I first wrote this article on the FirefighterNation website way back in 2009, before I was involved in Safety Wise and knee-deep in investigations. The Dirty Dozen can easily be applied to any industry however, in this article, given the audience, I focussed on firefighting and emergency response. The original article I wrote can be found at https://my.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/avoiding-the-dirty-dozen-on Gordon Dupont wrote about Human Factors and how to avoid the

This is a fascinating video (and hard to watch for the car enthusiast!). The long and short of it is the car had been rebuilt and heavily modified as part of that project. Except for the brakes. They identified during the interview and walk-around that the brakes really should be upgraded to suit the new build and power of the car. While driving, they make a conscious decision to not wear the full harness system. As they continue to drive, it is identified that the accelerato

This week, I've been talking about quality reviews of investigation reports and related activities. Despite our vast experience as investigators, we still put every single report, regardless of complexity, through a QA review. We do this for a number of reasons, including- checking spelling, formatting, punctuation and similar checking readability checking that we've addressed all of the identified organisational factors and absent/failed defences And most importantly, to cha

This week I've been talking about the adequacy of risk controls, or more to the point, failures in implementing them properly or reviewing things once implemented (How's that for a mouthful?). As investigators, we regularly see the results of failure to implement controls properly. Unfortunately, too many of these incidents result in fatalities or serious injuries. Some quick tips when undertaking risk assessments- 1) Identify the hazards in the task. Ensure multiple people a

This week I've been talking about language in our communication around workplace safety. It was triggered by a recent post which quoted a union body and was using strong language, which I likened to fighting or battle language. It spoke about battles, fights, standing united and similar things. Don't get me wrong. As workplace incident investigators we see the results of fatalities, significant incidents, high potentials, and near-miss events. Some are scary. Some leave you s

I'm gonna make this one short, sharp and sweet. Paperwork. An absolute necessity in most industries and workplaces, not only due to the nature of the work but also legislative requirements and similar. But it's time to put paperwork under the microscope. When was the last time you took a magnifying glass to your processes and procedures and confirmed a few things, such a: Does the paperwork reflect work-as done or work-as-imagined? When was the last time the paperwork was eit

The problem with pandemics is that for many people, we're experiencing something never experienced before. We're seeing our day-to-day activities and life, in general, being interrupted. We're having to change the way we do things- the things we've always done the same way for years. And there's no doubt that many organizations and individuals have put in place some great efforts and measures to reduce the risk. We're seeing improvisation and pivoting like never before. Howev

Over the last few weeks we've seen a flurry of information, and misinformation, spreading like an out of control pandemic around the world in relation to Coronavirus. We've seen insane amounts of stockpiling of toilet paper and other items people consider essential to surviving such an event. We've seen travel bans put in place. And from our end, we're starting to have discussions with clients about the postponement of training due to organizational requirements to protect em

This week I've been discussing the Four Horsemen of Investigations and the role they play in undermining our investigation efforts. A couple of videos at- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/icam-investigation_icam-safetywise-icamtraining-activity-6639985307829792768-6t9r And also- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/icam-investigation_icam-safetywise-icamtraining-activity-6640692648623603713-IQOA So who and what are the Four Horseman of Investigations, and why should we be aware of th

This week I've been talking about the sheer amount of paperwork that is being generated in the safety industry. I did two videos on the topic- check them out at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/icam-investigation_icam-safetywise-icamtraining-activity-6637482263800057856-xZkj And also- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/icam-investigation_icam-safetywise-icamtraining-activity-6638159181167845376-POjl Whilst we know that paperwork is needed in many instances, how much is really need