Navigating Safety in Uncertain Conditions

The paper we use to frame today’s discussion is We Can Stop Work, but Then Nothing Gets Done.

Topics:

• Why do workers not stop when risk is obvious?
• The purpose of focus groups as a data collection method.
• The pitfalls of the focus group method.
• Turning focus groups transcripts into research findings.
• How supervisors can support workers in making good decisions.
• Why it’s hard for workers to turn down unsafe work.+

Quotes:

“You can see the finished product, but you don’t see how the sausage is made.”

“What matters with those immediate supervisors and the co-workers, is not what they say they’ll do, but what they’ll...actually do.”

“You help local management be able to have these conversations with their workforce, so that they can...understand that people have different views of what’s safe and what’s unsafe…”

Resources:

Weber, D. E., MacGregor, S. C., Provan, D. J., & Rae, A. (2018). “We can stop work, but then nothing gets done.” Factors that support and hinder a workforce to discontinue work for safety. Safety science, 108, 149-160.

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