Bow-Tie BS The Bow-Tie has been celebrated for years in risk and safety as if it is a good model for risk analysis. Nothing could be further from reality. I couldn’t think of a worse model for understanding risk, causality or the emergence of events. The BowTie was developed out of the chemistry … [Read more...] about Bow-Tie BS
behaviourism
Right Then Children, Sit Up Straight and Take Some Safety
Right Then Children, Sit Up Straight and Take Some Safety I had a friend send a documented toolbox talk this week that was delivered to a site team in a tier 1 civil construction company and it was embarrassing. Why do teams of grown adults put up with such childish, kindergarten, patronizing … [Read more...] about Right Then Children, Sit Up Straight and Take Some Safety
Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk
Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk Such a small amount of what we ‘see’ is processed through the eyes and brain indeed, this amounts to less than 5% of all ways in which we sense the world and make decisions. The idea that humans make decisions like a computer is completely … [Read more...] about Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk
Goals and Vision in Safety
Goals and Vision in Safety Safety is the industry of lower order goals (see Figure 1. Goal States). Safety functions under the false slogan ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’. It chooses to ignore a much better aphorism and that is: ‘you can’t count what counts’. We have known for a long … [Read more...] about Goals and Vision in Safety
There’s a man goin’ around taking names
There’s a man goin’ around taking names Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him? Anthony Burgess Most global corporate behemoths, especially American transnationals with militaristic command and control organisational structures are advocates of behaviourism. … [Read more...] about There’s a man goin’ around taking names
What is the Mind of Safety?
What is the Mind of Safety? What limits Safety in innovation, creativity, ideas and vision are the upshifting ideologies of behaviourism/positivism. Whatever slogans one is attracted to, checklists one completes, or how much one repeats the word ‘differently’, how many podcasts one listens to or … [Read more...] about What is the Mind of Safety?
It’s Safety or The Sack
The number of emails I get about people getting the sack for minor safety breeches staggers me. Such actions are often accompanied by language like ‘that will teach them a lesson’ or ‘now people will know we are serious about safety’. Of course, such language is delusional and there is no … [Read more...] about It’s Safety or The Sack
Behaviourist Neuroscience as Safety
Behaviourist Neuroscience as Safety It’s fascinating and entertaining to watch Safety manipulate the discipline of neuroscience to suit its own behaviourist worldview. Even more fascinating to watch Safety, with no expertise in neuroscience, bend this discipline to behaviourist outcomes then claim … [Read more...] about Behaviourist Neuroscience as Safety
When ‘Hearts and Minds’ are not ‘Hearts and Minds’
When ‘Hearts and Minds’ are not ‘Hearts and Minds’ One of the profound findings of current neurophysiological and neuropsychological research is that the human person is an embodied mind, not a behaviourist computer on top of a body. Research by: Damasio - The Feeling of What Happens; Descartes … [Read more...] about When ‘Hearts and Minds’ are not ‘Hearts and Minds’
The Curse of Behaviourism
The Curse of Behaviourism One of the greatest curses inflicted on the industry of safety is the toxicity of behaviourism. Behaviourism is that 1940s ideology that constructed the human being as machine, as the sum of inputs and outputs. Nothing could be further from reality. Behaviourism … [Read more...] about The Curse of Behaviourism