Cultivating Resilience When I think of resilience one of the metaphors I would never associate with it would be engineering. Resilience is a human (social psychological), evolutionary and organic ‘way of being’. The idea of imposing a mechanistic mindset on resilience just doesn’t make sense. … [Read more...] about Cultivating Resilience
Zero Harm
Absolute Error Prevention
Absolute Error Prevention Safety is so easy, it’s all about error prevention. Safety is so simple, it’s all about risk aversion. Whilst both of these statements appear to be true, both are wrong. Safety is not simple and is not just about error prevention or risk aversion. Indeed, binary thinking … [Read more...] about Absolute Error Prevention
Causal Patterning and Affirming False Belief in Safety
There are many mysterious forces and energies that drive human decision making. One of these energies is called ‘Allostasis’, the power, energy, motivation and drive for self-preservation. This is the energy and drive of sustaining life and the self. This stands in stark contrast to the nonsense … [Read more...] about Causal Patterning and Affirming False Belief in Safety
Safety=Zero Culture
Zero has been the open religious mantra for safety for 7 years. The evidence for this cult is beyond debate (https://safetyrisk.net/if-you-want-to-know-about-culture-dont-start-with-safety/). The evidence for its support is overwhelming (https://safetyrisk.net/the-sponsors-of-zero-are/) especially … [Read more...] about Safety=Zero Culture
Embracing Imperfection
The opposite of zero culture is Kintsugi. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of embracing imperfection (https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210107-kintsugi-japans-ancient-art-of-embracing-imperfection). Fear of imperfection and fallibility is fostered by the ideology of zero=safety. … [Read more...] about Embracing Imperfection
Gold Medal Safety and The Nonsense of Perfectionism
Using perfectionist language and setting perfectionist goals is a recipe for anxiety, depression, fear and misery. There is no quicker way to create psychosocial dis-stress and mental ill-health than to expect perfection of fallible people with fallible Minds and bodies. In order to understand … [Read more...] about Gold Medal Safety and The Nonsense of Perfectionism
How Do You Interpret Safety?
How Do You Interpret Safety? All safety is interpreted. There is no such thing as objective safety. The Act and Regulation are interpreted, just as are the Standards. Lawyers in safety know that precedent, case law and previous rulings give substance to the meaning of the Act, … [Read more...] about How Do You Interpret Safety?
No Psychological Safety in Zero
Organisations that identify safety as zero must logically supress ‘speaking up’ in safety. Zero is an ideology of the absolute (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/zero-the-great-safety-delusion/) and any absolute in organising supresses discussion, dialogue, listening and … [Read more...] about No Psychological Safety in Zero
Safety Futurism
We would love to hear about recent, classic examples of “futuristic safety discourse” you have come across – please share them in the comments below – latest I saw was: “The brain science of optimal safety using the Zero Incident Process (ZIP)” – thanks, Dave Safety Futurism Article by Dr Rob Long … [Read more...] about Safety Futurism
Making Objects Safe or People Safe
Making Objects Safe or People Safe I often ask people in risk and safety training as my first question, ‘When you walk on site, what are you looking for?’ It was no different this week and I got the usual answer ‘hazards!’ A number of people in the group had many years as inspectors, … [Read more...] about Making Objects Safe or People Safe
