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

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • 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 2023
      • 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
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • 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
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • 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
  • Dr Long Posts
    • 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!
  • THEMES
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychological Safety
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
    • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
    • What is Psychological Safety?
    • Understanding Psychological Terminology
    • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
    • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
    • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / ALARP / Safety Surveys, Bias and Predictability

Safety Surveys, Bias and Predictability

December 13, 2014 by Dr Rob Long 5 Comments

Safety Surveys, Bias and Predictability

safety spud survey

Rob’s new Book: “Following-Leading in Risk” is a MUST READ if you think you already know about Leadership. CHECK IT OUT

This week Safe Work Australia released a report on Attitudes Towards Risk Taking and Rule Breaking in Australian Workplaces . The report summarizes findings from the Perceptions of Work Health and Safety Survey 2012 for attitudes towards risk taking and rule breaking amongst Australian workers.

The report is based on the Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50), a climate survey tool that tells very little about underlying cultural and Australian cultural values towards safety. The survey itself assumes that risk taking is wrong.

Like most orthodox climate surveys, the statements are systemically predictable. The statement set doesn’t assess decision making in the bounds of workplace ambiguity, implicit decision making, work complexity, organizational culture or any form of workplace dissonance. For example:

· I/you accept risk taking at work

· I/you regard risks as unavoidable in the workplace

· I/you never accept risk taking even if the work schedule is tight

· Workers get financial rewards for breaking the rules.

· You are under pressure from workmates to break rules.

· You take short cuts which involve little or no risk.

Well, we all know how to answers these statements, especially if one works in a zero harm climate or an organization with a deficit view of risk.

The results are equally as predictable eg. Apparently in Australia, only 15% of workers accept risk taking at work and 50% of workers never accept risk when the schedule is tight.

As a paper-based survey the NOSACQ-50 assumes that risk decision making is a rational process where one ‘thinks’ about risk. All judgments about risk in the NOSACQ-50 are framed in a rationalist and straight forward manner and assume an honest and open reporting culture. The survey doesn’t consider if a climate of cynicism, scepticism or fear conditions responses and neither are the responses time constrained. So the survey gives no measure of implicit, non-conscious or feeling-based decision making in the organization. Asking for a straightforward response to a predictable statement in a strict regulatory environment is like asking children in school to tell if they cheated.

Whilst the SWA report claims to be just ‘reporting’ what is evident is that the assumptions of the survey presume that risk taking and rule breaking are objectively wrong/bad. However, there is no risk taking that is neutral or objective, all risk taking is situated in a social context. Unless one knows how the social context shapes decision making, particularly under pressure, a survey of individual responses to rationalist statements doesn’t tell you much.

The reality is that most decision making at work is not rational or irrational but non-rational. Many decisions are made under pressure and organizational climate itself affects responses in a paper-based diagnostic.

Humans make non-rational decisions when constrained by time, when affected by social arrangements and rely on heuristics for decision making in the common state of automaticity. When the pressure is on, human decision making is made by implicit not rational knowledge.

Even if the NOSACQ-50 gave a reliable measure of risk decision making, one doesn’t know whether that decision making is healthy, realistic and collectively sense-able. All risk is interpreted, that is the beauty of ALARP. Even if a measure of 50% is accurate, one doesn’t know whether the workers perceive risk as a learning necessity or if risk is perceived pejoratively as the survey assumes. Even if the data from such a survey was accurate, what does this tell you? Do we now hammer all risk taking? Even if the survey was an accurate measure of risk taking attitude, how can this be tackled, more systems and regulation?

A diagnostic that measures underlying cultural values such as cynicism, fatalism, pessimism and scepticism would be far more valuable than the results of this survey. A diagnostic that was able to measure implicit knowledge would be a far better predictor of risk decision making and judgment at work. A diagnostic that measured the social psychology of the workplace would give a far better indicator of what shaped decision making. Then the response can be a leadership response and tackled at a social level not a regulatory, systems level. The NOSACQ-50 primes a ‘management’ rather than a ‘leadership’ approach to risk.

