The Safety of Work

We use the paper, Analysing Human Factors and Non-Technical Skills in Offshore Drilling Operations Using FRAM, in order to frame our discussion of this topic.Please let us know if you have any experience with FRAM or similar models. We’d love to hear your feedback. Topics:Using FRAM.Vulnerable Systems Syndrome.STAMP diagrams.How the researchers collected their data.Functions that are common and functions that are outliers.The benefits of implementing a FRAM model.Conclusions drawn by the research paper. Quotes:“Every function of a system is a hexagon and every vertex of that hexagon stands for a different way that, you know, this function can be connected with the next function.”“The authors say that the interviews had just one question, which was ‘how do you perform your job?”“What I like about the use of a FRAM model would be, I think it will allow organizations to narrow that gap between work as imagined and work as done.” Resources:Analysing Human Factors and Non-Technical Skills in Offshore Drilling Operations Using FRAMFeedback@safetyofwork.com

To frame our discussion, we reference the paper What We Talk About When We Talk About HSE and Culture.Please send us your further questions of safety culture, so we can dig into more specifics in later episodes. Topics:How “safety culture” came about in the 1970’s.What Chernobyl has to do with safety culture.Safety culture vs. safety climate.What the paper studied and what it concluded.The factors that influence the definition of safety culture.Who studies and talks about safety culture the least.Types of studies done on safety culture.Practical takeaways. Quotes:“The argument is, really, that culture only matters, because it influences climate. And climate’s what we measure and what we try to change.”“42% of the papers are by engineering authors. 30% of them are by psychology authors. 14% from the health sciences. 10% from the social sciences. 3% from business. Which I find remarkable, given that organizational culture comes out of social science of organizations.”“...That’s remarkable that 30% of the papers weren’t empirical in any sense. They were just people talking about safety culture as if they knew about it or summarizing other people who had talked about it.” Resources:What We Talk About When We Talk About HSE and CultureFeedback@safetyofwork.com

We reference the paper Six Ways of Understanding Leadership Development in order to frame our study.Tune in to hear our discussion and more about this paper. Topics:Defining leadership development.The idea of taking on the mantle of “leader”.The six different ways of understanding leadership.Developing leaders who further the goals of the organization.Stretching people’s views of leadership.Practical take-aways. Quotes:“...And in some sense, they’re almost like stages that leaders go through in their evolution of thinking about themselves like a leader.”“People didn’t fall in a category. THe researchers were just trying to see how far they could stretch people’s views of what leadership [is] and where they stopped.”“Unless you can have an aligned and good understanding of those things, the researchers suggest...there’s not much point in getting started with leadership development activities.” Resources:Six Ways of Understanding Leadership DevelopmentFeedback@safetyofwork.com

We had trouble finding a suitable paper for this topic. Measuring and studying safety leadership often proves difficult. However, we use the paper Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation Relationship.As an aside, we offer a big “thank you” to those who shared our podcast with others. Our followers and listenership has grown considerably and we greatly appreciate it! Topics:The two ways to improve safety.Why this is a reasonable model for studying the influence of safety.The theory of planned behavior.What you should never claim in your study.The reality of survey research.What mediators are and how they function.Takeaways from the study. Quotes:“They were lamenting in their systematic review that lots of attempts to intervene in behavior change weren’t based on theories.”“So, what they’re really saying is, ‘ok, we know these might be different types of behaviors, but is it sufficient to lump them all together?’ And statistically, yes it is.” “When we say that something ‘mediates’, we’re basically saying it’s like a multiplier in the middle.” Resources:Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation RelationshipFeedback@safetyofwork.com

We have had a couple of requests for this topic, so even though we couldn’t find a completely suitable paper, we decided to forge ahead anyway. Topics:Explaining Ethnography.Why safety can be politically motivated.Starting your conversations with a personal connection.Why the setting of your conversation matters.How to keep your subjects talking.Setting boundaries.How to react when the interviewee is wrong. Quotes:“...Reflect on all these one-on-one conversations that they had everyday in their workplace and how they could utilize these one-on-one engagements to get better insights and better information that they can use to improve the safety of work in their own organization.”“The second main principle is to get the interviewee talking and to keep them talking.”“I can’t think of another skill that is more useful, Drew, in your role as a safety professional than knowing how to ask good questions.” Resources:Basic Personal Counselling: A Training Manual for CounsellorsQualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current ChallengesFeedback@safetyofwork.com

