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
Simplistic Safety
Spud Head Safety Diagnostics
Spud Head Safety Diagnostics What is a Spud Head? FIND OUT HERE I was at a conference last week where people were presented with supposed diagnostics that could determine in someone was a risk taker. The general idea was to run people through the diagnostic tool, and weed out the risk takers. Or, … [Read more...] about Spud Head Safety Diagnostics
Hyper-Safety and the Fear of Safety
I had pictures sent to me today of a supposed ‘new innovation’ in safety. You couldn’t make this up: taped exclusion zones around doors so that opening doors don’t harm people. This is like the sign on doors that state: ‘beware of opening door’. This pic is a good example of … [Read more...] about Hyper-Safety and the Fear of Safety
Be Alert, Safety Needs More Lerts
I recently read a claim by a Safety Consultant that they could eliminate injuries and improve safety culture by stopping humans from making errors - WT? Reminds me of the saying “The floggings will continue until morale improves”. Ask any elite athlete what happens when they ignore their “muscle … [Read more...] about Be Alert, Safety Needs More Lerts
Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk Not to be confused with the Gemba Safety Walk! Safety walks, observations and conversations are foundational to managing safety in organisations. Site walks, office walks or whatever you want to call them are a critical strategy in ‘management by … [Read more...] about Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
Safety Futurism
We would love to hear about recent, classic examples of “futuristic safety discourse” you have come across – please share them in the comments below – latest I saw was: “The brain science of optimal safety using the Zero Incident Process (ZIP)” – thanks, Dave Safety Futurism Article by Dr Rob Long … [Read more...] about Safety Futurism
Deconstructing Safety and Humans
For some reason people in the safety business seem to love reducing things to the most simple (and sometimes simplistic) understanding of things. It seems like the very idea of human complexity and uncertainty is something to fear. Maybe it’s the fact that the safety sector is dominated by safety … [Read more...] about Deconstructing Safety and Humans
Perfectionism in Safety and the Denial of Humanity
Perfectionism in Safety and the Denial of Humanity Article by Dr Rob Long in response to Safety Under Construction What a bizarre claim that someone can guarantee no accidents, no mistakes, no harm and that ‘100% zero harm is the irrefutable future coming towards the construction industry like a … [Read more...] about Perfectionism in Safety and the Denial of Humanity
‘False Consciousness’ and Perception in Risk and Safety
Very thought provoking article by Dr Rob Long from Human Dymensions. To quote from the article: The idea that setting absolutist and perfectionist goals followed by punitive measures to achieve those goals, is a bankrupt model for motivation of risk and safety ownership. The model ignores hidden … [Read more...] about ‘False Consciousness’ and Perception in Risk and Safety
The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety
The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety Rather than measure what we value, we tend to value what we can measure Many safety mottos and mantras for organisations are sent to me and I recently saw one for a mantra and motto of ‘safety beyond measure’. The strange thing about the … [Read more...] about The Seduction of Measurement in Risk and Safety
