Lecture Notes: Setting Up a Proactive Safety Program

Introduction

• Informal discussion on setting up a pragmatic, proactive safety program.
• Focus on revealing the invisible aspects of safety.
• Early days of Safety 2 program understanding.
• Encouragement for audience participation and sharing.

Safety 1 vs. Safety 2

• Safety 1:
  • Focus on preventing errors by creating more rules and regulations.
  • Systems are considered inherently safe except for human errors.
  • Emphasizes error counting and compliance measurement.
• Safety 2:
  • Understands that systems are not inherently safe, requiring human skills and expertise.
  • Analyzes system conflicts, workarounds, and the gap between procedures and practice.

Seeing the Invisible

• Importance of training and exposure to new concepts for seeing invisible system aspects.
• Utilize different perspectives and tools (e.g., x-rays, ultraviolet) to reveal unseen elements.
• Developing new patterns and understanding adaptation within systems.

Building a Safety Program

• Surveillance and Anticipation:
  • Focus on monitoring and understanding the system.
  • Collect data through surveys, interviews, and observations.
  • Analyze data using statistical and qualitative methods.
  • Report and respond to findings.
• Recruitment for Proactive Safety:
  • Utilize external experts, internal project workers, and frontline workers.
  • External experts provide training, assist in difficult analyses.
  • Internal project workers handle moderate data collection and analysis.
  • Frontline workers record data about their work.

Patterns of Adaptation

• Studying adaptations helps understand system resilience and vulnerabilities.
• Different types of adaptations (e.g., stretches, improvisations) provide insights.
• Adaptations may indicate future system brittleness or resilience.

Challenges and Solutions

• Need for more data to understand changes and adaptations over time.
• Encourage frontline workers to contribute by providing incentives and ensuring no blame.
• Importance of understanding systemic pressures and conflicts.

Case Studies and Patterns

• Examples of adaptation patterns:
  • Stretching the Corners: Taking control or relaxing procedures to manage workload.
  • Increasing Worker Complexity: Risky behavior to alleviate future risk.

Conclusion

• Collaboration across all levels (external experts, internal workers, frontline staff) is vital.
• Continuous learning and adaptation are key to building an effective safety program.
• Open for questions and further discussion on proactive safety practices.