Do our ‘safety’ practices work? What’s the evidence behind what we do, and why? My site SafetyInsights, provides 22 research compendiums on various topics – from error, critical controls, indicators, New View / HOP / Safety-II, rules, blame, investigations, power, leadership and more. There’s probably >1000 studies or more linked throughout these compendiums, many full… Continue reading 22 Research Compendiums on what works in safety, risk and organizational practices (>1000 studies)
“Achieving low … incident rates does not indicate that controls are adequate with respect to [SIFs]”
“Achieving low … incident rates does not indicate that controls are adequate with respect to [SIFs]” Another lazy PowerPoint of quotes, this time from Fred Manuele’s 2013 article ‘Preventing Serious Injuries & Fatalities’. What do you think – do you agree or disagree with Fred’s premises which need to be embedded or dislodged? PS. Check… Continue reading “Achieving low … incident rates does not indicate that controls are adequate with respect to [SIFs]”
What are the health impacts of ultra processed foods?
What are the health impacts of ultra processed foods? A massive 2024 British Medical Journal evaluated data from >9 million people. Not surprising, the evidence points to increased risks of cardiovascular disease mortality, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, and common mental disorders. These effects were generally found to rise progressively with higher intake, whether measured by… Continue reading What are the health impacts of ultra processed foods?
The Role of Distrust in Offshore Safety Performance
How does distrust influence facets of safety in offshore? This surveyed 203 UK offshore gas workers on attitudes of trust and distrust towards workmates, supervisors, offshore managers, and contractors. PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=iUaDPJynPemQRZhY Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson Background:· “Trust has been described as a lubricant for open and frequent safety communication” · “individuals feel safer… Continue reading The Role of Distrust in Offshore Safety Performance
CEO Speeches: Talking our way to disaster (BP & DeepWater Horizon)
In April, 2010, BP CEO Tony Hayward reassured shareholders that the company was safer and more efficient than ever. Five days later, the Deepwater Horizon disaster happened. This video unpacks a study that evaluated CEO speeches and how rhetoric and slogans can be disconnected with actual behaviour and resourcing. It explores how relentless cost-cutting and… Continue reading CEO Speeches: Talking our way to disaster (BP & DeepWater Horizon)
The role of trust in occupational safety
How does trust affect safety levels within organisations? 883 Polish industrial workers were surveyed. Shared under open access licence. PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=iUaDPJynPemQRZhY Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson Extracts: · “employees’ trust in management affects safety outcomes indirectly (full mediation), due to the improvement in their engagement in safety citizenship behaviour (SCB)” · e.g. it works… Continue reading The role of trust in occupational safety
Is your safety data backwards? Do leading indicators become lagging and vice versa?
Does doing more safety activity reduce injuries? Not necessarily, and sometimes the relationship may run in the reverse. A study of a major infrastructure project from @helen Lingard, @matthew hallowell and others found that safety activities usually labelled as ‘leading indicators’ didn’t behave as simple one-way predictors of injuries. Some activities were associated with later… Continue reading Is your safety data backwards? Do leading indicators become lagging and vice versa?
Safety paradoxes and (the limits of) measuring ‘safety’ by its absence (unsafety)
Our efforts in health and safety typically “comprises ‘unsafety’ than about the substantive properties of safety itself”. Or so said James Reason in his 2000 article ‘Safety paradoxes and safety culture’. What he meant is that the militant focus on extrapolation from incidents and investigations provides a narrow slice of system effectiveness when risk protections… Continue reading Safety paradoxes and (the limits of) measuring ‘safety’ by its absence (unsafety)
Barriers, critical controls, safeguards, energy models, bowties – a cornucopia of research
Barrier, safeguard, or control; risk or resilience; active or passive barrier; critical controls, support and verification activities. Resharing this 2024 compendium of research on barriers, critical controls, verifications, indicators, and energy models. What makes for an effective control? How can you measure & monitor effectiveness? You’ll find dozens of articles unpacking these questions and more.… Continue reading Barriers, critical controls, safeguards, energy models, bowties – a cornucopia of research
An auditing / investigation tool to reveal our blind spots to engineering and system flaws (From Professor Michael Quinlan)
Do your audits and investigations force you into uncomfortable territory? Or do they safely maintain your existing risk blindspots? It seems many processes still focus on what happened, and who was involved. Fewer push into harder questions, like engineering flaws, missed warnings, production pressure, or known issues that sat unresolved. Emeritus Professor Michael Quinlan developed… Continue reading An auditing / investigation tool to reveal our blind spots to engineering and system flaws (From Professor Michael Quinlan)