To frame our conversation, we use one of Drew’s papers to discuss this issue. This paper, Forecasts or Fortune-Telling,was borne out of deep frustration.Tune in to hear our discussion about when or if it is appropriate to listen to experts. Topics:The two questions the paper sought to answer.What we mean by “expertise”.Forecasting.Determining the value of a given expert.Biases in reporting and researching.Super-forecasting.Wisdom of crowds.Better ways to get better answers.Why mathematical models aren’t as helpful as we think.Practical takeaways. Quotes:“Is it best to grab ten oncologists and take the average of their opinions?”“But there is this possibility that there are some people who are better at managing their own cognitive biases than others. And it’s not to do with domain expertise, it’s to do with a particular set of skills that they call ‘super-forecasting’.”“As far as I understand it, most organizations do not use complicated ways of combining expert opinions.” Resources:Forecasts or Fortune-TellingFeedback@safetyofwork.com 

The podcast explores the challenges of determining root causes in accident investigations, emphasizing the social aspect of the process. It discusses the importance of generating hypotheses and avoiding bias, as well as the need to address systemic issues. The limitations of current accident investigations and the flaws in the approach are also examined, proposing a new method focused on actionable recommendations and goal-setting.

We use the paper, Observation and Assessment of Crossing Situations Between Pleasure Craft and a Small Passenger Ferry, in order to frame our discussion. Topics:The small ferry referenced in the paper and the plans to replace it with an automated craft.Why commercial vessels get priority in the water.Incorporating human factors into the study of boats.What you lose by automating this particular ferry.Strategizing the right of way in the water.Interpreting Norwegian navigation rules.Why replacing the captain with an autonomous system could prove disastrous.  Quotes:“So, the rationale for a lot of the waterway rules, is about what different vessels are capable of.”“Even if the automation can solve for the navigation, can it actually solve for the rest of the system properties, as well?”“...When I look at a system like this, that we’ve explained, in a dynamic environment...I’m just not sure if it’s a system that you could automate.” Resources:Observation and Assessment of Crossing Situations Between Pleasure Craft and a Small Passenger FerrySend us your experiences with automation and its unintended consequences to Feedback@safetyofwork.com

To help frame our conversation, we use the paper How Does Audit and Feedback Influence Intentions of Health Professionals to Improve Practice? Topics:Our feelings about audits.Feedback from the audit process.The format of a cluster-randomized trial.Lab vs. field results.How to act on audit results.Analyzing the study’s results.Final takeaways. Quotes:“...The two parts of this study that we’re going to talk about now, are really trying to address that first part of it, which is the information to intention gap…”“In the field, there’s obviously other information, which is going to affect the decision, other than this particular report.”“If there’s no data, professionals really want to see the data, before committing to whether or not they need to improve.” Resources:How Does Audit and Feedback Influence Intentions of Health Professionals to Improve Practice?Feedback@safetyofwork.com

In order to frame our discussion, we use the paper Fads and Fashions in Management Practices.Topics:Recent changes in the spread of ideas.Where new management techniques come from.How innovations get labeled.How messages often get broadcast.Six Sigma training.The acceleration and deceleration of broadcasting.Why general ideas are more diffuse.Be conscious of the differences between academics, promotors, and researchers. Quotes:“Interestingly, when we get into the literature, you may, um, look at those books with a little bit of skepticism, when you see how books on management get published.”“The fads start off with small groups of innovators solving problems within their own companies. But those initial innovations aren’t able to spread by themselves.”“But now that industries...not really having the uptake in behavioral safety practices they were maybe twenty years ago, you don’t see much broadcasting in the market for, you know, behavioral safety practices.” Resources:Piazza, A., & Abrahamson, E. (2020). Fads and Fashions in Management Practices: Taking Stock and Looking Forward. International Journal of Management Reviews.Feedback@safetyofwork.com