Embracing Differences

Welcome to another episode of Embracing Differences with me Nippin Anand where I am joined by the world-leading safety scientist, Professor Andrew Hopkins, who takes the bull by the horns and helps us understand why we should be spending more time and effort to understand the structure of an organisation, in an intelligent but very accessible manner.

This week I bring you a special podcast with Todd Conklin where I talk about why we decided to move from a reporting culture towards designing a safe space for co-workers to have conversations.

Greg Smith, an internationally renowned lawyer and expert in operational safety, dives deep into the issues surrounding safety management in this engaging talk. He highlights the pitfalls of excessive bureaucracy, illustrating how it can create complacency and disconnect from purpose. Greg critiques the gap between documented safety procedures and real-world practices, emphasizing the need for meaningful compliance over mere paperwork. Their discussion also unveils the 'safety paradox,' revealing how a focus on compliance often undermines true safety outcomes, stressing the urgent need for reform in safety protocols.

Professor Lee Clarke, an expert in disaster management at Rutgers University, shares insights on why organizations fail. He challenges traditional views on efficiency and profitability, emphasizing that failure often stems from a disconnection between structure and social expectations. Using historical maritime disasters as cautionary tales, he highlights the importance of safety protocols and adaptive capacity. Clarke also discusses the complexities of decision-making, the need for transparency, and fostering humility and equity in organizational culture.

Robert Smith, a renowned technologist and author of "Rage Inside The Machine," dives into the biases inherent in artificial intelligence. He discusses how deterministic tech can perpetuate historical prejudices and stresses the need for human oversight in AI applications. The conversation touches on the delicate balance between algorithmic reliance and human judgment, citing real-life examples. Smith advocates for fostering creativity through diverse perspectives, challenging traditional views on diversity, and emphasizes the importance of adaptive regulations for genuine innovation.

In this podcast, Steven Shorrock shares his views about safety reporting systems. Reflecting on his experiences and research, Steve provides some practical insights for understanding and improving our existing approach to safety reporting.

In recent years, near miss reporting has become a crucial topic for discussion amongst safety professionals. While some think near miss reporting is no longer serving its intended purpose, others still find it as a useful tool for measuring and improving safety. In this episode, Carsten Busch shares his perspective about near misses both as a tool and an approach for improving safety. The discussion is based on Carsten’s forthcoming book titled “Preventing Industrial Accidents: Reappraising H. W. Heinrich – More than Triangles and Dominoes.”

Welcome to our very first episode! In this podcast, Oessur will demystify the concept of near miss reporting system both as a construct but also as a tool for organizational learning as it is used across safety-critical industries. Listen to this podcast for some food for thought.