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
Tag: safety
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
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
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
Compendium: Blame, Just Culture & language
Here’s another compendium of articles exploring blame and language in the construction of post-hoc causality explanations, or how blame effects learning and investigations. The other part covers some articles around Just Culture and restorative culture. Note: I’ve mostly focused on articles that I’ve either already summarised or that I could find a full text link… Continue reading Compendium: Blame, Just Culture & language
Boards of directors’ influences on occupational health and safety: a scoping review of evidence and best practices
This literature review evaluated the impact of boards of directors on workplace safety. 49 studies met inclusion. Way too much to cover. Background: · “There is a growing understanding that operative leadership, from line managers to senior management, plays an important role in occupational health and safety” · Leadership “do not act in a vacuum”… Continue reading Boards of directors’ influences on occupational health and safety: a scoping review of evidence and best practices
The Impact of Physical Hazards on Workers’ Job Satisfaction in the Construction Industry: A Case Study of Korea
This explored the effects of physical hazard exposures on worker job satisfaction. Survey from >2k Korean construction workers. Background: · “physical hazards such as noise, vibration, and exposure to hazardous substances also contribute to job stress” and behavioural changes · “Continuous exposure to such risks can result in cumulative mental and physical strain, increasing job-related stress, and… Continue reading The Impact of Physical Hazards on Workers’ Job Satisfaction in the Construction Industry: A Case Study of Korea
Safety is simple…apparently: two visual representations of the same incident
Safety is simple, bruz … (apparently) (Both examples show the same event, but each uses a different lens. Images are slides taken from one of my presentations to highlight how investigations can be as much ‘constructions’, as searches for ‘objective’ facts, entirely separate to the perceiver or who gets to draw the line in the… Continue reading Safety is simple…apparently: two visual representations of the same incident
Safety culture and power dynamics in organizations
Not much to say here. This article briefly touched upon the interactions of power dynamics and safety culture. Some really cool stuff has been written about power in safety (check out my site). This only really briefly touches on a few points: · Starting with safety culture (SC), they say it has “even been abandoned by… Continue reading Safety culture and power dynamics in organizations
Does probability exist?
Really cool article talking about probability – does it exist? Is it an objective property of the world, or a subjective and constructed phenomenon? And more. Thanks to Ben Cattaneo for putting this on my radar. Can’t do this justice and I’ve skipped HEAPS, so check out the full paper. Thanks to **** for highlighting… Continue reading Does probability exist?
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