An interesting and recent discussion paper from Sidney Dekker, exploring forgiveness as a ‘morally serious response’ to incidents, as opposed to retributive approaches. Tl;dr: · “while retribution addresses certain ethical concerns, it is incomplete and can be counterproductive, particularly for patient safety and organizational learning” · “Systems that focus primarily on individual blame risk fostering… Continue reading Forgiveness as morally serious response to errors in healthcare: A narrative review
Author: Ben Hutchinson
Organisational safety seen by some as an organisational façade for arse-covering
So…one doesn’t need to go far to find “mild criticisms” of safety as an organisational façade of “arse covering”. Not much to say here – just a few examples out of many…No reason why – just for giggles. Including: · from the ‘toothless tiger’ of a regulator · safety rules seen by workers as “arse covering” by… Continue reading Organisational safety seen by some as an organisational façade for arse-covering
Industrial Accidents and Industrial Diseases – 1909 article
Another interesting read from 1909, talking about ‘social responsibility’ and industrial accidents & diseases in the US. Really modern thinking here – that: 1) ‘trade’ should bear the fair burden of injury 2) compensation is about justice and social responsibility 3) a worker’s free will to work in dangerous industries is a myth (they often… Continue reading Industrial Accidents and Industrial Diseases – 1909 article
Automation’s lacklustre effects on fatal accidents & cheap migrant labour hampering adoption of engineering controls
REALLY interesting findings from Associate Professor Masahiro Yoshida. It suggests that automation over a historical context didn’t really drive down workplace injuries since it tended to be employed in already mature industries. And, ready access to cheap migrant workforces may hinder broader industrial risk reduction due to a negative correlation with automation investment. And the… Continue reading Automation’s lacklustre effects on fatal accidents & cheap migrant labour hampering adoption of engineering controls
Does counting change what counts? Quantification fixation biases decision-making
Saw this posted on LinkedIn (forget who shared it) and found it really interesting. This study, across 21 experiments and 23k participants in managerial, policy and consumer contexts, studied how numbers and quantification distorts decision-making Context: · Quantification is spreading and has reached into almost every personal and professional area · New-borns are given Apgar… Continue reading Does counting change what counts? Quantification fixation biases decision-making
1911: Traumatic workplace injury to a child and seen to have “taken responsibility of the risks”
Wow … this one from 1911 A poor 10-year-old child had a truly traumatic workplace injury and the civil case by her parents against the employer was dismissed since the “ten-year-old girl knew the dangers of her work and must assume all the responsibility of having her arms torn out”. Good to see the VP… Continue reading 1911: Traumatic workplace injury to a child and seen to have “taken responsibility of the risks”
Can serious industrial accidents be eliminated? Article from 1917 equally valid today
Can serious industrial accidents be eliminated? Oof, this was a banger read – from 1917. Talks about: · Focusing on effective workplace design and engineering – not just machine guarding · Not focusing on “careless” workers and such stuff · Focusing on the severity of incidents and not just their frequency · The primary duty of the employer should… Continue reading Can serious industrial accidents be eliminated? Article from 1917 equally valid today
Learning to fail intelligently – Amy Edmondson
Not much I need to add here – another banger from Amy Edmonson and colleague from 2005, exploring ‘intelligent failures’. Summary posed in a couple of weeks. They explore identifying failures, analysing failures and experimentation for learning – and barriers from technical and social perspectives. Technical and social barriers: · Complex systems make many small failures… Continue reading Learning to fail intelligently – Amy Edmondson
Humans are fallible and we should design out harm: 1913 rail safety article
“What a time to be alive!” – People in 1913, probably. This interesting article from 1913 about rail safety comes to some interesting proposals: human fallibility is a normal and expected thing, that we should seek design and systems solutions where possible, and companies always prioritise profit over ‘safety’ trade-offs: · “In the past, when an accident… Continue reading Humans are fallible and we should design out harm: 1913 rail safety article
Allocation of Blame After a Safety Incident
This single page conference paper discussed an experiment on how blame is allocated following incidents. The scenario was a “realistic, but fictitious” incident involving a worker (both experienced or not experienced, depending on the scenario), whom is killed when touching an energised bus bar while feeding electrical wire into a pedestal. They systematically manipulated the… Continue reading Allocation of Blame After a Safety Incident
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