This podcast explores different safety theories and frameworks such as Safety Differently, New View Safety, Human and Organizational Performance (HOP), Critical Risk Management, High-Reliability Organization (HRO) framework, and Behavior-Based Safety. Various guests provide insights and opinions on these approaches, highlighting key principles and debates surrounding them. The podcast emphasizes the need for an open mind, discusses changes in safety industry attitudes, and promotes continuous learning and adaptation in the field.
Safety professionals are shifting towards a more collaborative and systems-oriented approach to safety, emphasizing engagement, continuous learning, and accountability.
Safety professionals are embracing a more human-centered approach, valuing the expertise and input of workers to create a culture of collaboration and empowerment.
Critical risk management focuses on identifying high-risk hazards, prioritizing controls, and cultivating resilience to respond effectively to incidents and mitigate risks.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Safety Approaches
Safety professionals are exploring various safety theories, frameworks, and ideas to implement the best solutions for their organizations. These approaches include safety one, safety two, safety differently, new view, and human and organizational performance. While there are differences and debates among these approaches, they all emphasize the need for a more collaborative and systems-oriented approach to safety. The traditional command and control model of safety is being challenged, with a focus on engaging workers, valuing their expertise, and shifting the role of safety professionals from enforcers to partners in problem-solving. The goal is to create a safe and resilient organizational culture that prioritizes continuous learning, accountability, and the preoccupation with failure. An effective safety program does not solely rely on one theory, but incorporates elements from multiple approaches to achieve the best outcomes for worker safety.
The Value of Soft Skills in Safety Leadership
Safety professionals now recognize the importance of soft skills, such as empathy, influence, trust, and rapport, in addition to technical skills and regulations. Rather than solely focusing on compliance and enforcement, safety professionals are embracing a more human-centered approach, considering the worker as a source of solutions and valuable knowledge. This shift in mindset moves away from a parent-child dynamic towards collaboration and engagement. By cultivating strong relationships and effective communication with workers, safety leaders can create a culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute to safety initiatives.
Critical Risk Management and Resilience
One approach gaining traction is critical risk management, which focuses on identifying the hazards that pose the highest risk to workers and prioritizing controls to prevent harm in high-risk scenarios. Instead of aiming for zero incidents, this approach assumes that incidents will happen and emphasizes resilience, the ability to respond effectively when failures occur. By adopting a proactive rather than reactive mindset, organizations can ensure that workers are equipped with the necessary resources, training, and support to mitigate risks and recover quickly from incidents. Embracing resilience engineering principles also involves recognizing the complexity of work systems and the need for ongoing learning and improvement.
Human and Organizational Performance (HOP)
HOP is another approach gaining attention in the safety field. It recognizes that human error is inevitable and focuses on understanding the behaviors, decision-making processes, and organizational factors that influence workers' performance and safety outcomes. Instead of blaming individuals for errors or accidents, HOP emphasizes the importance of learning from failures and improving system design to reduce the likelihood of errors. It encourages a non-punitive culture that encourages reporting and sharing insights to enhance organizational learning and resilience. HOP also emphasizes the need for effective communication and collaboration among all levels of an organization to ensure a holistic understanding of risks and continuous improvement.
Balancing Traditional Safety Practices with New Approaches
While there is ongoing debate and evolution in safety practices, it is important to acknowledge the value of both traditional and new approaches. Rather than dismissing one in favor of the other, professionals should strive to find a balance that takes into account the specific needs and context of their organizations. This means recognizing the strengths of traditional safety practices such as thorough risk assessment and control measures, while also incorporating elements from newer approaches that emphasize collaboration, worker engagement, resilience, and continuous learning. By combining the best elements of multiple approaches, safety professionals can cultivate a comprehensive safety program that effectively protects workers and creates a culture of continuous improvement.
In this episode, we’re conducting a thorough investigation of the different theories and frameworks Safety professionals can adopt to keep their co-workers safe.
There’s been a palpable shift in attitudes towards workplace safety over recent years, with multiple more-human-centred approaches emerging. But their key differences and relative effectiveness often polarize the safety profession.
We’ve compiled a collection of clips from 16 of our previous guests to help define the the different approaches, including:
Safety Differently
New View Safety
Human and Organizational Performance (HOP)
Critical Risk Management
High-Reliability Organization (HRO) framework
Behavior-Based Safety
And also bring some clarity to the ongoing debate about which philosophy is best.