• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
      • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
      • Safety Acronyms
      • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
      • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
      • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
      • Safety Slogans List
      • Road Safety Slogans 2023
      • How to write your own safety slogans
      • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
      • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
      • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
      • Safety Slogans for Work
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL POSTS
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no Hierarchy of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • THEMES
    • Psychosocial Safety
    • Resiliencing
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Matt Thorne / The Real Barriers to Safety

The Real Barriers to Safety

September 26, 2019 by Matt Thorne 34 Comments

Hopefully the first of many articles by Matt Thorne from Risk Diversity:

clip_image002I was at a restaurant last week and had extended my time in the dining room past the end for breakfast. Everyone had left and my guest and I stayed on for conversation not realising the section had been closed. When we wanted to leave the location there was a barrier in our way. This barrier was in place to communicate to those outside not to come in. For those inside it had become a barrier not to get out. However, the barrier was lowered inviting us to step over it. Hmmmm, the cardinal sin for any safety crusader is ye olde trip hazard! I wish Hazardman had been there! How was I going to step over this threat to life and limb and get about my world for the day? Where was my SWMS template when I needed it most?

Of course, when you look at the hazard you realise the absurdity of the question. The unrealistic panic of the safety crusader makes such petty risk absurd. My guest and I simply stepped over the rope and went on our way. So somewhere along the way we seem to have lost all perspective on everyday risk and what to do about it.

So, we managed to escape the hazard horror of a rope barrier and headed out to a 10 story commercial building site to conduct training workshops in safety observations and conversations. As I walked in on site, I noticed a mobile crane slewing its load over the heads of 6 workers tying steel. Several formworkers were beside the crane focused on their timber and concreters bending over in full swing. As I entered the office to sign in I was met by the safety guy who was questioning an electrician about his choice of gloves. As part of the eschewing argument I heard the comment – ‘I know its bullshit but do it anyway’.

During the workshop it became clear than very few on site had done any work at all in effective questioning, effective listening, observing critical indicators of risk and a host of important concepts needed to engage workers and maintain and safe worksite. But we know how to police gloves and but not slewing cranes overhead.

As part of the conversation in the workshop they discussed the mobile crane and several suggested that safety on site was a ‘tick and flick’ exercise. Wow, what a confession. What was the real barrier to safety? Was it the rope suspended 5 cms from the carpet or was it a worldview that creates barriers to thinking? Was it a petty tripping hazard or a mindset that panics about petty risk and is blind to tick and flick? This is the challenge we now face one a daily basis in this industry.

It strikes me that the real barriers to safety are not the many petty things that preoccupy us but rather the big ticket items that get in the way of safety, such as: the inability to ask open questions, the lack of listening on site, poor supervision, a ‘know all’ attitude to risk, lack of training in observation skills and a host of unseen barriers in attitudes and values that pose the greatest risk to safety.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More Info
Matt Thorne

Matt Thorne

Executive Director at Risk Diversity
Risk Diversity coaches and mentors Companies and People to understand Leadership, Culture and Risk, helping them to humanise and harmonise their systems.
Matt Thorne

Latest posts by Matt Thorne (see all)

  • Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself - August 31, 2023
  • Zero Hour Part 5 – Surfacing the Unconscious - August 25, 2023
  • Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious - August 24, 2023
  • Zero Hour Episode 3 - August 14, 2023
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a place holder - August 3, 2023
Matt Thorne

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Matt Thorne, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: barriers

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have – Margaret Mead

    States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions – Noam Chomsky

    A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government – Edward Abbey

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

      Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. – C.S. Lewis

      Reply
  2. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Despite several otiose attempts at rebranding the AIHS and NSCA refuse to believe they are part of the problem.

    Reply
  3. frank garrett says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Great questions Matt, we all have a long road ahead of us repeating and re-framing this discourse!

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:42 PM

      Thanks for the comments Frank. We really need to get out of this binary mindset and start Critical Thinking!

      Reply
  4. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes – Carl Jung

    Reply
  5. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Keep up the great work. The more this pettifogging is exposed demonstrates the diaphanous integrity of this dog and pony show and extirpates its alleged professionalism.

    Reply
  6. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    https://www.aihs.org.au/about

    Reply
  7. bernardcorden says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    https://www.ohsbok.org.au/conceptual-structure/

    Reply
  8. Kevin Jones says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    I don’t disagree Matt but many of the solutions to these barriers seem to come from issues that OHS usually does not engage with, such as staff resourcing, production timelines, lack of appropriate training and knowledge and more. How can the OHS profession affect changes in these areas? Should we become social activists on (non-OHS-related) matters?

