It is strange how the word ‘myth’ is used negatively in the risk and safety world as if to declare something as a myth, is an in-truth. How we determine what is true, real and effective is not that easy. All myth is anchored to faith, not evidence. Most often we develop myths according to our … [Read more...] about When Myths Collide in Risk
icam
Investigations and The Simplicity Attraction
Investigations and The Simplicity Attraction In the face of so much noise, competing values, diversity and confusion stands the myth of Occam’s Razor, a wish that when faced with multiple factors, humans will always opt for the shortest simplest route. The 14th Century philosopher/theologian … [Read more...] about Investigations and The Simplicity Attraction
Critical Thinking and Questioning in Safety
Critical Thinking and Questioning in Safety Great to read a piece on the Safety Differently site that situates systems within a social and societal context (Thinking Differently about incident investigations). One of the strange things about the tradition of safety is its maintenance of the myth of … [Read more...] about Critical Thinking and Questioning in Safety
A Much Better Way To Think About Incident Investigations
I’ve recently seen and done a few incident investigations which really fell short of any mark except for ticking the box on the form that says ‘investigation completed’. There are ongoing debates about whether ICAM is better than TapRoot or if that is better than Root Cause Analysis or BowTie or … [Read more...] about A Much Better Way To Think About Incident Investigations
Culture Silences in Safety – Stress, Personality and Behaviours
In all the mythology projected by BBS (the darling of safety) you never read about the subjectivities of perception, aberrations of behaviour or how personality/temperament determination enactment. The crazy assertion of BBS is that behaviours in themselves are somehow objective, when they are not. … [Read more...] about Culture Silences in Safety – Stress, Personality and Behaviours
Ritual as Embodied Learning in Safety
Ritual as Embodied Learning in Safety I have written about the nature of ritual previously, particularly the properties of ritual: https://safetyrisk.net/safety-as-ritual-performance/ All rituals (and associated semiotics) ‘embody’ learning. It is important when understanding learning that we … [Read more...] about Ritual as Embodied Learning in Safety
The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget
The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget Image Source One of the favourite activities of Safety is downloading and sharing templates. This is promoted by the idea that paperwork is an end in itself. Once the paperwork is completed in comes ‘set and forget’, nothing to worry about except the next … [Read more...] about The Seduction of Templates, Set and Forget
The Bias of Method Design in Risk
The Bias of Method Design in Risk Anything that is designed hides the assumptions and philosophy of the designer. The methodology (philosophy) of the designer is not visible but is rather hidden in the method, what is enacted. So, if one looks at the iCam method one tends not to see its bias … [Read more...] about The Bias of Method Design in Risk
Deconstructing iCam, Useful or Useless
Deconstructing iCam, Useful or Useless? It’s always an education to see what Safety flocks to and makes ‘orthodox’. Safety always seeks out mechanistic-behaviourist methods to suit its assumptions about what constitutes personhood. It actually never discusses personhood, it just leaves that silent … [Read more...] about Deconstructing iCam, Useful or Useless
Serendipity and Risk
Serendipity and Risk One of the great challenges for traditional safety is the problem of uncertainty, unpredictability and luck. I have written before about luck: https://safetyrisk.net/good-luck-to-the-luck-deniers/ https://safetyrisk.net/do-you-believe-in-good-and-bad-luck/ … [Read more...] about Serendipity and Risk