety” has become one of the most despised words in industry. The debate over accreditation of the Profession has been simmering for too long and now it is time to bring it to the boil! The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia by Dr Rob Long I have been inundated … [Read more...] about The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia
Enrol in First Course in Safety Engineering with Dr Barry Spud
A unique opportunity has arisen to study with Dr Barry Spud (BA., MA., MEd., PhD) in Safety Engineering. This four-day course offers a special chance to learn about a ‘different’ approach to Safety Engineering. Barry is suitably placed to teach this course under the following … [Read more...] about Enrol in First Course in Safety Engineering with Dr Barry Spud
7 Traits of a Safety-Focused Safety Leader – NOT!
Even when Safety attempts to discuss humanizing it does so through the lens of Technique (Ellul). The focus is rarely on persons but rather the safety program and safety outcomes. What a shame that when Safety endeavours to do something it can’t imagine outside of its own safety box! A good … [Read more...] about 7 Traits of a Safety-Focused Safety Leader – NOT!
The Traffic in Zero Only Goes One Way
Isn’t it funny how critique of my work on Zero only goes one way. Fancy being criticised for being too harsh on Zero?!#?! Here we have the most divisive ideology in safety, the ultimate extremism, something not believed by safety people (https://safetyrisk.net/update-on-zero-survey-just-believe/) … [Read more...] about The Traffic in Zero Only Goes One Way
OHS Voices from the Resistance – Rosa Carrillo
One of the great risks in any criticism is being misunderstood. But, without risk, there is no learning. Without criticism, there can be no improvement. This book by Rosa, is a such risky book but one every safety person, CEO, CFO and GM, should read. Rosa’s book presents a basic thesis, that the … [Read more...] about OHS Voices from the Resistance – Rosa Carrillo
The Mis-naming of Safety as a Profession
The Mis-naming of Safety as a Profession It is fascinating to watch Safety struggle to identify itself as a ‘profession’. The quest for the brand and the repetition of the word ‘profession’ certainly doesn’t make it so (https://sia.org.au/). Even if some form of certification was developed in … [Read more...] about The Mis-naming of Safety as a Profession
Tape Down Those Leads
Tape Down Those Leads One of the things that is curiously entertaining in safety is a lack of proportionality and critical thinking. I often present in facilities where arrangements have not been considered for how workshops are presented, including: lighting, power leads, power points, desks, … [Read more...] about Tape Down Those Leads
Essential Preparation for a Safety Job
Essential Preparation for a Safety Job Most of what makes up the WHS curriculum doesn’t prepare someone for undertaking the job of safety advisor. Training a parrot to recall legislation and regulation is pretty meaningless, when a lawyer will be called in when something goes wrong. When it comes … [Read more...] about Essential Preparation for a Safety Job