Top 10 Things to Impact Safety
Thanks to the great Dr. Long from Human Dymensions for his in depth works on Safety and culture. I I really respect his approach and thought provoking methods for improving OUR comprehension of the dynamics of safety. This is one of his fine articles:
Top 10 Simple Things You Can Do To Dramatically Improve Safety (you will probably not find many of these in text books or regulations)
STOP TALKING ABOUT SAFETY – focus on RISK
PUT ASIDE YOUR CHECKLISTS AND MATRICES and think! Focus on people rather than objects (hazards)
Consider all of the possible by-products of what you are doing and what you are about to do – learn about RISK HOMEOSTASIS
Stop telling! – practice THE ART OF HUMBLE INQUIRY and have RISKY CONVERSATIONS
Do a gap analysis between how safety is imagined and how it is actually done – DUE DILIGENCE
Never use safety as a weapon, a threat, a PUNISHMENT or an excuse
Be pre-occupied with failure and constantly ENTERTAIN DOUBT
Be a SAFETY LEADER not a Safety Manager or a SAFETY CRUSADER
Stop trying to measure safety – its impossible and it DOES THINGS TO PEOPLE. see also: We can Value Safety but Safety is not a Value
Never speak of ZERO HARM or ZERO RISK – ask: “How can we do the best we can”
Learn about SEMIOTICS and the power of signs and symbols and language and what they really do to people
Never write lists of the top 10 things you can do to improve safety – it isn’t that simple – SAFETY IS A WICKED PROBLEM
