Are you thirsting for the state of knowledge or research on critical controls, SIFS, leadership, or New View approaches? What about blame language, safety & risk indicators, complex systems, or psychological safety? Re-spruiking the 21 research compendiums freely available on my site – each covering a different topic. I haven’t counted, but there must easily… Continue reading SafetyInsights.Org Research Compendiums: thirst trapping scientific research
Safe As E63: Should we, or even can we, analyse ‘safety culture’ in investigations?
‘Safety Culture’ is treated by some as the holy grail of organisational safety concepts: valourised and promoted uncritically. But should we, or even can we, analyse ‘safety culture’ in investigations? Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2tx0IK3stj1djNDbwzQs4U?si=lV9PnfvVR62ynW0k7ePNNg Shout me a coffee (one-off or monthly recurring)
Safe As heading for the `tube in 2026
Safe As is expanding onto YouTube in 2026. Same thrifty content, but now with…100% more pixels? Currently testing camera and lighting with an ultra-low budget, while avoiding the look of a dank, gulag basement. Videos will be the base format and uploaded to YT, then audio for Spotify. So, we’ll see how it goes. Shout… Continue reading Safe As heading for the `tube in 2026
Leading indicators as indicators that “changes before the actual risk level of the organization has changed”
What is a leading indicator? There’s lots of definitions – I’ve covered dozens on my site. But this is one I’ve liked from Kjellen for a good while, where: “a leading safety performance indicator as an indicator that changes before the actual risk level of the organization has changed” Reiman & Pietikäinen discuss the implications… Continue reading Leading indicators as indicators that “changes before the actual risk level of the organization has changed”
The Anatomy of Blame: A Network Analysis of Strategic Responsibility-Shifting After a Systemic Disaster (Grenfell disaster)
How was blame distributed across different actors after the Grenfell disaster? This study used network analysis to explore this question, specifically how responsibility “was negotiated, resisted, and redirected among a heterogeneous set of actors”. They used the below Grenfell web of blame from an inquiry submission (image not found in this paper): Extracts: · “Understanding blame… Continue reading The Anatomy of Blame: A Network Analysis of Strategic Responsibility-Shifting After a Systemic Disaster (Grenfell disaster)
Grenfell’s ‘web of blame’: accusations, defences, and counter-accusations
The Grenfell ‘web of blame’ as presented by Counsel (Millett, KC) to the Inquiry’s closing submissions. Not much to say about this, as I’m posting a study tomorrow which applied network analysis to this web of blame. But it’s noted that actors distributed throughout across multiple societal levels contributed to spinning a web of blame.… Continue reading Grenfell’s ‘web of blame’: accusations, defences, and counter-accusations
Safe As 62: Types of error – error as cause, event, or harm
What do we mean when we say ‘human error’? Do you mean as a cause, event, or harm? And does error language more broadly mask more underpinning human variability, and increase the risk of blame? Sources: 1. Hollnagel, E. (2007). Human error: Trick or treat. Handbook of applied cognition, 219-238. 2. Read, G. J., Shorrock, S.,… Continue reading Safe As 62: Types of error – error as cause, event, or harm
SafeWork prosecution and the legal definition of risk, reasonably practicable, and what ought reasonably to have been known
This prosecution judgement related to a serious injury, after heavy stone slabs tipped off a truck tray onto a worker. Some extracts I found interesting: · “state of knowledge applied to the definition of practicable is objective. It is that possessed by persons generally who are engaged in the relevant field of activity and not the… Continue reading SafeWork prosecution and the legal definition of risk, reasonably practicable, and what ought reasonably to have been known
Definitions of risk and risk as a product of the strength of knowledge
While on the topic of risk (see the post from yesterday – link below), the first two images have a group of definitions. Images 2/3 below highlight one perspective from Prof Terje Aven. And, without excluding other definitions, here they argue that risk can include: “identified events and consequences, assigned probabilities, uncertainty intervals, strength of… Continue reading Definitions of risk and risk as a product of the strength of knowledge
Risk as a social construction and notes on quantification – from Prof Terje Aven
Really interesting pod with Prof Terje Aven discussing risk science. Some extracts: · “there is often a difference between experts’ risk judgments and people’s risk perception. But this difference can be explained also by the fact that people’s judgments could incorporate aspects of uncertainty not covered by the experts’ risk perspectives” · “Experts often restrict their assessment… Continue reading Risk as a social construction and notes on quantification – from Prof Terje Aven
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