Empathy for the Devil
The other night I attended a meeting of safety practitioners. This is your typical monthly meeting that local chapters of safety societies have – where we get together to network, eat typically...
View ArticleZero vision and the Western salvation narrative
Some, or even many, have started to question the zero accident vision and the safety commitment practices it produces. Our knowledge of what a zero vision is, where it comes from and how it might or...
View ArticleThe lost science of risk and safety
I embarked on my career in Health, Safety and Environment 30 years ago when it was just safety, no environment. It was a back water of the Human Resources Department tucked in behind Medical Services....
View ArticleThe found art of safety
There is a growing movement in safety. It is one that recognises that we need to approach safety differently if we are to make advances as a profession. It is therefore inevitable that the discussion...
View ArticleLife, liberty, and the pursuit of the right to speak up
Six months before the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated over Florida in 1986, engineer Roger Boisjoly wrote a portentous memo. In it, he warned that if the weather was too cold, O-rings in the...
View ArticleWhat are you reading for?
The comedian Bill Hicks died just over 20 years ago. He was not ‘just a comedian’. He was a social critic and stand-up philosopher. There were few others like him at the time, and few others have come...
View ArticleSafety Third? – New Video from Mike Rowe
We posted a new video for your viewing pleasure (in addition to the other great videos that are already there that you should check out). This video, from Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame, shows a number...
View ArticleThe safety-fication of everything
Some time ago, I noticed the safety-fication of everything. I noticed that otherwise fairly ordinary words have been co-opted to give a specific safety meaning. Once I noticed this, I couldn’t stop...
View ArticleThinking differently about safety investigations
Systems exist and function within diverse societal environments reflecting numerous societal constructs that have evolved over time in all societies. Societal constructs about justice, personal rights,...
View ArticlePlaying It Too Safe: Safety at the Expense of Operational Flexibility?
I recently listened to one of Drew Rae’s DisasterCast Episodes on Interlocks. During this outstanding Podcast he described how interlocks can be used as a safety mechanism to prevent certain accidents....
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