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
Tag: leadership
A Systems Thinking Approach to Leading Indicators in the Petrochemical Industry
I’m putting together the next Research Compendium, covering indicator definitions, frameworks and examples. Showing my own bias is a focus on Nancy Leveson’s work. This post has some extracts from her article ‘A Systems Thinking Approach to Leading Indicators in the Petrochemical Industry’. This is based on what Leveson calls “assumption-based indicators”. That is, developing… Continue reading A Systems Thinking Approach to Leading Indicators in the Petrochemical Industry
From individual behaviour to system weaknesses: The re-design of the Just Culture process in an international energy company. A case study
This 2018 paper explored the effects of a re-designed Just Culture (JC) process in an international energy company. It’s a solid read and worth your time – I’ve had to skip heaps. Providing background: · This organisation started using the James Reason JC framework in 201, but collective experience in the organisation “indicated that the… Continue reading From individual behaviour to system weaknesses: The re-design of the Just Culture process in an international energy company. A case study
Interventions and measurements of highly reliable/resilient organization implementations: A literature review
This reviewed literature on High Reliability Organisations (HRO) and similar approaches in Resilience Engineering (RE) from 1981 to 2020 to determine its impact. 34 articles out of 1400 met inclusion. For background: · “There is a class of organizations that can do catastrophic harm to themselves and a larger public” and within this set, there’s… Continue reading Interventions and measurements of highly reliable/resilient organization implementations: A literature review
Management walk-arounds: Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout
This 2011 paper from Andrew Hopkins discusses the function of management walkarounds, and their role in the genesis of major accidents, using the Macondo blowout accident. *** Note: This type of description is replete with counterfactuals and the clarity of hindsight, so keep that in mind. Overall, Hopkins argues that despite the best intentions of… Continue reading Management walk-arounds: Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout
What are we to make of safe behaviour programs?
This 2006 discussion paper from Andrew Hopkins critically discusses some assumptions underlying safe behaviour programs and some of their limitations in the context of complex systems. I can only cover some of the points, so recommend you read the full paper. Note: Trigger warning for those who violently object to ‘unsafe behaviour’. Overall, Hopkins argues:… Continue reading What are we to make of safe behaviour programs?
Seeking a scientific and pragmatic approach to safety culture in the North American construction industry
This study from Sherratt, Szabo and Hallowell unpacked the concept of safety culture, with a focus on US construction. I’ve skipped heaps and can’t do this justice, so check out the full paper. Ultimately, they “argue for the elimination of safety culture from the safety science lexicon”. Background Off the bat they say: “It is… Continue reading Seeking a scientific and pragmatic approach to safety culture in the North American construction industry
SafetyInsights.org 