Shows
The Safety of WorkEp. 129: How can we use swapping as a strategy for decluttering?You’ll hear six key principles for effective behavioral substitution, drawing parallels between healthcare and safety contexts. They discuss how these principles can guide both the removal of ineffective practices and the implementation of new ones, emphasizing the importance of considering practical needs, existing skills, and organizational resources when making such changes. The episode provides valuable insights for safety professionals looking to improve their organization's safety practices through evidence-based substitution strategies. Discussion Points:((00:00) Introduction and episode overview on swapping as a decluttering strategy(00:59) Background discussion on behavioral science and de-implementation(02:27) Understanding decluttering and de-implementation in...2025-02-2339 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 128: What are the attributes of an effective supervisor?The discussion challenges traditional views of supervision by emphasizing the importance of psychological safety and predictable relationships between supervisors and workers. Through analysis of interviews with both supervisors and supervisees, the research highlights how effective supervision requires balancing organizational needs with worker support while maintaining clear boundaries and expectations. The findings suggest that organizations should focus on developing explicit supervision models that promote both technical expertise and relationship skills. Discussion Points:(00:00) Introduction - what makes an effective supervisor?(02:29) Narrowing research focus, specific industry context(06:07) Introduction to the research paper and authors' backgrounds(09:46) The literature r...2025-02-1656 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 127: Should safety education focus on hard skillsDrawing on insights from business leaders and contemporary educational theory, we propose that effective safety professionals require both technical expertise and sophisticated narrative capabilities. The findings suggest significant implications for safety education and professional development, challenging institutions to reconsider how they prepare safety practitioners for increasingly complex organizational environments. Rather than perpetuating false dichotomies between hard and soft skills, we argue for an educational approach that develops both technical and narrative capabilities in an integrated manner, particularly crucial for safety change management where success depends on both procedural competence and compelling storytelling. Discussion Points:(00:00) I...2025-02-0944 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 126: Is it time to stop talking about safety culture?In this discussion, we dissect various models of safety culture, scrutinizing how organizations perceive, measure, and manage these concepts. From artifacts like management systems to individual attitudes and behaviors, we delve into the inconsistencies and challenges of these models. We also revisit historical perspectives, such as Dov Zohar's work, to understand their influence on contemporary safety paradigms. Our conversation critically examines the missteps of industries like nuclear and aviation, which have mandated the management of ambiguous concepts without solid scientific grounding. We advocate for a shift from vague cultural mandates to actionable strategies, offering insights into enhancing clarity and...2025-01-2645 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 125: Does ChatGPT provide good safety advice?From discussing mobile phone use while driving to the challenges of giving advice to older adults at risk of falls, this episode covers ChatGPT’s responses to a wide range of safety topics - identifying biases, inconsistencies, and areas where ChatGPT aligns or falls short of expert advice. The broader implications of relying on ChatGPT for safety advice are examined carefully, especially in workplace settings. While ChatGPT often mirrors general lay understanding, it can overlook critical organizational responsibilities, potentially leading to oversimplified or erroneous advice. This episode underscores the importance of using AI-generated content cautiously, particularly in crafting workplace po...2024-11-1059 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 124 Is safety a key value driver for business?We challenge the notion that high injury rates are punished by market forces, as we dig into this article that posits the opposite: that safety should be a performance driver. Our analysis dives deep into the credibility and methodologies of the article, emphasizing the critical role of peer review and the broader body of knowledge.We'll also scrutinize the use of data as rhetoric versus evidence, focusing on the transparency and rigor of research methods when interviewing executives about safety practices. Is safety merely seen as a compliance issue or a strategic investment? We dissect the methodologies...2024-09-0144 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 123: Is risk a science or a feeling?From the perceived control in everyday activities like driving, to the dread associated with nuclear accidents, we discuss how emotional responses can sometimes skew our rational assessments of risk. Finally, we explore the ethical and practical challenges of balancing emotional and analytical approaches in risk communication, especially in high-stakes scenarios like terrorism and public safety. The conversation touches on real-world examples, such as the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the controversial discussions around gun ownership. We emphasize the importance of framing and narrative in conveying risk information effectively, ensuring that it resonates with and is clearly understood by...2024-08-0459 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 122: What makes a good presentation?The discussion provides an in-depth examination of the principles of multimedia, modality, and redundancy, all of which are crucial for optimizing learning and information retention. The episode also offers a wealth of practical strategies for interactive design and meticulous preparation, aimed at enhancing audience engagement and comprehension. These strategies include the use of visual aids, storytelling techniques, and audience participation elements to create a more dynamic and immersive experience. By adopting these methods, presenters can not only convey their message more effectively but also make the learning process more enjoyable and impactful for their audience. T...2024-07-2142 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 121 Is safety good for business?We examine whether a safe work environment truly enhances productivity and engagement or if it stifles business efficiency. Historical incidents like the Union Carbide disaster and BP's Deepwater Horizon blowout are analyzed to question if neglecting safety can still lead to profitability. Finally, we break down the misconception that good safety practices automatically translate to business profitability. We highlight the tangible benefits such as enhanced publicity, stronger client relationships, and improved employee satisfaction, and stress the importance of complex discussions about the actual costs vs. benefits of safety practices.The Paper’s AbstractThis research ad...2024-07-0745 min
Safety FM with Jay AllenEP 626 - David ProvanWelcome to this insightful episode of Safety FM with Jay Allen, featuring a recap of David Provan's compelling session recorded live at the Energy Safety Canada Conference 2024 in Banff. In his keynote, "The Global Safety Landscape: Trends, Insights & Predictions," David Provan, a renowned expert in the field, delves into the evolving dynamics of safety management.
