Was Deepwater Horizon / Macondo blowout a ‘systems’ accident? Not much to say here – just an extract from a paper that modelled the accident using a control structure. ** PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=nrKljK0AeUZXTOgd Some quotes: · “Figure 1 finds no single root-cause or chain of behaviours to have caused the accident” · “Although the… Continue reading Was Deepwater Horizon / Macondo blowout a ‘systems’ accident?
Author: Ben Hutchinson
Part 2 with Sidney Dekker now live: we discuss behavioural safety, simplistic slogans like zero harm, complexity
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1940 article on whether good safety = good business
Is good safety good business? A 1940 article discussing the evidence – and showing how it dated back decades even then. Have some more classic bangers coming up soon. ** PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=nrKljK0AeUZXTOgd Extracts: · “The theme … that money can be saved by a safety program is not new and is not… Continue reading 1940 article on whether good safety = good business
Safe As YT week in review: Failed leader walkarounds, interview with Sidney Dekker, awesomeness of coffee, and how we trained AI to hallucinate
Did you check out my Safe As YouTube channel this week? Link: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=nrKljK0AeUZXTOgd We covered: 1. Part 1 interview with Prof Sid Dekker, discussing a definition of safety, perils of zero harm, blame, restorative culture and drift 2. Andrew Hopkins analysis of the leadership walkaround on the Deepwater Horizon rig and how it failed to… Continue reading Safe As YT week in review: Failed leader walkarounds, interview with Sidney Dekker, awesomeness of coffee, and how we trained AI to hallucinate
Dekker: Accountability and learning only possible with compassion
Can accountability and learning co-exist with compassion in safety-critical industries? For Sidney Dekker, accountability is only possible with some compassion
Is coffee the elixir of life?
Is coffee the elixir of life and the path to immortality? Well, probably not, but scientifically it’s still awesome. PS. Always limitations with these sorts of epidemiological studies.
The illusion of safety indicators in the mining industry
Are minor and severe/fatal incidents related? Another study tested the links based on private and public mining data. ** Check out my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Safe_As_Pod Extracts: · “the number of days without accidents does not reflect the true safety of the environment” · “The data generate markedly distinct trend lines between the accident frequency rates and the… Continue reading The illusion of safety indicators in the mining industry
High Reliability Organizations and Healthcare Outcomes on Patients and Staff: Scoping Review
Do HRO (High Reliability Organisation) principles improve healthcare patient & staff outcomes? This scoping study evaluated 9 studies. (Note – still under peer review, so use with caution). Extracts: · “HRO implementation was associated with fewer adverse events, positive staff perceptions on patient safety, and improved psychological safety” · Studies used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative… Continue reading High Reliability Organizations and Healthcare Outcomes on Patients and Staff: Scoping Review
Did we ‘train’ AI LLMs to hallucinate?
Did we ‘train’ AI LLMs to hallucinate? This study from OpenAI argues that hallucinations “need not be mysterious—they originate simply as errors in binary classification”. And, interestingly, hallucinations, persist, in part because the models “are optimized to be good test-takers, and guessing when uncertain improves test performance”. That is, they’re rewarded in training for guessing… Continue reading Did we ‘train’ AI LLMs to hallucinate?
SafetyInsights.org 