Safe As Podcast

Psychological safety has reached almost Deity levels. Every third business, HR or tech article and its dog seems to mention Psychological Safety. But what does evidence underpins the construct? As we'll find, even by 2017, quite a lot. Today's article is Frazier, M. L., Fainshmidt, S., Klinger, R. L., Pezeshkan, A., & Vracheva, V. (2017). Psychological safety: A meta‐analytic review and extens...

How do audits fail to avert major disasters? What do investigations after a major accident say about the performance, or failures, of audits? Today's article is Hutchinson, B., Dekker, S., & Rae, A. (2024). How audits fail according to accident investigations: A counterfactual logic analysis.  Process Safety Progress ,  43 (3), 441-454. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark S...

Some task steps are so important, that marshal or exchange so much energy, that they must go right first time, every time. These are called Critical Steps. Let's explore critical steps and risk important decisions. Today's source is: Muschara, T., Farris, R., & Marinus, J. (2021).  Critical steps: managing what must go right in high-risk operations . CRC Press. More research at SafetyI...

How reliable are the critical controls within construction? Which critical controls fail, and how? Today's article is Selleck, R., Hassall, M., & Cattani, M. (2022). Determining the reliability of critical controls in construction projects.  Safety ,  8 (3), 64. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscri...

Large Language Models, like ChatGPT, have amazing capabilities. But are their responses, aiming to be convincing human text, more indicative of BS? That is, responses that are indifferent to the truth? If they are, what are the practical implications? Today's paper is: Hicks, M. T., Humphries, J., & Slater, J. (2024). ChatGPT is bullshit.  Ethics and Information Technology ,  26 (2), 1-10....

This episode discusses Dawson & McCulloch's structured defences in depth approach to navigate occupational fatigue at different levels. Today's paper: Dawson, D., & McCulloch, K. (2005). Managing fatigue: it's about sleep.  Sleep medicine reviews ,  9 (5), 365-380. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subscribe to S...

Do individual level mental health interventions, like personal resilience training, yoga, fruit bowls and training actually improve measures of mental health? Today's paper is: Fleming, W. J. (2024). Employee well‐being outcomes from individual‐level mental health interventions: Cross‐sectional evidence from the United Kingdom.  Industrial Relations Journal ,  55 (2), 162-182.More research at...

Do you see procedures as concrete actions that specify the one correct way of working, or more as resources to shape work and sensitise people to risk? Let's unpack the model 1 / model 2 perspective of rules and see which resonates best with workers. Today's paper is Hendricks, J. W., & Peres, S. C. (2021). Beyond human error: An empirical study of the safety Model 1 and Model 2 approaches for...

This quickisode jumps into Sidney Dekker's restorative just culture checklist - available on SafetyDifferently. Com 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 review on your podcast app. I also have a Safe As L...

Does the language we use in investigations shape allocations of blame? Quite possibly. Today's study is from Vesel, C. (2020). Agentive language in accident investigation: Why language matters in learning from events.  ACS Chemical Health & Safety ,  27 (1), 34-39. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com) Make sure to subs...

Drink driving is a well-known risk, but how dangerous is fatigue impairment in comparison? What happens when mental performance is compared between fatigue (via sleep loss) and alcohol impairment, and where/when do they intercept in impairing performance? Today's study is Maruff, P., Falleti, M. G., Collie, A., Darby, D., & McStephen, M. (2005). Fatigue‐related impairment in the speed, accurac...

Check out the Construction Safety Research Alliance's concept of AC/DC (alternative controls and direct controls). Let me know if it has helped you to target more effective, higher-order controls for addressing high-energy hazards. 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 i...

Are your safety procedures effective aids to help navigate safe and reliable work? Do you know? And, do your workers use and value those procedures? Today we're uncovering the painful realisation of how a compliance culture can erode trust, disengage workers and leave you dangerously exposed when things go wrong. Today's study is Peres, S. C., Smith, A., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Worker-centere...