David begins by highlighting how the world has undergone significant changes in recent years, and the realm of safety is no exception. His keynote provides a unique perspective on the current trends and insights shaping the future of safety. He discusses various societal changes, the...2024-06-1130 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 120: What does the literature say about safety professionals?David and Drew share insights into Dr. Provan’s PhD research journey, exploring the scarce guidance and fragmented views within academic research on safety practices. They discuss the challenges of painting a clear picture of the day-to-day responsibilities of safety professionals and how this prompted an in-depth investigation into the profession. As we peel back the layers of existing literature, we touch on the difficulty and complexity of condensing a vast array of theories and studies into a cohesive academic narrative.The varied titles and the global patchwork of research that span numerous fields are explored, and al...2024-05-261h 00
The Safety of WorkEp. 119: Should we ask about contributors rather than causes?Today’s paper, “Multiple Systemic Contributors versus Root Cause: Learning from a NASA Near Miss” by Katherine E. Walker et al, examines an incident wherein a NASA astronaut nearly drowned (asphyxiated) during an Extravehicular Activity (EVA 23) on the International Space Station due to spacesuit leakage. The paper introduces us to an innovative and efficient technique developed during Walker’s PhD research. In this discussion, we reflect on the foundational elements of safety science and how organizations are tirelessly working to unearth better methods for analyzing and learning from safety incidents. We unpack the intricate findings of the investigat...2024-04-2845 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 118 How should we account for technological accidents?Using the Waterfall incident as a striking focal point, we dissect the investigation and its aftermath, we share personal reflections on the implementation of safety recommendations and the nuances of assessing systems designed to protect us. From the mechanics of dead man's systems to the critical evaluation of managerial decisions, our dialogue exposes the delicate balance of enforcing safety while maintaining the practicality of operations. Our aim is to contribute to the ongoing conversation about creating safer work environments across industries, recognizing the need for both technological advancements and refined human judgment. Discussion Points:Drew lo...2024-04-1449 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 117: Can digital twins help improve the safety of work?Using the paper, “Digital Twins in Safety Analysis, Risk Assessment and Emergency Management.” by Zio and Miqueles, published in the technical safety journal, Reliability Engineering and System Safety, we examine intricate simulations that predict traffic flows to emergency management tools that plan safe evacuation routes, and we delve into how these virtual counterparts of physical systems are redefining risk assessments and scenario planning.As we navigate the world of operational safety, we discuss the diverse array of models—from geometric to sophisticated hybrid simulations—and their groundbreaking applications in forecasting fire spread and optimizing evacuation procedures. These digital...2024-03-3138 min
The Safety of WorkEp 116. Do audits improve the safety of work?Ben's expertise guides us through an analysis of audit reports and accident investigations, laying bare the counterfactual reasoning that often skews post-incident narratives. It's an eye-opening examination that calls for a reimagined approach to audits, one that aligns with the genuine complexities of organizational culture and safety. Together, we confront the silent failure of safety audits and management systems, debating the need for a fundamental shift in how these are designed and conducted to truly protect workers. Join us for this critical dialogue that challenges preconceptions and seeks to reforge the link between safety audits and the real work...2024-03-1736 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 114 How do we manage safety for work from home workers?Lastly, we delve into the role of leadership in addressing psychosocial hazards, the importance of standardized guidance for remote work, and the challenges faced by line managers in managing remote workers. We wrap up the episode by providing a toolkit for managers to effectively navigate the challenges of remote work, and highlight the need for tailored safety strategies for different work arrangements. Discussion Points:Different work-from-home arrangementsSafety needs of work from homeChallenges of remote worker representationUnderstanding and managing psychosocial risksLeadership and managing technical risksRemote work challenges and physical presencePractical takeaways and general discussionSafety strategies fo...2023-12-1740 min
Revista de la Liga with Graham HunterClassic Big Interview: David Provan Part TwoHere’s another chance to hear my interview with David Provan from season one.In part two, David describes his exquisite pass to Steve Archibald for Scotland at Wembley in 1981, how Celtic got his signature despite his being a boyhood Rangers fan, and how his career was cut short by illness. There’s also content about fellow wingers Willie Henderson and Jimmy Johnstone, and brilliant stuff about the dodgy defeat by Real Madrid in the 1980 European Cup quarter-final.Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...2023-12-1440 min
Revista de la Liga with Graham HunterClassic Big Interview: David Provan Part OneHere’s another chance to hear my interview with David Provan from season one.Such is David’s insightfulness that he carved out a brilliant television co-commentating career despite never having played in England. In part one, we hear about surviving a crazy Celtic trip to Batumi in Georgia, and how Old Firm managers Walter Smith and Tommy Burns BOTH trusted him to keep their derby team-sheets secret.Subscribe to The Big Interview YouTube channel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episo...2023-12-1236 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 113 When are seemingly impossible goals good for performance?The conversation stems from a review of a noteworthy paper from the Academy of Management Review Journal titled "The Paradox of Stretch Goals: Organizations in Pursuit of the Seemingly Impossible," which offers invaluable insights into the world of goal setting in senior management. Discussion Points:The concept of seemingly impossible goals in organizationsControversial nature and impact of ‘zero harm’The role of stretch goals in promoting innovationPotential negative effects of setting stretch goalsPsychological effects of ambitious organizational targetsParadoxical outcomes of setting seemingly impossible goalsThe role of emotions in achieving stretch goalsFactors that contribute to the s...2023-12-1058 min
The Interesting Health & Safety PodcastUnveiling the Safety Science Space: A Look into the Safety Exchange with David ProvanColin talks to David Provan, the creator of the Safety Exchange, a new platform dedicated to connecting the global safety profession. David shares his vision for the Safety Exchange, which aims to provide a safe and supportive community for safety professionals to learn, share, and improve the safety of work. David also discusses the importance of creating a space where safety professionals can feel valued and valuable, as well as the challenges of managing the platform to ensure it remains a productive and diverse community. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Safety Exchange is a platform designed...2023-09-1153 min