    Reply
    • Rob long says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

      Kevin, you comment speaks volumes about the lack of vision in the industry.

      Reply
    • David Hickey says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

      So very true Kevin. Not many organisations like WHS meddling in or pointing out deficiencies in other operational areas despite those being the origins of risk.

      That is why I advocate very strongly for (and make a concerted effort to) never talk about ‘safety’ when engaging with people.

      Reply
      • Rob long says

        February 13, 2020 at 7:42 PM

        How strange how OHS defines itself or w define it. I can’t think of a non-OHS issue. If risk and safety regard the care of people and helping them manage risk, why is OHS so limited to policing OHS regulation and a legislated object-centred worldview? I’m with you David, I rarely talk about safety at work.

        Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

      Hi Kevin, thanks for engaging. If you have seen the Social Psychology of Risk BoK, you can see that we are taking a multi-disciplinary approach to Risk. As to becoming social activists, most of what I see in these types of spaces is people looking for answers on what is a Wicked Problem.

      Reply
  9. Peter says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Well done Matt, great thoughts, look forward to further articles from you.

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

      Thanks for your support Peter.

      Reply
  10. Rob Long says

    February 13, 2020 at 7:41 PM

    Well said Matt.

    Reply
  11. bernardcorden says

    September 29, 2019 at 11:16 AM

    Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have – Margaret Mead

    States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions – Noam Chomsky

    A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government – Edward Abbey

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      September 29, 2019 at 11:35 AM

      Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. – C.S. Lewis

      Reply
  12. bernardcorden says

    September 28, 2019 at 1:11 PM

    Despite several otiose attempts at rebranding the AIHS and NSCA refuse to believe they are part of the problem.

    Reply
  13. bernardcorden says

    September 27, 2019 at 1:02 PM

    Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes – Carl Jung

    Reply
  14. bernardcorden says

    September 27, 2019 at 12:03 PM

    https://www.aihs.org.au/about

    Reply
  15. bernardcorden says

    September 27, 2019 at 11:59 AM

    https://www.ohsbok.org.au/conceptual-structure/

    Reply
  16. Kevin Jones says

    September 27, 2019 at 10:45 AM

    I don’t disagree Matt but many of the solutions to these barriers seem to come from issues that OHS usually does not engage with, such as staff resourcing, production timelines, lack of appropriate training and knowledge and more. How can the OHS profession affect changes in these areas? Should we become social activists on (non-OHS-related) matters?

    Reply
    • Rob long says

      September 27, 2019 at 12:40 PM

      Kevin, you comment speaks volumes about the lack of vision in the industry.

      Reply
    • David Hickey says

      September 27, 2019 at 4:47 PM

      So very true Kevin. Not many organisations like WHS meddling in or pointing out deficiencies in other operational areas despite those being the origins of risk.

      That is why I advocate very strongly for (and make a concerted effort to) never talk about ‘safety’ when engaging with people.

      Reply
      • Rob long says

        September 28, 2019 at 9:33 AM

        How strange how OHS defines itself or w define it. I can’t think of a non-OHS issue. If risk and safety regard the care of people and helping them manage risk, why is OHS so limited to policing OHS regulation and a legislated object-centred worldview? I’m with you David, I rarely talk about safety at work.

        Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      September 29, 2019 at 11:18 AM

      Hi Kevin, thanks for engaging. If you have seen the Social Psychology of Risk BoK, you can see that we are taking a multi-disciplinary approach to Risk. As to becoming social activists, most of what I see in these types of spaces is people looking for answers on what is a Wicked Problem.

      Reply
  17. bernardcorden says

    September 27, 2019 at 7:53 AM

    Keep up the great work. The more this pettifogging is exposed demonstrates the diaphanous integrity of this dog and pony show and extirpates its alleged professionalism.

    Reply
  18. frank garrett says

    September 26, 2019 at 10:53 PM

    Great questions Matt, we all have a long road ahead of us repeating and re-framing this discourse!

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      September 29, 2019 at 11:25 AM

      Thanks for the comments Frank. We really need to get out of this binary mindset and start Critical Thinking!

      Reply
  19. Rob Long says

    September 26, 2019 at 9:43 PM

    Well said Matt.

    Reply
  20. Peter says

    September 26, 2019 at 8:13 PM

    Well done Matt, great thoughts, look forward to further articles from you.