We've all been told about the power of positive leadership, servant leadership etc. But what if much of what we believe about these styles is more of an illusion. Today, we're diving into research that suggests the evidence for positive leadership styles might be more steeped in how leaders are judged, not just what they do, leading to a re-evaluation of how we understand leadership effectiveness....

Want to add a garnish of Safety-II inspired thinking into debriefs? Check out this 4 min quickisode. Today's article is: Bentley, S. K., McNamara, S., Meguerdichian, M., Walker, K., Patterson, M., & Bajaj, K. (2021). Debrief it all: a tool for inclusion of Safety-II.  Advances in Simulation ,  6 (1), 9. More research at SafetyInsights. Org Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by Elepha...

What if many of the ideas we cling to about leaders, are more zombie ideas - outdated concepts that refuse to die? What if some of these ideas are holding back progress in moving forward with more calibrated and effective principles of leadership? Today's study is: Haslam, S. A., Alvesson, M., & Reicher, S. D. (2024). Zombie leadership: Dead ideas that still walk among us.  The Leadership...

This special quickisode unpacks Haddon's 10 energy countermeasures. This approach provides an alternative or compliment to the hierarchy of control, and focuses directly on eliminating, minimising or marshalling the exchange of hazardous energy. No specific reference - except for William Haddon Jn's legendary work. Check out his 10 countermeasures: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1067540/...

We chase certifications, implement systems, but what impact are we really having on operational performance? Is achieving certification, like ISO 18001 or 45001, really about improving the governance, assurance, or performance of systems, or is it more about window dressing and legitimacy, being seen to be doing the right thing? Today's pod covers: Dyreborg, J., Thorsen, S. V., Madsen, C. U.,...

We often put leadership on a pedestal - the silver bullet for all organisational ills. But what does the evidence suggest? What influence does various aspects of leadership have on various organisational safety measures? This episode explores the research behind leadership, before we move into a couple of more critical leadership studies in future eps. Today's pod covers: Lyubykh, Z., Turner,...

Risk in safety is often framed in matrices as likelihood x consequences. It holds an allure of (semi)objectivity - the numbers are the numbers. But what is the role of emotion and feelings within our risk judgements? Today's article argues that what we 'feel' about risk precedes and influences what we 'think' about risk. This pod's article is: Slovic, P., Finucane, M. L., P...

Why did they do that, what an idiot! What if our inability to understand the apparent stupidity of an action, after the fact, is more an issue with us, than with the decisions or actions of the person you're judging? What are better ways--specific tools--to unpack the critical decisions and actions, and make sense of the local rationality of people caught within these situations? Today's pod unpac...

Do construction investigations take broader systems perspectives of accident causation, or stuck in the mud focused on local factors, people and behaviour? Further, do investigations help organisations navigate complex, often entangled sociotechnical matters, or hinder progress in safety capacities? Today’s paper is from Woolley, M. J., Goode, N., Read, G. J., & Salmon, P. M. (2019). Have we r...

Many organisations rely on their root cause analyses (RCA) to help learn about incidents, and, ideally, prevent incident reoccurrences. So the logic goes. But does the published evidence support RCA approaches as effective means for preventing incident reoccurrences? Today's paper is Martin-Delgado, J., Martínez-García, A., Aranaz, J. M., Valencia-Martín, J. L., & Mira, J. J. (2020). How m...

We've all heard about or been part of them - leader walkarounds. Are walkarounds backed by solid evidence - do they build break down silos, enhance trust, and foster psychological safety, or more symbolic peacocking activities to be *seen* to care, rather than *actually* caring? Today's article is Foster, M., & Mazur, L. (2023). Impact of leadership walkarounds on operational, cultural...

Conventional wisdom suggests investigating and circulating knowledge of near misses. These 'free lessons', so it goes, are supposed to help us learn without the need for injury or damage. But can near misses also lead to a desensitisation of risk over time, focusing on the achieved success, rather than the near loss? Today's paper is from Dillon, R. L., & Tinsley, C. H. (2016). Nea...