The Safety of WorkEp 112 How biased are incident investigators?You’ll hear David and Drew delve into the often overlooked role of bias in accident investigations. They explore the potential pitfalls of data collection, particularly confirmation bias, and discuss the impacts of other biases such as anchoring bias and hindsight bias. Findings from the paper are examined, revealing insights into confirmation bias and its prevalence in interviews. Strategies for enhancing the quality of incident investigations are also discussed, emphasizing the need to shift focus from blaming individuals to investigating organizational causes. The episode concludes with the introduction of Safety Exchange, a platform for global safety community collaboration....2023-09-1052 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 111 Are management walkarounds effective?The research paper discussed is by Anita Tucker and Sarah Singer, titled "The Effectiveness of Management by Walking Around: A Randomised Field Study," published in Production and Operations Management. Discussion Points:Understanding senior leadership safety visits and management walkaroundsBest practices for safety management programsHow management walkarounds influence staff perceptionResearch findings comparing intervention and control groupsConsequences of management inactionEffective implementation of changes Role of senior managers in prioritizing problemsImpact of patchy implementationHow leadership visits affect staff perceptionInvestigating management inaction Effective implementation and consultationKey Takeaways:The same general initiative can have very different effectiveness depending on how...2023-08-0636 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 110 Can personality tests predict safety performance?The paper reviewed in this episode is from the Journal of Applied Psychology entitled, “A meta-analysis of personality and workplace safety: Addressing unanswered questions” by Beus, J. M., Dhanani, L. Y., & McCord, M. A. (2015). Discussion Points:Overview of the intersection between psychology and workplace safetyHow personality tests may predict safety performanceAccident proneness theory to modern behaviorismResearch on personality and safety performancePersonality traits influencing work behaviorsThe influence of institutional logicPersonality tests for safety performanceThe need for further research and standardized measurement methodsExamining statistical evidence linking personality to safety performancePersonality traits and their impact on work behav...2023-07-2341 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 109 Do safety performance indicators mean the same thing to different stakeholders?Show Notes - The Safety of Work - Ep. 109 Do safety performance indicators mean the same thing to different stakeholdersDr. Drew Rae and Dr. David Provan The abstract reads:Indicators are used by most organizations to track their safety performance. Research attention has been drawn to what makes for a good indicator (specific, proactive, etc.) and the sometimes perverse and unexpected consequences of their introduction. While previous research has demonstrated some of the complexity, uncertainties and debates that surround safety indicators in the scientific community, to date, little attention has be...2023-04-3058 min
Safety Labs by SliceWhat Is the Role of a Safety Professional?In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr David Provan, an award-winning safety researcher who investigated the role of safety professionals. David is also the CEO of Forge Works, founder of Safety Futures, and host of ‘The Safety of Work’ podcast.David begins by explaining why it’s important to define the role of the HSE professional and what role scientific research plays in the safety profession.He then shares the main factors that shape the role of a safety professional, which he’s categorized as: institutional, relational, and individu...2023-04-1052 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 108 Could a 4 day work week improve employee well-being?This report details the full findings of the world’s largest four-day working week trial to date, comprising 61 companies and around 2,900 workers, that took place in the UK from June to December 2022. The design of the trial involved two months of preparation for participants, with workshops, coaching, mentoring and peer support, drawing on the experience of companies who had already moved to a shorter working week, as well as leading research and consultancy organisations. The report results draw on administrative data from companies, survey data from employees, alongside a range of interviews conducted over the pilot period, providing measurement po...2023-04-0955 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 107 What research is needed to implement the Safework Australia WHS strategy?Summary: The purpose of the Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) Strategy 2023–2033 (the Strategy) is to outline a national vision for WHS — Safe and healthy work for all — and set the platform for delivering on key WHS improvements. To do this, the Strategy articulates a primary goal supported by national targets, and the enablers, actions and system-wide shifts required to achieve this goal over the next ten years. This Strategy guides the work of Safe Work Australia and its Members, including representatives of governments, employers and workers – but should also contribute to the work and understanding of all in th...2023-03-1246 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 106 Is it possible to teach critical thinking?Baron's work focuses primarily on judgment and decision-making, a multi-disciplinary area that applies psychology to problems of ethical decisions and resource allocation in economics, law, business, and public policy. The paper’s summary:Recent efforts to teach thinking could be unproductive without a theory of what needs to be taught and why. Analysis of where thinking goes wrong suggests that emphasis is needed on 'actively open-minded thinking'. including the effort to search for reasons why an initial conclusion might be wrong, and on reflection about rules of inference, such as heuristics used for maki...2023-02-1954 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 105 How can organisations learn faster?You’ll hear a little about Schein’s early career at Harvard and MIT, including his Ph.D. work – a paper on the experience of POWs during wartime contrasted against the indoctrination of individuals joining an organization for employment. Some of Schein’s 30-year-old concepts that are now common practice and theory in organizations, such as “psychological safety” Discussion Points:A brief overview of Schein’s career, at Harvard and MIT’s School of Management and his fascinating Ph.D. on POWs during the Korean WarA bit about the book, Humble InquiryDigging into the paperThree types...2023-02-0544 min
Safeopedia PodcastsMeet the Author with David ProvanWe are having a great session on our Meet the Author with David Provan discussing “A Field Guide to Safety Professional Practice” on with our community host Gary Wong David's website https://safetyfutures.com/2022-12-221h 07
The Safety of WorkEp. 103 Should we be happy when our people speak out about safety?In concert with the paper, we’ll focus on two major separate but related Boeing 737 accidents: Lyon Air #610 in October 2018 - The plane took off from Jakarta and crashed 13 mins later, with one of the highest death tolls ever for a 737 crash - 189 souls.Ethiopian Airlines #30 in March 2019 - This plane took off from Addis Ababba and crashed minutes into takeoff, killing 157. The paper’s abstract reads:Following other contributions about the MAX accidents to this journal, this paper explores the role of betrayal and moral injury in safety engineering related to the U.S. f...2022-12-041h 01
The Safety of WorkEp. 102 What's the right strategy when we can't manage safety as well as we'd like to?The paper’s abstract reads:Healthcare systems are under stress as never before. An aging population, increasing complexity and comorbidities, continual innovation, the ambition to allow unfettered access to care, and the demands on professionals contrast sharply with the limited capacity of healthcare systems and the realities of financial austerity. This tension inevitably brings new and potentially serious hazards for patients and means that the overall quality of care frequently falls short of the standard expected by both patients and professionals. The early ambition of achieving consistently safe and high-quality care for all has not been realised an...2022-11-1541 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 101 When should incidents cause us to question risk assessments?The paper’s abstract reads:This paper reflects on the credibility of nuclear risk assessment in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. In democratic states, policymaking around nuclear energy has long been premised on an understanding that experts can objectively and accurately calculate the probability of catastrophic accidents. Yet the Fukushima disaster lends credence to the substantial body of social science research that suggests such calculations are fundamentally unworkable. Nevertheless, the credibility of these assessments appears to have survived the disaster, just as it has resisted the evidence of previous nuclear accidents. This paper looks at why. It...2022-10-301h 01
The Safety of WorkEp. 100 Can major accidents be prevented?The book explains Perrow’s theory that catastrophic accidents are inevitable in tightly coupled and complex systems. His theory predicts that failures will occur in multiple and unforeseen ways that are virtually impossible to predict. Charles B. Perrow (1925 – 2019) was an emeritus professor of sociology at Yale University and visiting professor at Stanford University. He authored several books and many articles on organizations and their impact on society. One of his most cited works is Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay, first published in 1972. Discussion Points:David and Drew reminisce about the podcast and achiev...2022-10-091h 02
The Safety of WorkEp.98 What can we learn from the Harwood experiments?In 1939, Alfred Marrow, the managing director of the Harwood Manufacturing Corporation factory in Virginia, invited Kurt Lewin (a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the U.S.to come to the textile factory to discuss significant problems with productivity and turnover of employees. The Harwood study is considered the first experiment of group decision-making and self-management in industry and the first example of applied organizational psychology. The Harwood Experiment was part of Lewin's continuing exploration of participatory action research. In this episode David a...2022-09-0459 min
The Safety of WorkEpisode 97: Should we link safety performance to bonus pay?This was very in-depth research within a single organization, and the survey questions it used were well-structured. With 48 interviews to pull from, it definitely generated enough solid data to inform the paper’s results and make it a valuable study.We’ll be discussing the pros and cons of linking safety performance to monetary bonuses, which can often lead to misreporting, recategorizing, or other “perverse” behaviors regarding safety reporting and metrics, in order to capture that year-end dollar amount, especially among mid-level and senior management. Discussion Points:Do these bonuses work as intended?Oftentimes profit sha...2022-08-2152 min
The Safety of WorkEpisode 96: Why should we be cautious about too much clarity?Just because concepts, theories, and opinions are useful and make people feel comfortable, doesn’t mean they are correct. No one so far has come up with an answer in the field of safety that proves, “this is the way we should do it,” and in the work of safety, we must constantly evaluate and update our practices, rules, and recommendations. This of course means we can never feel completely comfortable – and humans don’t like that feeling. We’ll dig into why we should be careful about feeling a sense of “clarity” and mental ease when we think that we understand...2022-07-311h 01
The Safety of WorkEp.94 What makes a quality leadership engagement for safety?The authors’ goal was to produce a scoring protocol for safety-focused leadership engagements that reflects the consensus of a panel of industry experts. Therefore, the authors adopted a multiphased focus group research protocol to address three fundamental questions: 1. What are the characteristics of a high-quality leadership engagement? 2. What is the relative importance of these characteristics? 3. What is the reliability of the scorecard to assess the quality of leadership engagement? Just like the last episode’s paper, the research has merit, even though it was published in a trade jou...2022-04-1749 min
The Safety of WorkEp.93 Do the benefits of Lifesaving rules outweigh the negative consequences?We will discuss the pros and cons of “Golden Safety Rules” and a punitive safety culture vs. a critical risk management approach, and analyze the limitations of the methods used in this research.The paper’s abstract introduction reads: Golden safety rules (GSR) have been in existence for decades across multiple industry sectors – championed by oil and gas – and there is a belief that they have been effective in keeping workers safe. As safety programs advance in the oil and gas sector, can we be sure that GSR have a continued role? ERM surveyed companies across mini...2022-03-3052 min
The Safety of WorkEp.92 How do different career paths affect the roles and training needs of safety practitioners?The paper results center on a survey sent to a multitude of French industries, and although the sampling is from only one country, 15 years ago, the findings are very illustrative of common issues among safety professionals within their organizations. David used this paper as a reference for his PhD thesis, and we are going to dig into each section to discuss. The paper’s abstract introduction reads: What are the training needs of company preventionists? An apparently straightforward question, but one that will very quickly run into a number of difficulties. The first invol...2022-03-1352 min
The Safety of WorkEp.90 Does formal safety management displace operational knowledge?An excerpt from the paper’s abstract reads as follows: The proposition is based on theory about relationships between knowledge and power, complemented by organizational theory on standardization and accountability. We suggest that the increased reliance on self-regulation and international standards in safety management may be drivers for a shift in the distribution of power regarding safety, changing the conception of what is valid and useful knowledge. Case studies from two Norwegian transport sectors, the railway and the maritime sectors, are used to illustrate the proposition. In both sectors, we observe discourses based on generic approaches to safety management an...2022-02-1347 min
The Safety of WorkEp.89 When is the process more important than the outcome?Wastell, who has a BSc and Ph.D. from Durham University, is Emeritus Professor in Operations Management and Information Systems at Nottingham University in the UK. Professor Wastell began his academic career as a cognitive neuroscientist at Durham, studying the relationships between brain activity and psychological processes. His areas of expertise include neuroscience and social policy: critical perspectives; psychophysiological design of complex human-machine systems; Information systems and public sector reform; design and innovation in the public services; management as design; and human factors design of safe systems in child protection.Join us as we delve into the st...2022-01-3059 min
Psych Health and Safety PodcastThe Psychological Health and Safety of Work - with Dr David ProvanIn this episode we chat with Dr David Provan, Founder and Managing Director of Forge Works and Safety Futures, and co-host of the Safety of Work Podcast. We discuss the current level of knowledge about psych health and safety within the safety profession, and the willingness of safety practitioners to learn. David shares his views on the role of the OHS function within psych health and safety, and describes the benefits an organisation is likely to reap when their OHS function includes psych health and safety capabilities.
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The Safety of WorkEp.88 Why do organisations sometimes make bad decisions?While this paper was written over half a century ago, it is still relevant to us today - particularly in the Safety management industry where we are often responsible for offering solutions to problems, and implementing those solutions, requires decisions to be made by top management. This is another fascinating piece of work that will broaden your understanding of why organisations often struggle with solving problems that involve making decisions. Topics:Introduction to the research paper: A Garbage Can Model of Organisational ChoiceOrganised anarchies Phenomena explained by this paperExamples of the garbage can...2022-01-1652 min
The Safety of WorkEp.87 What exactly is Systems Thinking?We will review each section of Leveson’s paper and discuss how she sets each section up by stating a general assumption and then proceeds to break that assumption down.We will discuss her analysis of:Safety vs. ReliabilityRetrospective vs. Prospective AnalysisThree Levels of Accident Causes:Proximal event chainConditions that allowed the eventSystemic factors that contributed to both the conditions and the event Discussion Points:Unlike some others, Leveson makes her work openly available on her websiteLeveson’s books, SafeWare: System Safety and Computers (1995) and Engineering a Safer World: Systems Thinking Applied to Safety (2011)Drew...2022-01-0255 min
The Safety of WorkEp.86 Do we have adequate models of accident causation?We will discuss how other safety science researchers have designed theories that use Rasmussen’s concepts, the major takeaways from Rasmussen’s article, and how safety professionals can use these theories to analyze and improve systems in their own organizations today. Discussion Points:Rasmussen’s history of influence, and the parallels to (Paul) Erdős numbers in research paper publishingHow Rasmussen is the “grandfather” of safety scienceRasmussen’s impact across disciplines and organizational categories through the yearsThe basics of this paperWhy risk management models must never be staticHow other theorists and scientists take Rasmussen’s concepts and t...2021-12-191h 00
The Safety of WorkEp.85 Why does safety get harder as systems get safer?Find out our thoughts on this paper and our key takeaways for the ever-changing world of workplace safety. Topics:Introduction to the paper & the Author“Adding more rules is not going to make your system safer.”The principles of safety in the paperTypes of safety systems as broken down by the paperProblems in these “Ultrasafe systems”The Summary of developments of human errorThe psychology of making mistakesThe Efficiency trade-off element in safetySuggestions in Amalberti’s conclusionTakeaway messagesAnswering the question: Why does safety get harder as systems get safer? Quotes:“Systems are goo...2021-11-2855 min
The Safety of WorkEp.84 How do orgasnisations balance reliable performance and spontaneous innovation?This paper by Daniel Katz was published in 1964 and, scarily still has some very relevant takeaways for today’s safety procedures in organisations. We delve into this research and discover the ideas that Katz initiated all those years ago. The problem is that an organization cannot promote one of these concepts without negatively affecting the other. So how are organizations meant to manage this? We share some personal thoughts on whether or not the world of safety research has since found an answer to dealing with these two contradictory concepts. Topics:Introduction to the...2021-10-3144 min
The Safety of WorkEp.83 Does the language used in investigations influence the recommendations?This paper reveals some really interesting findings and it would be valuable for companies to take notice and possibly change the way they implement incident report recoMmendations. Topics:Introduction to the paperThe general process of an investigationThe Hypothesis The differences between the reports and their languageThe results of the three reportsDifferences in the recommendations on each of the reportsThe different ways of interpreting the resultsPractical TakeawaysNot sharing lessons learned from incidents - let others learn it for themselves by sharing the report.Summary and answer to the question Quotes:...2021-10-1737 min
The Safety of WorkEp.82 Why do we audit so much?It's Modelling the Micro-Foundations of the Audit Society: Organizations and the Logic of the Audit Trail by Michael Power. This paper gets us thinking about why organizations do audits in the first place seeing as it has been proven to often decrease the efficiency of the actual process being audited. We discuss the negatives as well as the positives of audits - which both help explain why audits continue to be such a big part of safety management in organizations. Topics:What kinds of audits are happeningWhy is the number of audits increasing?Why d...2021-09-2657 min
The Safety of WorkEp.81 How does simulation training develop Safety II capabilities?The specific paper found some interesting results from these simulated situations - including that it was found that the debriefing, post-simulation, had a large impact on the amount of learning the participants felt they made. The doctors chat about whether the research was done properly and whether the findings could have been tested against alternative scenarios to better prove the theorized results. Topics:Individual and team skills needed to maintain safety.Safety-I vs Safety-IIIntroduction to the research paperMaritime Safety and human errorSingle-loop vs Double-loop learningSimulator programs help people learn and reflectResearch methodsResults discussionRecognizing errors a...2021-09-1253 min
The Safety of WorkEp.80 What is safety clutter?The paper we reference today is our own research paper published in 2018 named; Safety clutter: the accumulation and persistence of ‘safety’ work that does not contribute to operational safety. So we have done ample research when it comes to this particular topic and we’re excited to share this knowledge with you. Hopefully you will take away from this episode a better understanding of where to start looking for (and clear out) clutter in your own workplace. Topics:What is safety clutter?The three C’s ContributionConfidenceConsensusThe paper - Safety clutter: the accumulation and persistenc...2021-08-291h 00
The Safety of WorkEp. 79 How do new employees learn about safety?While there may be many reasons for this - this particular research paper looks at how younger workers are inducted into the workplace and how they learn about the safety practices and requirements that are expected. The findings are pretty fascinating - especially for people responsible for hiring new employees. TopicsIntroduction to the research paperTypes of questions researchers asked research subjectsLiterature reviewHow people learnLearning safe practicesIndustries researchedMetalworkElderly careRetailGeneral inferencesCommunity of practiceGradient towards unsafety Practical TakeawaysThere’s a direct link between employment practices and safetyTemporary workers are less likely to f...2021-08-0844 min
The Safety of WorkEp.77 What does good look like?The findings of this research point to the importance of staff buy-in and a team-driven approach to safety. Topics:Introduction to research paper Seven features of safety in maternity unitsThe premise of the studyUnderstanding the process behind data collection for this studyThe Finding of the paperSix Features/themes of patient safetyRules & procedures vs social control mechanismsPatient feedbackRefining the Safety findingsCommitment to safety and improvementStaff improving working processesTechnical competence supported by formal training and informal learningTeamwork, cooperation, and positive working relationshipsReinforcing, safe, ethical behaviorsSystems and processes designed for safety -regularly reviewed and optimized.Effective coordination a...2021-07-1146 min
The Safety of WorkEp.60 How does Safety II reimagine the role of a safety professional?Every ten episodes or so, we like to indulge ourselves and cover some of our own research. This is one of those episodes. Since it is relevant to our last three episodes, we discuss the final paper that David wrote when pursuing his Ph.D. Topics:Defining a safety professional and other key terms.Two modes of safety: Centralized control and guided adaptability.Thematic analysis of different safety theories.The peer-review response to David’s paper.Understanding which resources people draw upon.Listening to technical specialists beyond the front line.Improving operational scenarios.Facilitating lea...2021-01-0353 min
The Safety of WorkEp.45 Why do we need complex models to explain simple work?We use the paper, Analysing Human Factors and Non-Technical Skills in Offshore Drilling Operations Using FRAM, in order to frame our discussion of this topic.Please let us know if you have any experience with FRAM or similar models. We’d love to hear your feedback. Topics:Using FRAM.Vulnerable Systems Syndrome.STAMP diagrams.How the researchers collected their data.Functions that are common and functions that are outliers.The benefits of implementing a FRAM model.Conclusions drawn by the research paper. Quotes:“Every function of a system...2020-09-2030 min
The Safety of WorkEp.44 What do we mean when we talk about safety culture?To frame our discussion, we reference the paper What We Talk About When We Talk About HSE and Culture.Please send us your further questions of safety culture, so we can dig into more specifics in later episodes. Topics:How “safety culture” came about in the 1970’s.What Chernobyl has to do with safety culture.Safety culture vs. safety climate.What the paper studied and what it concluded.The factors that influence the definition of safety culture.Who studies and talks about safety culture the least.Types of studies done on safety culture...2020-09-1338 min
The Safety of WorkEp 43: How is leadership development experienced?We reference the paper Six Ways of Understanding Leadership Development in order to frame our study.Tune in to hear our discussion and more about this paper. Topics:Defining leadership development.The idea of taking on the mantle of “leader”.The six different ways of understanding leadership.Developing leaders who further the goals of the organization.Stretching people’s views of leadership.Practical take-aways. Quotes:“...And in some sense, they’re almost like stages that leaders go through in their evolution of thinking about themselves like a leader.”...2020-09-0634 min
The Safety of WorkEp.42 How do safety leadership behaviours influence worker motivation for safety?We had trouble finding a suitable paper for this topic. Measuring and studying safety leadership often proves difficult. However, we use the paper Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation Relationship.As an aside, we offer a big “thank you” to those who shared our podcast with others. Our followers and listenership has grown considerably and we greatly appreciate it! Topics:The two ways to improve safety.Why this is a reasonable model for studying the influence of safety.The theory of planned behavior.What you s...2020-08-3047 min
The Safety of WorkEp.41 How do ethnographic interviews work?We have had a couple of requests for this topic, so even though we couldn’t find a completely suitable paper, we decided to forge ahead anyway. Topics:Explaining Ethnography.Why safety can be politically motivated.Starting your conversations with a personal connection.Why the setting of your conversation matters.How to keep your subjects talking.Setting boundaries.How to react when the interviewee is wrong. Quotes:“...Reflect on all these one-on-one conversations that they had everyday in their workplace and how they could utilize these one-on-one engagements to get be...2020-08-2346 min
The Safety of WorkEp.40 When should we trust expert opinions about risk?To frame our conversation, we use one of Drew’s papers to discuss this issue. This paper, Forecasts or Fortune-Telling,was borne out of deep frustration.Tune in to hear our discussion about when or if it is appropriate to listen to experts. Topics:The two questions the paper sought to answer.What we mean by “expertise”.Forecasting.Determining the value of a given expert.Biases in reporting and researching.Super-forecasting.Wisdom of crowds.Better ways to get better answers.Why mathematical models aren’t as helpful as we think.Practical takeaways. 2020-08-1646 minThe Interesting Health & Safety PodcastAn Innovative Perspective On Safety - with Dr David ProvanDr David Provan is the co-founder of the Safety At Work podcast, as well as the director of Forge Works, who provide support to businesses around the globe, focusing specifically upon interaction between people in the workplace, adhering to the maxim that people are the solution and not the problem. In this week’s show, Dr Provan talks about the importance of open communication, and why we must always ensure that we value the work itself as much as the workplace. KEY TAKEAWAYS Judgment helps no one. We are at the point in our jo...2020-08-101h 14
The Safety of WorkEp.39 Do accident investigations actually find the root causes?To frame our chat, we reference the papers, Our Current Approach to Root Cause Analysis and What-You-Look-for-is-What-You-Find.Tune in to hear our thoughts on this matter. Topics:Determining root causes of accidents.Why investigations are social processes. An explainer on editorials.What “process change” really means.Applying the Swiss Cheese Model.Confirmation bias in research.Only finding what you can fix.The difference between internal and external investigations.Practical takeaways from the studies. Quotes:“What they suggested was that we should always have a very strong evaluation process a...2020-08-0949 min
The Safety of WorkEp.38 Can we get ready for automation by studying non-automated systems?We use the paper, Observation and Assessment of Crossing Situations Between Pleasure Craft and a Small Passenger Ferry, in order to frame our discussion. Topics:The small ferry referenced in the paper and the plans to replace it with an automated craft.Why commercial vessels get priority in the water.Incorporating human factors into the study of boats.What you lose by automating this particular ferry.Strategizing the right of way in the water.Interpreting Norwegian navigation rules.Why replacing the captain with an autonomous system could prove disastrous. Quotes:“S...2020-08-0230 min
The Safety of WorkEp.37 How do audits influence intentions to improve practice?To help frame our conversation, we use the paper How Does Audit and Feedback Influence Intentions of Health Professionals to Improve Practice? Topics:Our feelings about audits.Feedback from the audit process.The format of a cluster-randomized trial.Lab vs. field results.How to act on audit results.Analyzing the study’s results.Final takeaways. Quotes:“...The two parts of this study that we’re going to talk about now, are really trying to address that first part of it, which is the information to intention gap…”“In the field...2020-07-2641 min
The Safety of WorkEp.36 How do we tell the difference between theories and fads in safety?In order to frame our discussion, we use the paper Fads and Fashions in Management Practices.Topics:Recent changes in the spread of ideas.Where new management techniques come from.How innovations get labeled.How messages often get broadcast.Six Sigma training.The acceleration and deceleration of broadcasting.Why general ideas are more diffuse.Be conscious of the differences between academics, promotors, and researchers. Quotes:“Interestingly, when we get into the literature, you may, um, look at those books with a little bit of skepticism, when you see how books on man...2020-07-1949 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 35 What is the relationship between leading and lagging indicators?The paper we use to frame today’s discussion is Leading or Lagging? Temporal Analysis of Safety Indicators on a Large Infrastructure Construction Project. Topics:Similarities between Economists and safety professionals.Definitions of performance measures.The researchers methods for this study.What the data showed about this particular organization.Errors in human reporting.Practical takeaways from the study. Quotes:“One definition of a performance measure or indicator should be...the metric used to measure the organization’s ability to control the risk of accidents.”“There’s lots of things in n...2020-07-1242 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 34 How can practitioners find and access research?Tune in to hear our discussion and insights.Topics:Journals and how content gets submitted.Using Google Scholar instead of Google.Search tips.How to request copies of papers.University access to research papers.How to determine what is being measured in a paper.Internal and external validity.The difference between papers and books.Why you shouldn’t pay for papers. Quotes:“The basic rule for what is legal and what is not, is authors own the text until they submit it to a publisher.”“Anyone who’s got even just a...2020-07-0545 min
The Safety of WorkEp.33 Can institutional logics help us move beyond safety culture?We use the paper How Logical is Safety? to frame our discussion. Topics:On what institutional logic focuses.Why institutional logic gives us a fresh start.Local rationalities.How the authors of the paper compiled their research.The seven logics.Understanding institutional logics.Why it’s hard to change institutional logics. Quotes:“There’s some real challenges with the way that we’ve applied organizational culture and safety culture in our organizations.”“They tried to look at how the participants were explaining or justifying their own behavior, to see if thes...2020-06-2845 min
The Safety of WorkEp.32 If safety emerges from frontline work, then what are the regulators supposed to do?We use the paper, How Institutions Enhance Mindfulness, to help frame our discussion.Topics:Mindful organizing.How the researchers conducted their survey and how it affected results.When the regulators are from the government.Four key activities that enhance safety.Why the org in the study leaned towards punishment rather than education.The two disparate views within the paper.How to create an environment that supports good decisions.Shifting blind reinforcement to reasonable reinforcement.Quotes:“So, they talked about this collective mindfulness as emerging out of the five principles of high-reliability organization theory.”2020-06-2135 min
The Safety of WorkEp.31 Do pre-surgery checklists improve patient safety outcomes?We use the papers to frame our discussion: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness, Compliance, and Critical Factors for Implementation of Safety Checklists in Surgery; Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effect of the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist on Post-Operative Complications; and The Effects of Safety Checklists in Medicine.Tune in to hear our thoughts on this potentially life or death issue.Topics:The good reputation of checklists.Equipment Failure.The decrease of information loss.Do checklists slow things down?How closely checklists are followed.The rhyme of reason for checklists.Q...2020-06-1439 min
The Safety of WorkEp.30 What do safety professionals believe about themselves?We use David’s paper, Benefactor or Burden, to frame our discussion today.Topics:The distinction between role and identity.The stereotypes about the safety profession.Saturation.What to consider when hiring safety employees.Tertiary education.Change and the journey of safety.The values of safety professionals.What is important to talk about, when talking about safety professionals.Quotes:“Very few safety people describe themselves as bureaucrats.”“...Just that word, ‘Professional’. It tended to be the case that people who had tertiary education thought of that as being important as part of being a p...2020-06-0756 min