    Reply
    • Matt Thorne says

      September 29, 2019 at 11:20 AM

      Thanks for your support Peter.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to bernardcordenCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,512 other subscribers.

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Comments

  • Matthew Thorne on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Rob Long on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Matt Thorne on Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Rob Long on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Rosa Carrillo on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Brent Charlton on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Anonymous on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Rob Long on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Rob Long on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Rob long on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Anonymous on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Joseph D Zinobile on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Jason Martell on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Rob Long on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Peter Collins on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Rob Long on Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious
  • Chiara on Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious
  • Rob Long on Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health

Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk

7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden

Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health

If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking

Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work

CLLR Newsletter July 2023

Playing With Mental Health in Safety is Dangerous

STOP ‘BREAKING’ PEOPLE! The notion of Psychological Safety

Learning to Learn Socially

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Footer

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health
  • Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format
  • Impacts of Cognitive Dissonance in the Workplace

Recent Posts

  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health
  • Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk
  • Embodied Enactivity in Safety
  • The Meaning of Myth in Risk
  • Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Icebreakers and Games that Safety Trainers Play
  • The Power of Safety Myths
  • What Do You Mean By Performance?
  • Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Podcast – Dr Rob Long With John Morlan and The Risk Matrix
  • What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Free Videos, Podcasts and Books on Zero
  • Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • If You’re Happy in Safety, Clap Your Hands
  • Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Zero Hour Part 5 – Surfacing the Unconscious
  • Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious
  • Auditing the 7 Golden Rules of Zero, A Miserable Fail
  • 7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden
  • The Non-Golden Rules for Leadership in Zero
  • Seven ‘Golden’ Rules for Zero and Yet No Ethic
  • Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health
  • Is this Your Safety?
  • SPoR Workshops Canberra 18-21 September
  • The Dominance of Zero as the ‘Common Denominator’ of Safety
  • Zero Hour Episode 3
  • Goal Setting and Zero
  • Zero as a Worldview
  • If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking
  • Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Breach of Faith and Psycho-Social Risk
  • Zero Harm is Never Zero Harm
  • Why Would You Want to be a Safety “Geek’ or Hero?
  • The Mental Illness of Identifying as Safety
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a place holder
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a Philosophy
  • CARING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
  • Care is NOT a Factor and Yes, Your Model Matters
  • Care Ethics and the Ethics of Care, in Risk
  • FEAR AND CONTROL – Dialogue in a technological society
  • Of Course, Method Matters in Safety
  • Day 12 SPoR in Europe
  • Free Study Module Following-Leading in Risk August-September
  • Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work
  • CLLR Newsletter July 2023
  • Playing With Mental Health in Safety is Dangerous
  • The Sacred and Profane, Rituals and Semiotics, A Lesson for Safety

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

Understanding Safety as an Archetype

Framing Risk Through Regulation

CLLR April 2017 Newsletter–Not Your Usual Safety Newsletter!!

Emotions, Bias and Heuristics in Risk

SPoR Ontology and Methods – A Video

Online Inductions and Safety Effectiveness

Amping it Up in Safety

Fear of Being-in-the-World

There is no ‘Satellite Insightfulness’

Human Factors Factors

Shock and Fear in Safety

Talking Risk Videos – Humanising Workers Compensation

Body Memory and Safety

SPoR – Positive, Constructive, Practical, Rational, Visual, Verbal, Social, Relational, Person-Centric, Respectful, Ethical and Real

Day 10 SPoR in Europe

What Can Marx Say to Safety?

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety

Free Online Module: Introduction to The Social Psychology of Risk

Anchoring, Framing and Priming Risk

Safety as Policing

What Do You Mean By Performance?

It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!

Day 3 SPoR in Europe

Speak Up, Reporting and Trust in Safety

It’s Always About Paperwork

Transdisciplinarity and Worldviews in Risk

Human Dymensions Newsletter September 2016

Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk

Doing Something Bad Well

Kinesthetic Safety

Process driven or People driven? What’s your Focus?

Zero Suicide and the Discourse of Denial

OnLine Learning Modules with CLLR

The Difference Between Psycho-Social Health and Social-Psychology of Risk

Perth and London SPoR Workshops

Psychology of Risk Post Graduate Program Suspended ‘til 2017

No Soft Skills in Safety

Surfacing – Making the Unconscious Conscious

Suffering – Sometimes There Is No Reason

Framing Folly and Fantasy in Safety

More Posts from this Category

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,512 other subscribers.

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY