Safety

Complacency as a concept in safety has been around for some time. That said, I’ve noticed an uptick in client discussions highlighting employee complacency as a contributing factor in recent…

The term “psychological safety” is having a moment. While on the surface it may seem like yet another organizational buzzword, this one has true merit, especially in safety. The term was coined by…

I’m troubled by what seems like an accelerating trend in safety, and that is people touting the next great thing. Don’t misunderstand…I believe in constantly looking for ways to improve. Technology…

I recently talked to a client who was trying to gain commitment for some safety leadership improvements and was frustrated with the resistance he was facing from some of the management team. The…

It is an understatement to say that many organizations are running lean. The trend worsened during the pandemic and the current economic uncertainty seems destined to make matters even worse. While…

Five U.S. Senators wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on March 3, 2021 to express their concerns about surveillance cameras with tracking software being installed in some delivery vans operated by…

During this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, have repeatedly advocated behavior change as mitigating steps to reduce…

Several years ago it was reported that an air traffic controller deliberately made his bed and slept in it while on duty at a Tennessee airport. I am sure many people think that was an isolated…

No, the image above is not an iStock photo nor one taken from a safety magazine. This is a live action shot I took from the window of a hotel where I was conducting a Safety Leadership workshop for a…

My teenage kids are constantly taking selfies. Despite my general distaste for the practice, there are some positive side effects. It occurs to me that my kids have more accurate self-images than I…

I just finished reading an ISHN article on safety incentives and the value of a gift card reward system to promote safety. To say that I didn't like it is an understatement. It reminds me of the many…

No matter the industry, in all my years of experience working across organizations, from the hourly workforce to the executive team, I have always found the most difficult job to be frontline…

Maybe you’ve heard the term de-skilling. It refers to the loss of knowledge or skills on the part of a person as a result of technology doing more of the work for them.  In work environments with…

Electronic performance monitoring tools (let’s call them EPMs) are becoming more prevalent in the workplace.  The transportation sector seems to be leading the pack at the moment.  Dr. Ron Knipling…

Recently, I came across an article that caught my eye: Parents’ Harsh Words Might Make Teen Behavior Worse.  As the parent of a 13 year-old and someone who has written extensively on the ill effects…

I received an unsolicited email from a company that is selling software that they say “can reveal to you (SIC) what your employees do during business hours. It reminded me of George Orwell’s popular…

Maybe it is because I turned 78 last week, but it seems that every day I read something or see something on TV that drives me crazy. Even though by the usual standards, I am at the age where people…

In my consulting work and in presenting to large groups, the topic of creating or supporting a safety culture comes up without fail.  What I find most often is a varied understanding of what is…