Safe As Podcast

What do we mean when we say 'human error'? Do you mean as a cause, event, or harm? And does error language more broadly mask more underpinning human variability, and increase the risk of blame? Sources: 1. Hollnagel, E. (2007). Human error: Trick or treat.  Handbook of applied cognition , 219-238. 2. Read, G. J., Shorrock, S., Walker, G. H., & Salmon, P. M. (2021). State of science: ev...

How should we plan, design and integrate human performance into our risk control and barrier systems? This episode draws on four sources: Mantom, M., Johnson, M., Pitblado, R., Cowley, C., & Krishna, K. (2017). Standardisation of Bow Tie Methodology and Terminology via a CCPS/EI Book. In  Chem. E., SYMPOSIUM SERIES  (No. 162). Human Factors in Barrier Management: white paper (2016). Chartered...

How can we motivate--or even design for--more desirable, safer decisions on health, safety and life, and disincentivise riskier decisions? This episodes explores Gerald Wilde's four tactics of motivating safer behaviour, from his book 'Target Risk 3'. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to S...

What factors predict the use of higher-order risk controls? This study unpacks the predictors via use of HECA (High-Energy Control Assessment). Source: Oguz Erkal, E. D., Hallowell, M. R., Ghriss, A., & Bhandari, S. (2024). Predicting serious injury and fatality exposure using machine learning in construction projects.  Journal of construction engineering and management ,  150 (3), 04023169. M...

Today we're diving into the CSRA's Safety Clutter Classification model and process of decluttering. Source is: Decluttering Safety report, from the Construction Safety Research Alliance, 2025. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please...

How does safety clutter--the accumulation of safety artefacts that don't contribute to operational safety--distract attention and resources from more pressing matters? Can clutter, with best intentions, even contribute to elevated risk? Today's paper is: Rae, A. J., Provan, D. J., Weber, D. E., & Dekker, S. W. (2018). Safety clutter: the accumulation and persistence of ‘safety’ work th...

This quickisode jumps into the Walk-Through Talk-Through technique, used to collaborate with workers and learn about the challenges and error traps with tasks, and how to improve. Source: Human Performance Oil & Gas. HPOG.org More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if yo...

What if the paperwork that management come to rely on, rather than providing assurance of safe work methods, is more a ritual, disconnected from real work, or how people create safety in the field? What if, in some cases, this paperwork creates a false sense of safety and indeed, masquerades as a false butt covering exercise? Today's source is: Borys, D. (2009). Exploring risk-awareness as a c...

How do the models of how we think about work reveal and conceal features of the work? Today we explore varieties of human work: work-as-imagined, work-as-prescribed, work-as-disclosed, and work-as-done. Source: Shorrock, S. (2016, December 5). The varieties of human work. Humanistic Systems.  https://humanisticsystems.com/2016/12/05/the-varieties-of-human-work/ More research at SafetyInsights. Org...

Imagine following a workplace fatality, that the weakest types of controls are implemented - administrative. This episode unpacks some findings from the Brady review of Qld mining fatalities and what lessons we can apply from weak controls and repeat deaths. Source: Brady, S. (2019). Review of all fatal accidents in Queensland mines and quarries from 2000 to 2019.  Department of Natural Resources,...

How can we move beyond simple workplace hazards towards tackling risk from psychological and cultural cues in the workplace? Today we unpack Rob Long's Workspace / Headspace / Groupspace risk semiotic to help mature our thinking. Sources: 1. Safety Engagement with Workspace, Headspace and Groupspace. Rob Long, 2021, SafetyRisk . net 2. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK TOOLS (2015). Human Dymensions 3...

What are the links between the magnitude of the energy within hazard exposures on subsequent injury severity and death? Does more energy = higher chance of SIFs? Source: Hallowell, M. R., Alexander, D., & Gambatese, J. A. (2017). Energy-based safety risk assessment: Does magnitude and intensity of energy predict injury severity?.  Construction management and economics ,  35 (1-2), 64-77. More...

This quickisode unpacks Ed Schein's concept of Humble Inquiry - said to be the "gentle art of asking instead of telling". Source: Schein, E. H. (2013).  Humble inquiry: The gentle art of asking instead of telling . Berrett-Koehler Publishers. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As...

What does the leadership language used by CEOs tell us about the priority and beliefs around safety and risk? This episode unpacks a study exploring the BP CEO's speeches prior to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Source: Amernic, J., & Craig, R. (2017). CEO speeches and safety culture: British Petroleum before the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  Critical perspectives on accounting ,  47 , 6...

Does blame really solve nothing...or does it have some redeeming features? Source: van Mourik, O., Grohnert, T., & Gold, A. (2023). Mitigating work conditions that can inhibit learning from errors: Benefits of error management climate perceptions.  Frontiers in Psychology ,  14 , 1033470. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.co...

This quickisode explores how resilience engineering - particularly enhancing resilient skills - can improve procedures. Source: Saurin, T. A., Wachs, P., & Costella, M. F. (2015). Exploring synergies between the design of procedures and the development of resilience skills. In  Proceedings of the 6th Resilience Engineering Symposium . More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dar...

How do Critical Control programs succeed or fault and trip? And are CC observations calibrated to the actual things that kill or permanently injure people? This episode unpacks creative sentencing reports. Article: Lefsrud, L. M., Sattari, F., Gellatly, I. R., Wasel, C., Charuvil Elizabeth, R. M., Abdolmaleki, A., ... & O’Neill, T. (2025). Final Report for Creative Sentence: Building Resilienc...

This episode unpacks findings from the recent Maritime NZ / Port of Auckland case, where a CEO was charged under due diligence offences. It offers an enlightening perspective on work-as-done, night shift work, critical controls and more. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, a...

This quickisode dives into some key human-centred design terms from the GOAT, Don Norman. The source is: Norman, D. (2013). The design of everyday things. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please help share the news, and leave a rating and re...

Few would disagree that blame negatively impacts learning. However, can efforts to promote 'no blame' approaches also carry their own negative and unintended impacts on learning and improvement? Today's article is: Sherratt, F., Thallapureddy, S., Bhandari, S., Hansen, H., Harch, D., & Hallowell, M. R. (2023). The unintended consequences of no blame ideology for incident investigat...

Are our incident reporting systems providing accurate reflections of incidents and severity, or blinkered, highly selective views disconnected from actual injury severities? Today's article: Geddert, K., Dekker, S., & Rae, A. (2021). How does selective reporting distort understanding of workplace injuries?.  Safety ,  7 (3), 58. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark...

How can we apply the dark arts of Human Factors to write better procedures? Let's find out. Today's source is: HPOG (2021). Best Practice in Procedure Formatting. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please help share the news, and leave...

What are the types and mechanisms of investigator bias, and what are some proposed debiasing methods and improvements? Today's article: MacLean, C. L. (2022). Cognitive bias in workplace investigation: Problems, perspectives and proposed solutions.  Applied Ergonomics ,  105 , 103860. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) M...

Investigations are reputed to be 'fact finding' exercises: objective searches for facts and truth. How what role does investigator bias play in constructing the incident findings? Today's article is: MacLean, C. L., & Dror, I. E. (2023). Measuring base-rate bias error in workplace safety investigators.  Journal of safety research ,  84 , 108-116. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Outp...

This quickisode unpacks the 4D method for learning: Dumb, Dangerous, Different, Difficult. The source is Sutton et al. 2023. 4Ds for HOP and Learning Teams: A practical how-to guide to facilitate learning from everyday work, critical and dynamic risks with the 4Ds. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to Safe As o...