The Myth of the SWMS Manifesto I’d like a dollar for every mail I get telling stories about what is considered necessary in a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS). It seems that Safety is far more attentive to safety mythology (something that is made symbolically true, that isn’t) than what is … [Read more...] about The Myth of the SWMS Manifesto
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Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS Guest Post Download examples: [download id="107223"] [download id="107227"] The Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is one important document that is valuable in establishing business safety systems, especially for … [Read more...] about Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
It’s Always About Paperwork
It’s Always About Paperwork Oh, I get it. It’s not the problem of excessive paperwork, it’s just that you haven’t been filling it out properly. This is the core message of Useability Mapping (https://www.aihs.org.au/events/usability-mapping-masterclass ). The problem is not about paperwork itself … [Read more...] about It’s Always About Paperwork
Sin-Eaters for Safety
Sin-Eaters for Safety Cemeteries are a treasure trove in semiotics. They not only convey history but also much about what humans think about life and death. In our Introduction to Semiotics (https://cllr.com.au/product/semoiotics-and-the-social-psychology-of-risk-unit-3/) and Advanced Semiotics … [Read more...] about Sin-Eaters for Safety
Censorship and Taboos in Safety
Censorship and Taboos in Safety One of the interesting things we do in SPoR workshops is an audit of language, just a simple psychoanalysis of words associated with a key word. For example, ask any group what they associate with the language of ‘safety’ and the responses are dominated by: controls, … [Read more...] about Censorship and Taboos in Safety
Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
A checklist for checking your use of checklists :-) Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists See also: Making Objects Safe or People Safe (Dr Rob Long), Risk is About People, not just Objects (Rob Sams) Whilst value of checklists is well documented by Gawande (The Checklist Manifesto) and others, … [Read more...] about Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
The Arse-Covering Myth
The Arse-Covering Myth One of the most dominant myths in industry is that paperwork is an ‘arse-covering’ exercise. People seem to accept and tolerate paperwork for this reason when the reality is opposite, no amount of paperwork saves your arse in court. If there is no relation between your … [Read more...] about The Arse-Covering Myth
The Safety Paperwork Myth
Great article by Health and Safety Lawyer Greg Smith recent published here on his blog: My Safety Thoughts. Look out for Greg’s new book, co-authored with Dr Rob Long (due out in June): “Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk” – I’ve had a sneak preview and it is an absolute … [Read more...] about The Safety Paperwork Myth
Acceptable Risk as a Decision Making Process
Acceptable Risk as a Decision Making Process By Dr Rob Long We should all know that the assessment of risk is a subjective process, determined by hundreds of social and psychological factors. The idea that risk assessment is a rational process via assessment of frequency, consequence and severity … [Read more...] about Acceptable Risk as a Decision Making Process
Swimming Up Stream and the SWMS Dilemma
Refer also to: The Arse-Covering Myth Swimming Up Stream and the Safe Work Method Statement Dilemma I was with an organisation this week that was being inspected by the regulator. The regulator had the unenviable task of assessing whether this organisation was appropriately managing … [Read more...] about Swimming Up Stream and the SWMS Dilemma