If you want to know more about an alternative approach to measuring risk you can view a video about the MiProfile Survey (http://vimeo.com/24764673) or read a report here. (http://issuu.com/masterbuildersact/docs/cbn3-2012/32)

  • 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)

  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video - January 31, 2023
  • The KISS of Death in Safety - January 31, 2023
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand - January 31, 2023
  • Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health - January 31, 2023
  • The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’ - January 31, 2023
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: ALARP, Risk Aversion, Robert Long, Safety Culture, Zero Harm Tagged With: break rules, risk taking, safety survey, scepticism

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel reply

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 7,498 other subscribers

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

SAFETY MYTHS SERIES

The Mythic Symbology of Safety

Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics

Safety Mythbusters

Don’t Be Emotional! Another Safety Myth

Tackling the Challenge of Heuristics in Safety

The Myth of Normal

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Jaise on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Rob Long on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Linda McKendry on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Rob long on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Matt Thorne on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Anonymous on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Jason on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Admin on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Gustavo Saralegui on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Rob long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Wynand on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • simon cassin on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?
  • Matt Thorne on Free Online Workshops

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • NATIONAL SAFETY DAY/WEEK IN INDIA 2023
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health

Recent Posts

  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand
  • Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
  • The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
  • SPoR Comes to Vienna June 2023
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • The Visionary Imagination – Louisa Lawson
  • Heaven ‘n Hell and the Safety Religion
  • Confirmity in Conformity
  • Numerology and Psychic Numbing
  • Thinking of Mortality
  • Safety is the Wrong Anchor
  • Foresight Blindness, Hindsight Bias and Risk
  • Getting the Balance Right in Tackling Risk
  • What is SPoR?
  • How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Afraid to Let Go of What Doesn’t Work in Safety
  • When You Don’t Know What to do in Safety, Have Another Blitz!!!
  • Gloves and Glasses Compliance
  • A Case of Desensitisation – What Would You Do?
  • How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • The Mythic Symbology of Safety
  • Dark Waters, The True Story of DuPont and Zero
  • 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…
  • Don’t Look Now Safety, Your Metaphor is Showing
  • Ratio Delusions and Heinrich’s Hoax
  • To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Culture as a Wicked Problem, for Safety
  • Safety Leadership Training
  • Cultural Orientation in Risk
  • The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk
  • Objectivity, Audits and Attribution When Calculating Risk
  • Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?
  • Zero, The Seeking of Infinity
  • Safety Leadership Essentials
  • What Can Indiana Jones Tell Us About Culture
  • Safety as a Worldview
  • The Loathing of Limits
  • Culture Cannot be Framed Through Safety
  • Free Online Workshops
  • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
  • Book Launch – For the Love of Zero – in Portuguese
  • Advancing Backwards in Safety
  • The ‘Noise’ of Safety, Silence and Practicing of Mindfulness
  • All Things Must Pass in Risk
  • I’m just not that into safety anymore
  • Sticks and Stones and the Nonsense of Zero Harm

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

What Can Marx Say to Safety?

OnLine Learning Modules with CLLR

I’m Concerned That We Can’t See The Safety Forest For The Safety Trees

The Foundations of Safety

Psychology and safety

Adverse Events: Eliminate or Anticipate?

I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock

Models From Social Sensemaking

A Culture of Care (and sackings…)

Something Different To Safety

Kinesthetic Safety

The Advisor as Skilled Helper

Talking Risk Video–Anti-Fragility

Why Personify Safety?

Risk Boldly

ACTOR + ACTION + TIME = EVENT

Be Alert, Safety Needs More Lerts

Think Different, Act Differently in Risk

The Social Politics of Safety

Defining Safety

Real Risk for Real Life

Safety Leadership Training

Desensitization, Statistics and the Psychic Numbing of Numerics

Regulation Madness

Suicide Prevention – a Social Psychological Perspective

The Religion of Safety

Visualising Risk

Do Not Go Gently, SPoR and the Civility Myth

What Can ‘Safety’ Learn From a Rock?

What Does SPoR Do?

Consciously Safe, Unconsciously Unsafe or Head in the Sand Safety

Incident Investigations and the Einstellung Effect

The Safety Charade as Tokenism in Safety

The Triarchic Mind, Risk and Safety

The Safety Worldview and the Worldview of Safety, Testing Due Diligence

CLLR Christmas 2016 Newsletter and Competition

Sensemaking and ‘Hapori’ – Essential for Tackling Risk in New Zealand

Safety in Design as if Humans Matter

Social Sensemaking – Free eBook

non-Leadership in Risk

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 7,498 other subscribers

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

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?