The Safety of WorkEp.29 Does manual handling training work?We use the paper, What Constitutes Effective Manual Handling Training, in order to frame our discussion. The paper is a systematic review that looks at fifty three intervention studies performed over a number of years.Topics:Why training is the cornerstone of the workplace.Why it’s important to evaluate training.The results of the various studies discussed within today’s paper.The varying qualities of studies.Finding what type of manual training is effective.Quotes:“The idea of having some sort of formalized weighting system, is it gets around the accusation of researc...2020-05-3129 min
The Safety of WorkEp.28 How does coordination work in incident response teams?Dave is joined by special guest, Dr. Laura Maguire, a researcher at the Cognitive Systems Engineering Lab at Ohio State University. Her recent research pertains to the topic at hand. Tune in to hear our informative discussion. Topics:● Dr. Maguire’s personal relationship to safety.● Exploring coordinated joint activity in the tech industry.● The difficulty of doing research in the natural laboratory.● What Dr. Maguire noticed during her research.● Why breakdowns in common ground occur.● Why a phone call can involve effortful cognitive work. 2020-05-2446 min
The Safety of WorkEp.27 What Makes Teams Effective?We use the paper, Embracing Complexity, to frame our discussion. Tune in to hear our chat about this important issue. Topics:The definition of a team.What unit to study when researching teams.Compositional and structural features.Mediating mechanisms.Average member attributes and how they contribute to performance.How diversity affects teams.Fault lines.How to measure a team’s success.The positive effect of innovation. Quotes:“A topic that comes up a lot in the research is virtual teams. Who would have guessed that teams meeting over Zoom was goi...2020-05-1754 min
The Safety of WorkEp.26 Is good safety leadership just good leadership?We use the following papers to frame our discussion: Development and Test of a Model Linking Safety Specific Transformational Leadership and Occupational Safety and Contrasting the Nature and Effects of Environmentally Specific and General Transformational Leadership. Topics:How leadership is studied.The two-part study conducted in Development and Test.Are environmentally specific and general transformational leadership two different things?How the study in Contrasting the Nature and Effects was conducted.Safety leadership vs. leadership/Why good leadership leads to good safety practices. Quotes:“How much do these things vary and ho...2020-05-1040 min
The Safety of WorkEp.25 Why don't workers use reporting systems?Dave isn’t here today. Instead, Drew speaks directly with the author of the paper we intended to use to frame our discussion. Tune in to hear his discussion with Tanya Hewitt. Topics:Discomfort with non-technical topics.Why some people are seasoned users of reporting systems.Pride in being a fixer.Feedback loops in reporting systems.Questioning the value of given instructions.Why qualitative data can be helpful. Quotes:“If people were very seasoned users of the reporting system, we’d want to really understand, ‘how did they become seasoned us...2020-05-0338 min
The Safety of WorkEp.24 How did David Woods discover the theory of graceful extensibility?Drew isn’t here today and in his stead is Professor David Woods. Tune in to hear his discussion of graceful extensibility and how it applies to the current battle with Covid19.Topics:Unwittingly developing theories.Building resilience in organizations.Framing his theory in terms of current events.How the brain deals with changes.What the data from Covid19 will tell us.Net adaptive value.Saturation and decompensation.Proactive learning.Reciprocity.Quotes:“The simple idea is that we are always vulnerable to surprise. Surprise is ongoing.”“[The death rate] is going to be co...2020-04-261h 24
The Safety of WorkEp.23 How do safety professionals influence?We use the following articles to frame our discussion: In Their Profession’s Service and Influencing Organizational Decision-Makers.Topics:The constant frustration of being a safety professional.Rational persuasion and other forms of influence.Publishing outside traditional safety journals.Why it can be hard to define a safety professional’s role.The optics of good connections.Adaptive framing.Why “by any means necessary” is not the key to success.Playing the long game. Quotes:“If you survey CEO’s...they want safety practitioners to have these communication skills, ability to build relationships...2020-04-1956 min
The Safety of WorkEp.22 Are facts or stories more effective for changing attitudes?Topics:Drew’s recently published paper and how it relates to this topic.Vaccinations and the current wave of anti-vaccination bias.Testing the effects of stories vs. facts.Alternative beliefs.Why we think certain claims are nonsense. Quotes:“They found that the one that has a story of someone whose child has had measles along with the photo with the measles, had a very strong effect on attitude change…”“Typically, as safety professionals, we often want to influence a change in what people are doing in the organization, be it managers or workers...2020-04-1243 min
The Safety of WorkEp.21 How foreseeable was the Dreamworld accident?Topics:Divulging our potential conflicts of interest.Hindsight bias.The four different mental processes used in assessing accidents.How the raft ride worked on a good day.The first river raft fatality on record.Various river raft incidents on record.The factors that lead to the accident at Dreamworld.Potential conclusions from this case.Quotes:“When I was reflecting after this incident, I don’t remember a lot of safety conversation at all.”“There was a number of operational incidents associated with these rides; to do with, kind of, like, spacing and separation of rafts...2020-04-051h 07
Safety on TapEp142: Developing adaptive capacity and building resilience, with Dr David ProvanI went out three weeks into the real craziness of the coronavirus. I have collected hundreds and hundreds of data points from people like you giving me an insight into what you are facing right now. And the opportunities that adversity brings two things are emerging, which are the focus of today's conversation with Dr. David Provan, the tension between feeling safe versus being safe. And the need for us to intentionally build resilience into the way we work in our organizations, which it turns out seems not to be new challenges. They're just made much more apparent in...2020-04-0344 min
The Safety of WorkEp.20 What is reality-based safety science?We have just co-authored a paper with two other researchers and it examines the big picture of safety science. We don’t usually like to plug ourselves, but we’re very excited about this particular accomplishment. We use his paper, A Manifesto for Reality-Based Safety Science, to frame our discussion.Topics:Why practitioners shouldn’t tune out this podcast.Evidence-based medicine as a reform movement.Studying work, not accidents.Investigate and theorize before measuring.The lag in safety science.Forecasting theories.How safety knowledge is not fixed.Quotes:“There was a strong perception that there...2020-03-2959 min
The Safety of WorkEp.19 Is virtual reality safety training more effective?We chose to use two papers to frame our discussion. Those papers are Construction Safety Training Using Immersive Virtual Reality and Comparing Immersive Virtual Reality and PowerPoint as Methods for Delivering Safety Training.Let us know if and how you are using Virtual Reality in your business.Topics:VR research is a mixed bag.How VR training works.Advantages to VR training.How VR training can be used more effectively.Outsiders publishing in safety journals.Quotes:“It was fairly targeted towards the outcome they want from normal types of training.”“It...2020-03-2134 min
The Safety of WorkEp.18 Do Powerpoint slides count as a safety hazard?We use the paper When Redundant On-Screen Text in Multimedia Technical Instruction can Interfere with Learning to frame our discussion.Topics:This problem existed before Microsoft.Do presentation slides help you communicate?Text on slides serving as a distraction.What the cognitive load theory tells us.Changing one’s approach to presentations.Quotes:“I think people genuinely think it’s a good way to convey information.”“The cognitive load theory is suggesting, in this case, that the worst thing to do is to give them text...and audio at the same time.”...2020-03-1537 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 17 What did Heinrich really say?Tune in to hear Carsten discuss his research into Heinrich’s work.Topics:The impetus behind Carsten’s paper.What his paper covered.Why Heinrich’s ratio is so important.Why capable workers are the most important factor in safety.How corporations use Heinrich’s ratio in testing.Heinrich’s overall impact and legacy.Quotes:“It’s interesting the way you go on to say that he wasn’t actually saying that you have to manage the three-hundred to prevent the one…”“I think he would have liked to see himself, first and foremost, as...2020-03-0744 min
