There has been much talk about capacity in safety over the last couple of years – even using it to define what safety is, such as ‘the capacity to deliver successful work under varying conditions’ or ‘the capacity to fail safely.’ I prefer the former to the latter. We can build capacity into our workContinue reading “What is Capacity, Anyway?”
Author Archives: craigmarriott
Stop making people hate their jobs
I found the above picture on-line a few years ago (*see below for attribution). I like it because it takes the Daniel Pink autonomy, mastery, purpose recipe for motivation a bit further and puts a really stark emphasis on the outcome of whether those motivating factors are present or not. There is little that makesContinue reading “Stop making people hate their jobs”
Pruning your safety system
This was a LinkedIn article from a little while ago I’m just pulling into the blog. Commenting on a recent LinkedIn post, I used pruning as a metaphor for reduction of unnecessary documentation and procedures. You cut back to remove the deadwood and encourage new growth to give an overall better crop. You may haveContinue reading “Pruning your safety system”
Will AI take your safety job? Probably, unless . . .
I get exceptionally frustrated by safety policy documents. They always seem to be an exercise in stating the obvious. A list of things we’ll do for safety (or won’t do), but often without any real reasoning as to why the company chose those particular items. Or things that are so bland, they’re worthless – “we’llContinue reading “Will AI take your safety job? Probably, unless . . .”
Dodgy risk assessments
Why do so many safety people not understand risk matrices? I know they’re a very blunt tool and many people would rather not use them at all, but you would at least think we would understand the basics. So many businesses have their own matrix, but who designs it? Who decides what boxes are whichContinue reading “Dodgy risk assessments”
Addicted to Statistics
So, you’ve decided to remove accident rates from your H&S reporting. Great idea – especially the mess that is lost time injury rates (see here). On making the proposal, you’re immediately met with the question, “So what will we replace them with?” For some reason your preferred answer, “Nothing, they’re just not adding any valueContinue reading “Addicted to Statistics”
A note about dates on posts
All the posts before this one were transferred from my old website, hence they all look more recent than they are. Please bear this in mind as you read them, because a few of them are specific to the time they were written.
Safety Wars
The US election is currently stumbling towards some sort of eventual conclusion with accusations flying around based far more on existing, entrenched positions than on any set of rational observations and facts. If this sounds familiar to safety people, it may be because the whole world seems to be moving in that direction, or itContinue reading “Safety Wars”
Schrodinger’s Safety
There has been criticism recently of the decision made by emergency services in response to the tragic eruption on Whakaari/White Island in New Zealand. Some local pilots returned to the island to attempt rescue, while emergency services didn’t because of the risk involved. While the local pilots showed undoubted bravery, was the criticism of emergencyContinue reading “Schrodinger’s Safety”
From onions to explosions – the context of risk
It’s been an interesting week Down Under. A brief glance at the news would lead you to the idea that going underground into an unstable, potentially explosive environment is safe, but eating a sausage and onions in the wrong order is dangerous. Make sense? No? Didn’t think so. The first part of this puzzle startedContinue reading “From onions to explosions – the context of risk”