Two similar terms with very different meanings. And in terms of safety performance, the gap between these two terms, although they are incorrectly used to speak of hazards in the same context, is light-years apart. A “recognized hazard” is…
In 2001, Dr. Patrick Hudson, Centre for Safety Science – The Netherlands published a paper on safety cultures. His work has stood the test of time, as many authors today still reference his 2001 research paper. In his paper, he explains there are five (5) different types of safety cultures and explains a number of
One of my favorite and newest safety authors is Dr. Clive Lloyd. His new book, Next Generation Safety Leadership: From Compliance to Care Dr. Lloyd explains the progression of safety cultures from Stage 1 – Apathetic through Stage 5 – Integrated and to be frank, it is the best explanation of cultural progression I have
Let’s take a safety quiz. I’ll show you two (2) pictures and you tell me which one shows a risk. Most everyone can recognize the rattlesnake as a risk, as it presents an immediate threat to our safety. How many saw the fire extinguisher, with it last annual inspection in 1965, as
I swear I think these “coaches” were all safety professionals in their previous careers. ? I look back at all the “right words” spoken in meetings, only to be followed up with decisions/choices by managers that conflicted with their words. Most of us call it “walking the talk”; but then that same management group will
Kurt Lewin’s Behavioral Theory from the 1940’s can be summarized as B = f(P, E). This means that Behavior is a function (f) of:1) the person (P) (i.e., their internal traits, history) and2) their environment (E) (i.e., physical, social, and psychological) This means unsafe acts should NOT be blamed solely on the individual; they are
A researcher puts five (5) gorillas in a cage where a cluster of bananas is hanging from a string, with a ladder leading to the bananas. When the first gorilla goes for the bananas, the researcher sprays ALL five (5) gorillas with freezing water for five minutes. Sometime later, when a second gorilla inevitably tries
Exxon Mobil changed their company’s mindset and approach to safety after the Exxon Valdez disaster – Safety is now embedded in their culture and comes first. Results speak for themselves. Their motto is – Nobody gets hurt. They recently won an award from the National Safety Council. This is the CEO’s testimony. I highlighted some
This came from the International Civil Aviation Organization and was modified by yours truly for manufacturing facilities to adopt. It may be the best wording I have seen for what Safety is supposed to be at the C-Suite level within organizations. Safety is… “the state in which the possibility of harm to persons or of
This is a MUST WATCH video and yes it is long, but it is a video every safety professional and even management personnel needs to watch. For those still living in the world of Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and you think that is just fine – WAKE THE HELL UP PEOPLE! As they explain
We cannot eliminate risk. It’s a consequence of the uncertainty in our situations and the world around us. It’s essential to think about how we can mitigate risks in the workplace. Also, consider the tools we can provide to make our colleagues more aware of risk in themselves and others. Risk assessments are a useful
The SHELL Model is a conceptual tool used to analyze the interaction of multiple system components. The SHELL Model contains the following four (4) components: SOFTWARE (S): procedures, training, support, etc. HARDWARE (H): machines and equipment ENVIRONMENT (E): the working environment in which the rest of the L-H-S system must function and LIVEWARE (L): humans
