• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE RESOURCES
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • 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
  • PSYCH. OF SAFETY & RISK
    • 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
  • Robert Long
    • 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!
  • Quotes & Slogans
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
    • When Slogans Don’t Work
    • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
    • 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 2022
    • 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
  • Safety Culture
    • Safety Culture Silences
You are here: Home / Robert Long / Safety Surveying What You Already Know

Safety Surveying What You Already Know

April 8, 2018 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Safety Surveying What You Already Know

imageI received a post this week from someone who had conducted the typical orthodox safety survey. There are many such surveys on the market, all infused with STEM-only assumptions about materialist-rationalist safety. As I looked through the survey results and analysis there was nothing stated or measured that organisations don’t already know. The whole survey could have just as easily been undertaken with a walk around and a few conversations. Indeed, such a method is much better if one wants to know anything about culture.

One of the reasons I constructed the MiProfile Diagnostic (https://vimeo.com/24764673) was to target the many critical aspects of culture missing in every safety survey on the market regardless whether its is labelled ‘global’ or ‘culture’.

Introducing MiProfile from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

Most people are not aware that every survey is designed on the bias of the designer. If the bias is in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), then you are not likely to learn much about dehumanising dynamics in organising.

Run any discourse analysis across the popular safety surveys on the market and interrogate them with critical questions about anthropology, sociology, psychology, learning, theology, metaphysics, poetics, semiotics and politics and you will find all such analysis missing.

Methodologies are philosophies. A method is the outcome of a methodology (philosophy). Therefore a STEM-only philosophy will generate a STEM-only method. It will produce a method based on the assumptions of positivism and be weak on anthropological, sociological, psychological and cultural essentials in organising. As Safety understands itself as a Science and not as a helping profession, its surveys are most often based on STEM-only assumptions. The survey I was handed this week was designed in the UK and was at best naïve about surveying and asked nothing that had any import for the Social Psychology of Risk. Indeed, the survey assumed that social organising wasn’t important for decision making and so was really just a survey about systems. The questioning structure demonstrated 100% behaviourist assumptions about humans and organising. Not surprisingly, the questions were extremely amateurish and naïve about attitudes, values and beliefs. But if you want to quantify what you already know then this is the survey to make money. Trouble is, you won’t learn anything.

The following are all missing from every supposed ‘safety culture survey’ on the market. Critical elements of methodology are highlighted in bold text. All of these key SPoR elements are present in the MiProfile:

One of the most important dynamics in any survey on organising, climate or culture in safety ought to be able to quantify implicit decision making. Unconscious implicit decision making (Polanyi) is the foundation of all decisions based on heuristics and cognitive bias. None of the orthodox survey tools on the market even consider this as an aspect of survey design.

Any survey that doesn’t include focus group reflection on responses doesn’t understand the subjectivity of all surveying. There is no such thing as an objective survey or a neutral survey. All surveys are biased including the MiProfile survey that only seeks to analyse the Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR). Organisational observations ought to also be a complementary part of a triangulated methodology.

All surveys that supposedly diagnose culture or climate in safety are locked into behaviourist/systems assumptions about risk. Unless culture is defined effectively such as in all the key elements of the culture cloud (https://vimeo.com/118458068 ) it is not likely that one is doing much more than surveying safety systems.

Culture Cloud from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

SPoR diagnostics understands culture as The Collective Unconscious and this assumption conditions both survey design, questioning structure and analysis, particularly in the light of capturing implicit (tacit) knowledge.

A critical aspect of SPoR surveying is the analysis of co-dependence, framing, priming and anchoring of the organisation to various semiotics and the way in which symbols, signs and discourse shape organising around risk.

Key elements of organisational sensemaking and collective mindfulness (Weick) ought to be threaded in any safety surveying diagnostic. Some of the popular surveys have some elements of these in their design but not comprehensively.

The importance of the work of Cameron and Quinn on the Competing Values Framework ought to be included in any survey design that projects to be about culture. I have never seen one on the market that included this in its methodology.

The analysis of indecision is also an important dynamic in the MiProfile survey. It is in moments of indecision that the anchoring of heuristics and semiotics drive poor decision making.

All of these dynamics are present in the design and methodology of the MiProfile (https://www.humandymensions.com/services-and-programs/miprofile/) and included analysis of how these dynamics influence the way things are organized and how leaders unconsciously facilitate un-safety and risk in their discourse.

  • 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)

  • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes - June 27, 2022
  • Ritual Performance and Risk - June 24, 2022
  • Asking Better Questions in Risk - June 21, 2022
  • The Toxic Language of ‘Performance’ and Risk - June 17, 2022
  • The Art of Active Listening in Risk - June 12, 2022
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: Robert Long, Safety Culture, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: culture cloud, Safety Surveys, STEM

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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 7,434 other subscribers

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on WHAT IS SAFETY, REALLY?
  • Mike on WHAT IS SAFETY, REALLY?
  • Rob Long on Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Brent Charlton on Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Rob Long on Culture Silences in Safety – Socialitie
  • Joe Zinobile on Culture Silences in Safety – Socialitie
  • HASSAN MOHAMMED on Free Online Safety Training Courses
  • Rob Long on Safety Climate / Safety Leadership Survey
  • Ann on Safety Climate / Safety Leadership Survey
  • Rob on Near Miss or Near Hit

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Posts

  • CLLR Quarterly Newsletter–June 2022
  • Spot the Hazards – What is Wrong With These Safety Photos?
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes
  • Are you a Safety Crusader or a Safety Leader?
  • Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Asking Better Questions in Risk
  • The Toxic Language of ‘Performance’ and Risk
  • OHS Compliance Puts Lives in Danger
  • Talking About Teams
  • The Art of Active Listening in Risk

What is Psychological Safety at Work?

