Clik here to view.
Maslow’s hammer: How tools bias attention and straightjacket thinking
In May 2013, Edition 5 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was published by the American Psychiatric Association. According to the American Psychiatric Association,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seven questions on Safety-II: Ensuring things go right
This post is an article that was published in The Ergonomist: Newsletter of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors. Ref: Shorrock, S. and Licu, T. (2014). Moving toward Safety-II: Ensuring...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Safety-II as disruptive innovation
The field of safety management has operated within the same paradigm for decades: finding and fixing things that go wrong, reactively and predictively. Much of the safety management of previous years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Organisations and the ghosts of failures past, present and yet to come
How do organisations learn? It is fairly uncontroversial to say that we, as individuals and organisations, learn from consequences. But what sort of consequences do we learn from? In professions with a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Safety-II isn’t
Last summer, a White Paper was released on a different way of thinking about safety: Safety-II. For me, Safety-II is no less than a paradigm shift in safety, bringing together various strands of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Occupational Overuse Syndrome – Human Error Variant (OOS-HEV)
Occupational Overuse Syndrome – Human Error Variant (OOS-HEV) is a condition involving the overuse of the notion of ‘human error’ to explain unwanted events in complex systems. The condition develops...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life After ‘Human Error’– Velocity Europe 2014
This is a keynote address from Velocity Europe 2014 in Barcelona on 17 November. I wanted to give a fairly light presentation (it was first slot in the morning!) to summarise some key issues in moving...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mind your Mindset: Safety-I and Safety-II
“We need self-awareness to recognise our own mindset, wisdom to see its limits, and mentally agility to choose another when appropriate.” Photo: Steven Shorrock CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/p4jhb6...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is ‘human error’ the handicap of human factors? A discussion among human...
Following most major accidents, one phrase is almost guaranteed to headline in the popular press: ‘human error’. The concept is also popular in the ergonomics and human factors (EHF) discipline and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Human error’ in the headlines: Press reporting on Virgin Galactic
“No situation is too complex to be reduced to this simple, pernicious notion. ‘Human error’ has become a shapeshifting persona that can morph into an explanation of almost any unwanted event” Image:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Safety-II isn’t
Last summer, a White Paper was released on a different way of thinking about safety: Safety-II. For me, Safety-II is no less than a paradigm shift in safety, bringing together various strands of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SAFETY is our Primary Goal!
Worst. Motivational sign. Ever. (Photo: Modified screenshot from Super 8, written, co-produced, and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. Steven Shorrock https://flic.kr/p/psrkQC...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Never/zero thinking
“God save us from people who mean well.” ― Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy There has been much talk in recent years about ‘never events’ and ‘zero harm’, similar to talk in the safety community about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Just culture: Who are we really afraid of?
Douglas Sprott CC BY-NC 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/5orYgw When we think about just culture, we usually think about accidents and incidents, associated ‘honest mistakes’ and ‘negligence’ (by whatever name),...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Varieties of Human Work
Understanding and improving human work is relevant to most people in the world, and a number of professions are dedicated to improving human work (e.g. human factors/ergonomics, quality management,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Work and how to survive it: Lesson 1. Understand ‘how work goes’
I have recently been reading Life and How To Survive It, nearly 20 years after first reading it. It is a book on relationships and psychology, written in conversational question and answer style, by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Work and how to survive it: Lesson 2. Understand variation inside your...
Much of my practice is informed by counselling and psychotherapy as well as humanistic psychology more generally. One of my problems with these fields, however, is that insights and discussions are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Real Focus of Safety-II
Safety-II has become a talking point. It is discussed not only among safety professionals, but – perhaps more importantly – among front line practitioners, managers, board members and regulators in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Human Factors isn’t: 4. A Cause of Accidents
‘Human Factors’ (or Ergonomics) is often presented as something that it’s not, or as something that is only a small part of the whole. Rather than just explain what Human Factors is, in this sporadic...
View Article
