Category Archives: safety

Recent posts on LinkedIn about critical risk management have garnered a lot of interest, which seems to suggest there is a need for some clarity for people. A couple of questions were raised in those discussions about the fundamental nature of critical risk management. Why is it there and where did it come from?  It doesn’tContinue reading “What is critical risk management, anyway?”

I have noticed that, when I look in the mirror, I seem to be far better looking and in better shape if I am not wearing my glasses. There is no adage like ‘the camera adds 10 pounds’ relating to specs, so I can only assume that they are revealing the truth*. It feels niceContinue reading “Seeing Clearly”

Today marks the anniversary of the Pike River mining disaster here in New Zealand. I thought it appropriate to post this introduction from Challenging the Safety Quo. I do believe we’re making progress, but slowly. On 19 November 2010, an explosion ripped through the Pike River Mine in the South Island of New Zealand. AContinue reading “Pike River Anniversary”

Which of the following most accurately reflects your experience of getting leaders out into the field? Yes, (4) does exist. I promise. I’ve seen it with my own eyes and, if you want to see it too, read on! Ok – that’s all a little tongue in cheek, but not too far from the truth.Continue reading “Governance Series – Getting Leaders Out There”

Who doesn’t love an audit? Well, most people, actually. There are plenty of reasons to dislike audits – the biggest one being they are often a bit of a waste of time (see the great work by Ben Hutchinson discussed in this Safety of Work episode). I’m not going to go into that here, norContinue reading “Governance Series – Building Effective Assurance Programmes”

Management guru Peter Drucker once wrote that there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. A good strategy helps define those things that are worth doing, freeing up time and space that otherwise might be taken up with all those useless activities (you know the ones). StrategyContinue reading “Governance Series – Creating an Effective H&S Strategy”

Influence without authority is often one of the key skills sought in job descriptions for health and safety managers. We sit outside the operational management line and so have to provide advice and then work on getting that advice accepted. This seems to be unnecessarily adversarial. It’s setting the scene to say, “They’re not gonnaContinue reading “Governance Series – Influencing Boards and Executives”

Focus on critical risks, you say. That’s all good but what does it mean? And what does it look like from a governance perspective? And why do it at all? The why There are several reasons why this focus matters. Boards get swamped with information and, due to the breadth of issues they are dealingContinue reading “Governance Series – Focusing on Critical Risks”

Ah, monthly health and safety reports. Everybody’s favourite job and everybody’s favourite read. Or not. In one of my workshops, I use a real example (anonymised, obviously) of a dodgy report to get people to diagnose what is wrong with it. Which is easy because there are lots of problems to choose from. The keyContinue reading “Governance Series – Meaningful Reporting”