This paper investigated the influence of safetywashing in the case of 106 Indian newspaper articles relating to construction and 439 reader comments. Namely, they were interested in: · What safetywashing strategies are used? · What are the effects of safetywashing? Providing context: · Numerous safety strategies are used, ranging from design, technology and interpersonal. Some… Continue reading Safetywashing: The Strategic Use of Safety in the Construction Industry
Risk shifting and disorganization in multi-tier contracting chains: The implications for public safety
Not sure if I’ve already posted this, but this study draws on qualitive data from 36 face-to-face interviews with personnel from a case study organisation (CSO), which is involved in large-scale infrastructure projects working around buried assets like high pressure gas pipelines. The study looks at how, specifically, contractual arrangements with subcontractors, economic pressures and… Continue reading Risk shifting and disorganization in multi-tier contracting chains: The implications for public safety
Escaping Failures of Foresight
An interesting discussion paper from David Woods, in response to a paper from Andrew Hopkins discussing process safety indicators (see my article from a few weeks back). ** I haven’t done a good job of this – so suggest you read the original paper. You might want a strong coffee. Woods takes a bit of… Continue reading Escaping Failures of Foresight
Ideological diversity of media consumption predicts COVID-19 vaccination
A bit different to my usual, but this study (including the giant Paul Slovic among authors), examined how the ‘ideological diversity’ of media consumption predicted COVID vaccination hesitancy & trust in science. Data from >1.6k surveys. For background: · “Personal vaccine hesitancy is associated with various demographic, social, and psychological factors” · E.g. elderly, those with higher… Continue reading Ideological diversity of media consumption predicts COVID-19 vaccination
Warnings and Hazard Communications
This book chapter explored research on the design and efficacy of written warnings and hazard communications, like you’d find in product information booklets, labels etc. It’s a whole chapter, so I can only touch on some points. First they say that, overall, safety warnings are a “third line of defense behind design and guarding”, they… Continue reading Warnings and Hazard Communications
Safety climate and fatigue have differential impacts on safety issues: Safety climate, fatigue, and safety issues
This study explored the role of safety climate and fatigue on safety issues and outcomes, based on survey of >11k US naval personnel. Note: Self-reported data. They found: · “Results indicated a differential effect on the relationship between safety climate and safety outcomes; that is, safety climate affected underreporting the most, followed by likelihood of experiencing… Continue reading Safety climate and fatigue have differential impacts on safety issues: Safety climate, fatigue, and safety issues
Impact of work hours on sleep quality: a non-linear and gendered disparity
This study explored the tipping point at which weekly workhours harm sleep in Australian adults – 25 to 64. Data was drawn from >9k people. Providing background they say: Results Key findings: Ref: Doan, T., Leach, L., & Strazdins, L. (2024). Impact of work hours on sleep quality: a non-linear and gendered disparity. Archives of Women’s… Continue reading Impact of work hours on sleep quality: a non-linear and gendered disparity
Assessing the Quality of Safety-Focused Leadership Engagements
This paper developed a leadership engagement assessment scorecard, aiming to gauge the quality of the interaction. Providing background: · Safety performance has “long been measured using lagging indicators such as total recordable incident rate (TRIR) that involve counting the number of injuries” · However, “recent research has shown that these metrics suffer from severe limitations… Continue reading Assessing the Quality of Safety-Focused Leadership Engagements
Why regulators Should Stay away from Safety Culture and Stick to Rules Instead
This banger chapter comes from an equally slapping book ‘Trapping Safety into Rules’. The authors argue why “regulators should stay away from safety culture”. Too much to cover, so just a few points. They open with “Ever since the Chernobyl catastrophe, safety culture has been invoked as a crucial discriminator between good and bad ways… Continue reading Why regulators Should Stay away from Safety Culture and Stick to Rules Instead
Work hours, weekend working, nonstandard work schedules and sleep quantity and quality: findings from the UK household longitudinal study
This explored the links between work hours, weekend working and atypical work schedules on sleep quantity and quality in a UK longitudinal sample. Data came from 25,000 employed men and women – but noting a limitation of self-reported data. For background: · Atypical work patterns, like working >35-40h weeks, weekend working and nonstandard schedules (outside of… Continue reading Work hours, weekend working, nonstandard work schedules and sleep quantity and quality: findings from the UK household longitudinal study
SafetyInsights.org 