Embracing Differences

With Alison Taylor In this podcast, I explore the emerging relationship between ethics and compliance in an interview with Alison Taylor, the Executive Director at Ethical Systems at New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business. Alison argues that an increased demand for transparency by the consumers and society, the rise of social media, stakeholders’ perceptions and expectations, and the need to maintain a ‘good’ public image means that sustainable businesses will be required to take an ethical approach to governance and compliance.

With Professor Suzette Woodward Many of us are still unsure about pushing the boundaries of innovation and our own belief about safety. Will any of the changes we make as a result of applying human factors in our work practices really benefit our workers and improve our performance? How would our bosses react, what if something goes wrong, how would the regulators view our initiatives. Suzette Woodward is a paediatric intensive care nurse who for the last two decades has specialised in patient safety.  In this podcast, she talks about her life in safety and her motivations. She raises the importance of rethinking the way we do safety and applying the latest concepts of safety-II, psychological safety and a just culture in healthcare.

In this podcast episode, human factors expert and a vivid learner Suzanne Jackson, sets us on a path to learn more about organizational and human factors. Suzanne’s own journey began back in 2010 when she noticed people who had poorly designed workstations but did not want intervention and vice versa. This is a story of her personal education and experiences where she draws from a variety of disciplines including behavioural sciences, psychology, anthropology, qualitative research, political sciences and philosophy. This podcast should interest anyone who is willing to push the boundaries of their worldview and assumptions about what it means to be a safety professional.

With Simon Cassin. The business world and in particular the health and safety industry are perfect examples of ‘Plato’s, cave allegory’ in action. We think we can see things as they really are, but in truth much of what we believe is simply a shadow of reality. In this podcast, Simon argues that without opening our minds to the benefits of philosophical reasoning and thought, the best we can hope for is a blurred and shadowy perspective of reality. Adopting a philosophical approach can help us both think about existing questions from a different perspective and explore concepts that we were previously unaware of. There are philosophers of science, politics, law, ethics, epistemology etc. So why don’t we work together and create a philosophy of safety?  It just makes sense.

There is a very basic need that arises at a human, organizational and societal level every time we are faced with an accident. Whose fault was it? Who screwed up? Who is to blame or who is to take accountability? Welcome to another episode of embracing differences with me Nippin Anand where we will make an attempt to address this question using a very specific accident case. And it goes back to December 2007 when a crane mounted on a barge ran into the merchant tanker Hebei Spirit while she was at anchor which then led to over 10,500 tons of crude oil being spilt into the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea. The high court said in its verdict that “the captain could have averted a collision by pulling up the anchor or moving backwards at full or half the usual speed.” And the captain of the ship, Jaspreet Chawla, was sentenced to prison for over a month and ended up in South Korea for almost 18 months. It makes very little sense to blame the captain when the ship is at anchor and hence very limited in her capacity to move and therefore avert a collision. Why then was he sentenced to prison? We blame and scapegoat professionals even when we have reasons to believe that they did everything in their capacity to handle the situation? Why is that so? To answer this question, I invited Captain Jaspreet Chawla along with a panel of experts in safety sciences and human factors from around the world that includes Johan Bergstrom, Rosa Carillo and Ivan Pupulidy for this hour-long discussion. I hope you will find the discussion insightful and informative.

Do you know that documented processes could be undermining your health, safety, and business performance? In this podcast session, Nippin Anand and Greg Smith explore the dangers of bureaucracy in health and safety management, how safety bureaucracy can undermine workplace safety, and what businesses can do about it. While Nippin speaks from an operational and business perspective, Greg brings a legal viewpoint to the discussion.

In a thought-provoking conversation, John Allspaw, founder of Adaptive Capacity Labs, shares his insights on incident analysis in the software world. He highlights the exciting intersection of software engineering and safety science, emphasizing the importance of viewing incidents as learning opportunities rather than just problems to solve. John discusses the nuances between incidents and accidents, the value of diverse perspectives in investigations, and the necessity of adapting compliance practices to foster creativity. His expertise offers a refreshing perspective on organizational learning.

With Pam Walaski. Despite a decades-long increase in the participation of women in the general workforce, women in the occupational safety and health (OSH) field lags behind. In addition, women in overall leadership roles and in the OSH profession remain stagnant. Further, this lack of diversity extends to other under-represented groups. Many organizations profess to want to change, but barriers remain. This podcast will explore some reasons for the stagnation, how it can be changed and what the future looks like for women and other groups in OSH and OSH leadership?

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. In this podcast, Nektarios Karanikas, an Adjunct Professor of Health and Safety at the Queensland University of Technology helps us understand the importance of introspection if we genuinely want to promote learning and change.

As safety management evolves, we have discovered that the language of safety can at times be perceived as something reserved for specialists. Concerningly, the use of language [and associated tools] without a clear overarching objective can legitimize the very issues that threaten safety. There can even be a rejection from having open, honest yet tough debates that managing safety requires. Such ‘tough debates’ and disagreements often reveal a lack of understanding and cohesion amongst all stakeholders yet they must be had if the benefits of Safety Management are to be fully realized.