Footer

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • After the goldrush
    • The Internationale
  • Bill Sims
    • Employee Engagement: Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry?
    • Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
  • Craig Clancy
    • Task Based vs Activity Based Safe Work Method Statements
    • Safety And Tender Submissions
  • Daniel Kirk
    • It’s easy being wise after the event.
    • A Positive Safety Story
  • Dave Whitefield
    • Safety is about…
    • Safety and Compliance
  • Dennis Millard
    • Are You Risk Intelligent?
    • Honey they get me! They get me at work!
  • Drewie
    • Downturn Doin’ Your Head In? Let’s Chat….
    • How was your break?
  • Gabrielle Carlton
    • All Care and No Care!
    • You Are Not Alone!
  • George Robotham
    • Risk assessment tips
    • How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
  • Goran Prvulovic
    • Safety Manager – an Ultimate Scapegoat
    • HSE Performance – Back to Basics
  • James Ellis
    • Psychological Core Stability for Wellbeing in Workers Comp
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle
    • Who is Responsible for This?
  • Karl Cameron
    • Abby Normal Safety
    • The Right Thing
  • Ken Roberts
    • Safety Legislation Is Our Biggest Accident?
    • HSE Trip Down Memory Lane
  • Mark Perrett
    • Psychology of Persuasion: Top 5 influencing skills for getting what you want
  • Mark Taylor
    • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
    • Enculturing Safety
  • Max Geyer
    • WHS Legislation is NOT about Safety it’s about Culture
    • Due Diligence Is Not Just Ticking Boxes!
  • Matt Thorne
    • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
    • Culture – Edgar Schein
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Professional Conferences Are A Sleazy Con
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
  • Admin
    • CLLR Quarterly Newsletter–June 2022
    • OHS Compliance Puts Lives in Danger
  • Dr Rob Long
    • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes
    • Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Rob Sams
    • Are you a Safety Crusader or a Safety Leader?
    • The Learning (and unlearning) that Revealed my Vocation
  • Barry Spud
    • Spot the Hazards – What is Wrong With These Safety Photos?
    • Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • Simon Cassin
    • Safety values, ideas, behaviours and clothes
  • Safety Nerd
    • The Block isn’t portraying safety as it should be
    • Toolbox Talk Show–PPE
  • Wynand Serfontein
    • Why The Problem With Learning Is Unlearning
    • I DON’T KNOW
  • Zoe Koskinas
    • Why is fallibility so challenging in the workplace?

Most commented on

Forecasting Safety

The Banned Objects Index – A New Development in Safety Culture

Dumbs for Safety

The Real Barriers to Safety

Safety as Faith Healing

Who Said We Don’t Need Systems?

How to use signs, symbols and text effectively in communicating about risk

Why Safety Controls Don’t Always Work

Safety Should NOT Be About Safety

How Do We Know?

FEATURED POSTS

The Lexicon of Safety Gibberish

What is a Safety and Risk ‘Thinking Group’?

Why Resilience Cannot be Engineered

How to Do the Best Risk Assessment

Knowledge and Curriculum for Risk and Safety People

The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety

What If I Valued People And Not Safety?

iCue Education Pack to Enable Learning in the SPoR Approach to Risk

Transdisciplinarity and Worldviews in Risk

The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk

Don’t Make Safety a Habit

I’m 100% Certain About That….

People Skills Are Not Soft Skills

And the Enemy of Safety is? … Humans!

All You Love is Need

The Emperor has no Clothes – Beyond Behaviour-Based Safety

Concept Mapping Risk iCue

Safety Investigation – Whodunit?

Safety – Just a Few Bad Apples

The Measurement Mindset in Safety???

More Posts from this Category

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 7,434 other subscribers

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

Top Posts & Pages

  • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
  • Free Safety Moments Examples, Tips and Resources
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Road Safety Slogans 2022
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format
  • WHAT IS SAFETY, REALLY?
  • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES

 

How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

 

 

How to Make your own Covid-19 Face Mask

 

Covid-19 Returning To Work Safety, Transitioning, Start Up And Re Entry Plans

 

How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?

imageOne of the benefits of the Covid-19 epidemic is a total rethink about how we live and work (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-28/coronavirus-could-reshape-how-australians-work-forever/12097124 ).

Expertise by Regurgitation and Re-Badging

One of the fascinating things about the Coronavirus pandemic is watching Safety morph into epidemiology expertise. I would like a dollar for every flyer, presentation, podcast, powerpoint, checklist template, toolbox talk and poster set that had jumped into my inbox… Read the rest

The Stress of Stasis

One of the challenging things about the Coronavirus crisis is stasis. For those without work and confined to home, for those in self-isolation, it’s like life is frozen in time. ‘Stay at home’ is the mantra. The trouble is, in… Read the rest