But We Have Safety Systems in Place One of the most successful myths of Safety is that one is protected by having systems in place. What we learned from Greg Smith in Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/risky-conversations/) was that having a system in place means nothing in court unless one can […]
Safety Systems
HSE Trip Down Memory Lane
HSE Trip Down Memory Lane by Ken R. Roberts – First published here The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 was described as “a bold and far-reaching piece of legislation” by HSE’s first Director General, John Locke. It was the beginning of the ‘punitive’ era. In other words government started getting fair dinkum […]
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Systems Serve Humans not Humans Serve Systems
Systems Serve Humans not Humans Serve Systems There is nothing wrong with having systems or checklists, nor technology to assist such (see “Who Said We Don’t Need Systems”). However, when those systems and checklists become an ‘end’ in themselves they take on a ‘force’ and ‘energy’ of their own. When systems become ‘ends’ in themselves […]
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Systems as Imagined v Systems in Practice
WHS Lawyer Greg Smith, using a recent court decision, highlights the disparity between theory and reality and the fact that all your comprehensive paperwork may not CYA but create an illusion of safety rather than real evidence of it. This was first posted on Greg’s Blog “My Safety Thoughts” here: https://mysafetythoughts.com/2016/10/20/systems-as-imagined-v-systems-in-practice/ Systems as Imagined v […]
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Are we victims of our own safety systems?
Are we victims of our own safety systems? Guest post Health and safety is perceived by lots of people as a boring subject, but who is primarily responsible for that…who wrote the procedures? Lots of personality and behaviour profiling studies have revealed that the majority of safety professionals fit into Keirseys’ Guardian temperament which comprises […]
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How to Handle Safety System Paradoxes
Just found this hidden gem by Wade Needham here on LinkedIn How to Handle Safety System Paradoxes As you get promoted it’s easier to take control, to control more of your world they said, well, ‘they’ were wrong. The easy answer to a complex or wicked problem is almost always wrong, if not lacking. I […]
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Anthropocentric Safety
“the floggings shall continue until morale improves” It is simply delusional to think or espouse that people can be controlled or enforced into total compliance. A mechanical approach to safety, consumed by zero harm, absolutes and statistics is simply alienating, non-inspiring and de-motivational. If you are either smart enough or experienced enough to agree then […]
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Safety Engagement with Workspace, Headspace and Groupspace
I’m just putting together a presentation on Safety Observations, reread this article by Dr Rob from earlier this year and thought it very worthy of republishing Safety Engagement with Workspace, Headspace and Groupspace – Toward Total Safety Organisation So much of what we do in safety takes its focus on workspace. We call this the […]
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I can’t believe that nobody was seriously injured
I can’t believe that nobody was seriously injured Veteran Safety Crusader, Barry Spud, is very angry, in fact, he is outraged. Returning to work as Zero Harm Plus Controller at ACME, after taking 3 months long service leave with a 3 month extension for compassionate stress leave, he was looking forward to investigating all of […]
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Balancing Tight and Loose Coupled Systems
Balancing Tight and Loose Coupled Systems My last two articles on art and helping, generated feedback and questions that are worthy of further explanation. Amongst the feedback was that I ‘systems bash’ when I write about risk and safety. Firstly, while I can understand how people may feel that I don’t value systems, however, the […]
