Earlier this week I posted a somewhat controversial video where I talked about the fact that safety isn't first, and shouldn't be. Check it out below- https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6632412980518715392/ At the time of writing this, the video has had over 2200 views and numerous comments, reshares and other discussions generated by others that have referenced my thoughts shared. So let me clarify a bit more because I'm certain there's many out there who a

Late last week I received a phone call that anyone with elderly parents would dread receiving- my 86yo father had taken a fall and had hurt himself and was being taken to hospital. Following numerous x-rays and scans, it was confirmed that he had a wedge fracture of the T3 and would require a brace for 3 months or so, along with rehab and other support. Knowing dad, he'll fight like hell to get through this and overcome it- this is a guy who has had three elbow replacements a

This week I posted a couple of videos and a short post regarding risk and management. The links to these are: Discussion Video, Short Post and Promo Video. The reality is, we're surrounded by hazards. Every day we make decisions, often with no real thought, that could impact us. If we look at the work front, there are many forms of risk management tools and processes from Take 5's, HAZOP's, Hierarchy of Controls, Bowties, and others. And in principle, they all have their plac

Earlier this week, I did a video in which I spoke about 13 tips for Safety Professionals to consider when planning for 2020 and beyond. Feel free to check out the video at this link 13 Tips for Safety Pros Here they are again with some further explanation- 1. Safety is hard work- Safety Pro’s need to work hard and persevere, despite hurdles put in front of us. We need to be aware that we're juggling many expectations from employees on the floor to senior managers and beyond.

INTRODUCTION This post outlines a review of various incident investigation techniques and the background behind how and why ICAM was developed and mandated as the investigation process for all incidents involving a fatality and recommended for events with a risk potential of a fatal event by major organisations around the world. In 1997 a major resource company with global operations was using a myriad of incident investigation tools across the organisation, including MORT, I

As part of my Coaching business, I recently had the privilege of working with the team at Safety Wise and their CEO Luke Dam to create content designed to assist incident investigation and safety professionals with managing the high level of stress involved in their vitally important work. The following is an article that was created as part of this process. While the focus of the article is managing stress in this specific industry, most of the concepts and strategies covere

What Are Investigation Coaching Services? The purpose of working with an investigation coach is to maximise both your own potential and your team's potential. Traditionally, we've facilitated many investigations however in an effort to empower our clients to make positive change using ICAM, we are now offering coaching and mentoring to those in need of assistance. We're finding more and more now that organisations are not completing their ICAM investigations in a timely manne

As usual the phone call comes in on Friday afternoon – ‘Can you help with an investigation in Mt Isa?’ ‘When?’ ‘They want you yesterday. Can you ring the contact now to organise the trip?’ So I ring the contact who is an inexperienced Safety Coordinator on a small site. The organisations Safety Manager is based in Brisbane but can’t come to the site to assist and has suggested he engage a Safety Consultant. He has done the ICAM Lead course but has only conducted a few minor i

And with those four words, the wheels were set in motion that would change many lives forever. It was just after lunch and I had just sat down at my desk when my phone rang. “I’ve been given your name and number and told you can help me”, said the caller. “OK. What’s happened?” I asked, a bit unsure of what to expect. “I’ve just killed someone” and then the caller broke down sobbing. Holy hell! How do you respond to that? What do you say? And a million other thoughts rushed t

Introduction Audits and Incident Investigations are both very important components of our safety management systems. They often relate to each other but have distinct roles. Case Study Let’s consider a common, every day situation. A manager in a national distribution business is doing a regular Safety Audit in the loading dock of a regional warehouse. She is not the Loading Dock Manager but is conducting an audit in another manager’s area as part of the organisations cross-au