When the Safety Tool Becomes the Method When institutionalized tools become enshrined in organizational culture, they are like concrete shoes, they seem to fit but the weight of the problem over time seems only good for getting us quicker to the bottom. What tools am I thinking of? Well, many of … [Read more...] about When the Safety Tool Becomes the Method
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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
Safety Professionals–The Piggy in The Middle?
Anyone for a game of Piggy in the Middle….? Republished by request - Check out the new book by Rob Sams Piggy in the Middle, do you remember playing that game when you were a kid? You know, the one where you stand in the middle of a group of friends who continually throw a ball to one another over … [Read more...] about Safety Professionals–The Piggy in The Middle?
Measurement and Psychosocial Safety
If you ask the wrong questions, you collect the wrong data Rather than measure what we value, we seem to value what we can measure - Unknown Generalisations are always problematic, because there are always exceptions. However, it is sometimes handy to use generalisations like a story, to … [Read more...] about Measurement and Psychosocial Safety
Looking Forward, Looking Back
This cute little song by Slim Dusty lays out the ultimate challenge for Risk and Safety. So much of what characterizes Safety is about looking backward. Counting data, LTIs, TRIFR and counting lead indicators (positive activity) all focus on the past as if these are an indicator of the future. Most … [Read more...] about Looking Forward, Looking Back
It’s not in the KPI or LTI but the MRI
It’s not in the KPI or LTI but the MRI The assumption of behaviourist psychology that people are the sum of inputs and outputs is the greatest weakness of BBS philosophy. There is plenty of evidence to show that people don’t respond to stimulus either in self interest or in ways that make … [Read more...] about It’s not in the KPI or LTI but the MRI
Why Be Rational When the Good Old LTI Superstition Will Do?
Why Be Rational When the Good Old LTI Superstition Will Do? By Dr Robert Long from www.humandymensions.com. One of the greatest irrational superstitions in the safety and risk industry is the mythical link between Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) and culture. The attribution of causal links between LTIs … [Read more...] about Why Be Rational When the Good Old LTI Superstition Will Do?
Vision Can’t Come from Safety Compliance
Vision Can’t Come from Safety Compliance One of the spin offs, trade-offs and by-products of Vision Zero is a lack of vision. The idea of vision comes from more than just seeing something but rather seeing beyond something. I will be writing about this in my next book Envisioning Risk, Signs and … [Read more...] about Vision Can’t Come from Safety Compliance
Courage to Challenge the Great TRIFR and LTIFR Delusion
Courage to Challenge the Great TRIFR and LTIFR Delusion It was Marx (The German Ideology) who said ‘as individuals express their life, so they are’. At the heart of this aphorism is the idea that what is normalized in a culture comprises what the culture is. One of the things that have become … [Read more...] about Courage to Challenge the Great TRIFR and LTIFR Delusion
General Motors Stops Using Safety Metrics
GM Throws Out the Safety Metrics An interesting article below by EHS Today on some big statements made by GM's Senior Manager for Health and Safety that they are to begin “throwing out the safety metrics”. You will see that their focus is still on counting, measuring and controlling hazards - only … [Read more...] about General Motors Stops Using Safety Metrics