The Safety of WorkEp.16 What can we learn from the Brady report?Tune in to hear us discuss the lessons learned from this important report.Topics:Why the Brady Report was made.The pros and cons of this type of study.Malcolm Jones’ paper about grief cycles in business.Why fatalities aren’t extraordinary events.HRO theories and programs.Why LTI’s aren’t relevant.Why reported incidents aren’t a negative indicator.How fatalities could have possibly been avoided.Practical takeaways from our conversation.Quotes:“The report contains, like, a couple of hundred pages of graphs and nowhere is there any sort of test to see what...2020-03-0153 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 15 Should we give prizes for safety?To frame our discussion, we use the papers. Motivating the Workforce and The Demotivating Effect (and Unintended Message) of Awards. Tune in to hear our discussion about whether prizes encourage further safety or are just a silly pat-on-the-back.Topics:Are prizes a marketing exercise or encouraging actual safety?What is the motivation behind your organization’s awards for safety?Behavioral economicsIndustries that often have safety awards.When celebrating safety takes away from practicing safety.Can attendance awards motivate students?The signaling effect.Quotes:“It’s definitely the case that some of these site visits...2020-02-2335 min
The Safety of WorkEp.14 What are the characteristics of a High Reliability Healthcare Organisation?To frame our discussion, we use the common High Reliability Organization Theory. A few people have authored papers on this topic and we will use their work during our chat.Topics:What defines an HRO’s modus operandi.Why it was revolutionary to study successful organizations.Being transparent about research methods.The difficult job of figuring out who the “expert” is, in a given situation.The things that can encourage safety on a team.Quotes:“A number of organizations and industries have been linked to HRO theory over the years for maintaining somewhat error fr...2020-02-1638 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 13 Are there more accidents on friday the thirteenth?To frame our discussion, we decided to reference a few papers. The papers we use are Females Do Not Have More Road Accidents on Friday the 13th, Much Ado About the Full Moon, and Moon Phases and Nighttime Road Crashes Involving Pedestrians. Tune in to hear our chat!Topics:Calendar effects.Gendered calendar effects.The full moon effect.Contradictory studies.Superstitious safety practitioners.Quotes:“The idea is that if it’s a robust result, it should apply regardless of the decisions you make…”“It’s becoming increasingly common now for researchers to publish t...2020-02-0931 min
The Safety of WorkEp.12 Is adopting a zero harm policy good for safety?We use the papers, Zero Accident, Vision-Based Strategies in Organizations; Zero Vision, Enlightenment, and Religion; and UK Construction Safety: A Zero Paradox to frame our discussion. Tune in to hear what we think!Topics:The concept of zero-harm.The pros and cons of a zero-harm approach.When management makes safety-focused decisions.Can zero-harm lead to distorted reporting?Can you accurately compare zero and non-zero groups in a study?Quotes:“Yes: Every individual accident, there’s ways that we can find that it could have been avoided, but do we think that we can run...2020-02-0137 min
The Safety of WorkEp.11 How are trade off decisions made between production and safety?We use the paper, Articulating the Differences Between Safety and Resilience, in order to frame our chat.Topics:How to navigate competing operational goals.Why there isn’t a lot of great theory about goal conflicts.Exploring how people make decisions.How dealing with risk gives you expertise.Piece-rate contracting strategies.Why simulations can hurt or help.Quotes:“So, you’re constantly in this fuzzy boundary of, well, we’ve made the trade-off for safety, but how do we know that we had to make it?”“Step one was to do what we sugg...2020-01-2633 min
The Safety of WorkEp.10 What helps and hinders stopping work for safety?The paper we use to frame today’s discussion is We Can Stop Work, but Then Nothing Gets Done.Topics:Why do workers not stop when risk is obvious?The purpose of focus groups as a data collection method.The pitfalls of the focus group method.Turning focus groups transcripts into research findings.How supervisors can support workers in making good decisions.Why it’s hard for workers to turn down unsafe work.+Quotes:“You can see the finished product, but you don’t see how the sausage is made.”“What matters with...2020-01-1942 min
The Safety of WorkEp.9 Is there safety in numbers?We use the 2019 paper, Safety in Numbers, to frame this week’s discussion.Topics:The amount of exposure increases the amount of risk.Safety in Numbers is a 2019 update to a 2017 paper of the same name.Why you should get down and dirty with the numbers.Be careful about what stats do and don’t tell you.How volume affects risk potential.Rate vs. raw number.How our systems encourage familiarity with risk.Quotes:“A lot of statistically dodgy stuff gets published in some very, very good journals and some otherwise very good author...2020-01-1228 min
The Safety of WorkEp.8 Do risk matrices help us make better decisions?In order to guide our discussion, we will use the paper Further Thoughts on the Utilities of Risk Matrices.Topics:The risk matrix was something to use to determine expected values.Today, the risk matrix is a table, not just an equation.Risk matrices can prove helpful in decision making.There are a few types of papers that discuss the efficacy of risk matrices.The Loss of Information idea.Cox’s coloring rules for matrices.How formal decision making processes can be damaging.How risk matrices are often used in organizationsQuotes:“The assu...2020-01-0535 min
The Safety of WorkEp.7 What is the relationship between safety leadership beliefs and practices?Tune in to hear us discuss the paper Site Managers and Safety Leadership in the Offshore Gas and Oil Industry and its survey’s findings.Topics:Leadership is something everyone agrees is key to workplace safety.The paper we reference is Site Managers and Safety Leadership in the Offshore Gas and Oil Industry.Matching the research question to a survey is quite difficult.This research paper had a uniquely large sample size.Understanding what people think good leadership and safety look like.The methods by which the survey was produced and why they worked.The results of...2019-12-2946 min
The Safety of WorkEp.6 What is the cost of accepting the cheapest tender?Tune in to hear us talk about how the drive to reduce costs can negatively impact safety. We frame this week’s discussion around the paper, An Industry Structured for Unsafety.Topics:When you submit a low bid for a tender, what does that end up doing to safety?How to work with and understand your contractors.Fixed and direct costs.Marginal cost pricing.The effect of cost-cutting on protective equipment.What you can do about cost-cutting.Quotes:“I think this is going to be a really important question for many of our list...2019-12-2229 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 5 Can increasing uncertainty improve safety?Tune in to hear us talk about this topic in the context of the paper we chose to reference this week.Topics:Our safety practices are always about reducing uncertainty.The paper we’ve chosen to use for today’s discussion is Promoting Safety by Increasing Uncertainty.The paper uses major accidents to frame its arguments.Differences of opinion is a type of uncertainty.Increasing uncertainty in practice.Feeling uncomfortable with increasing uncertainty.Encouraging people to speak out.Quotes:“If you don’t understand the question or you don’t understand the problem well enoug...2019-12-1531 min
The Safety of WorkEp.4 What is the relationship between trust and safety?Topics:The relationship between safety and trust is harder to define than one would expect.We use the works of one doctor to help us understand this topic.Trust doesn’t necessarily lead to safer work environments.However, too much distrust can lead to an unhealthy workplace.One of the papers is about how to create trust.Quotes:“...It’s not as simple as ‘trust is a good thing’ and ‘distrust is a bad thing’...when we trust people too much, we take their word for things, even when we shouldn’t.”“The happy medium...you g...2019-12-0832 min
The Safety of WorkEp. 0 Who are we?Welcome to an introduction to our new podcast, Safety of Work. In this podcast we will discuss how safety works. We aim to provide listeners with examples of safety processes that exist in the real world and how they can use those processes in their own lives.Topics:Safety comes from operational work.How safety works at work.The goal and the means of safety are different.What to expect from each forthcoming episode.Our goals for this podcast.David is a career safety professional.Drew is a computer systems engineer by training.Quotes:2019-11-1123 min