The Safety of Work

We had trouble finding a suitable paper for this topic. Measuring and studying safety leadership often proves difficult. However, we use the paper Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation Relationship.As an aside, we offer a big “thank you” to those who shared our podcast with others. Our followers and listenership has grown considerably and we greatly appreciate it! Topics:The two ways to improve safety.Why this is a reasonable model for studying the influence of safety.The theory of planned behavior.What you should never claim in your study.The reality of survey research.What mediators are and how they function.Takeaways from the study. Quotes:“They were lamenting in their systematic review that lots of attempts to intervene in behavior change weren’t based on theories.”“So, what they’re really saying is, ‘ok, we know these might be different types of behaviors, but is it sufficient to lump them all together?’ And statistically, yes it is.” “When we say that something ‘mediates’, we’re basically saying it’s like a multiplier in the middle.” Resources:Examining Attitudes, Norms, and Control Toward Safety Behaviors as Mediators in the Leadership-Safety Motivation RelationshipFeedback@safetyofwork.com

We have had a couple of requests for this topic, so even though we couldn’t find a completely suitable paper, we decided to forge ahead anyway. Topics:Explaining Ethnography.Why safety can be politically motivated.Starting your conversations with a personal connection.Why the setting of your conversation matters.How to keep your subjects talking.Setting boundaries.How to react when the interviewee is wrong. Quotes:“...Reflect on all these one-on-one conversations that they had everyday in their workplace and how they could utilize these one-on-one engagements to get better insights and better information that they can use to improve the safety of work in their own organization.”“The second main principle is to get the interviewee talking and to keep them talking.”“I can’t think of another skill that is more useful, Drew, in your role as a safety professional than knowing how to ask good questions.” Resources:Basic Personal Counselling: A Training Manual for CounsellorsQualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current ChallengesFeedback@safetyofwork.com

To frame our conversation, we use one of Drew’s papers to discuss this issue. This paper, Forecasts or Fortune-Telling,was borne out of deep frustration.Tune in to hear our discussion about when or if it is appropriate to listen to experts. Topics:The two questions the paper sought to answer.What we mean by “expertise”.Forecasting.Determining the value of a given expert.Biases in reporting and researching.Super-forecasting.Wisdom of crowds.Better ways to get better answers.Why mathematical models aren’t as helpful as we think.Practical takeaways. Quotes:“Is it best to grab ten oncologists and take the average of their opinions?”“But there is this possibility that there are some people who are better at managing their own cognitive biases than others. And it’s not to do with domain expertise, it’s to do with a particular set of skills that they call ‘super-forecasting’.”“As far as I understand it, most organizations do not use complicated ways of combining expert opinions.” Resources:Forecasts or Fortune-TellingFeedback@safetyofwork.com 

The podcast explores the challenges of determining root causes in accident investigations, emphasizing the social aspect of the process. It discusses the importance of generating hypotheses and avoiding bias, as well as the need to address systemic issues. The limitations of current accident investigations and the flaws in the approach are also examined, proposing a new method focused on actionable recommendations and goal-setting.

We use the paper, Observation and Assessment of Crossing Situations Between Pleasure Craft and a Small Passenger Ferry, in order to frame our discussion. Topics:The small ferry referenced in the paper and the plans to replace it with an automated craft.Why commercial vessels get priority in the water.Incorporating human factors into the study of boats.What you lose by automating this particular ferry.Strategizing the right of way in the water.Interpreting Norwegian navigation rules.Why replacing the captain with an autonomous system could prove disastrous.  Quotes:“So, the rationale for a lot of the waterway rules, is about what different vessels are capable of.”“Even if the automation can solve for the navigation, can it actually solve for the rest of the system properties, as well?”“...When I look at a system like this, that we’ve explained, in a dynamic environment...I’m just not sure if it’s a system that you could automate.” Resources:Observation and Assessment of Crossing Situations Between Pleasure Craft and a Small Passenger FerrySend us your experiences with automation and its unintended consequences to Feedback@safetyofwork.com

To help frame our conversation, we use the paper How Does Audit and Feedback Influence Intentions of Health Professionals to Improve Practice? Topics:Our feelings about audits.Feedback from the audit process.The format of a cluster-randomized trial.Lab vs. field results.How to act on audit results.Analyzing the study’s results.Final takeaways. Quotes:“...The two parts of this study that we’re going to talk about now, are really trying to address that first part of it, which is the information to intention gap…”“In the field, there’s obviously other information, which is going to affect the decision, other than this particular report.”“If there’s no data, professionals really want to see the data, before committing to whether or not they need to improve.” Resources:How Does Audit and Feedback Influence Intentions of Health Professionals to Improve Practice?Feedback@safetyofwork.com

In order to frame our discussion, we use the paper Fads and Fashions in Management Practices.Topics:Recent changes in the spread of ideas.Where new management techniques come from.How innovations get labeled.How messages often get broadcast.Six Sigma training.The acceleration and deceleration of broadcasting.Why general ideas are more diffuse.Be conscious of the differences between academics, promotors, and researchers. Quotes:“Interestingly, when we get into the literature, you may, um, look at those books with a little bit of skepticism, when you see how books on management get published.”“The fads start off with small groups of innovators solving problems within their own companies. But those initial innovations aren’t able to spread by themselves.”“But now that industries...not really having the uptake in behavioral safety practices they were maybe twenty years ago, you don’t see much broadcasting in the market for, you know, behavioral safety practices.” Resources:Piazza, A., & Abrahamson, E. (2020). Fads and Fashions in Management Practices: Taking Stock and Looking Forward. International Journal of Management Reviews.Feedback@safetyofwork.com

The paper we use to frame today’s discussion is Leading or Lagging? Temporal Analysis of Safety Indicators on a Large Infrastructure Construction Project. Topics:Similarities between Economists and safety professionals.Definitions of performance measures.The researchers methods for this study.What the data showed about this particular organization.Errors in human reporting.Practical takeaways from the study. Quotes:“One definition of a performance measure or indicator should be...the metric used to measure the organization’s ability to control the risk of accidents.”“There’s lots of things in nature that aren’t supposed to generate bell curves.”“Safety is performed by humans, who react to the things that they see.” Resources:Lingard, H., Hallowell, M., Salas, R., & Pirzadeh, P. (2017). Leading or lagging? Temporal analysis of safety indicators on a large infrastructure construction project. Safety science, 91, 206-220.Feedback@safetyofwork.com

Tune in to hear our discussion and insights.Topics:Journals and how content gets submitted.Using Google Scholar instead of Google.Search tips.How to request copies of papers.University access to research papers.How to determine what is being measured in a paper.Internal and external validity.The difference between papers and books.Why you shouldn’t pay for papers. Quotes:“The basic rule for what is legal and what is not, is authors own the text until they submit it to a publisher.”“Anyone who’s got even just a student account at a university, shares in the subscription. So if they log in, while they’re on campus, then they have free access to a lot of stuff which is paywalled, when they’re off campus.”“Internal validity is how much within the scope of the paper it has correctly answered the question.” Resources:Feedback@safetyofwork.com

The discussion centers around institutional logics and their impact on safety culture. The hosts critique traditional safety management approaches, emphasizing the need for a contextual understanding. They explore how local rationalities influence decision-making within organizations. The complexities of safety practices in the railway construction industry showcase competing logics of safety and cost. Insights reveal that changing these entrenched logics is challenging, underscoring the importance of understanding them for improved safety outcomes.