What is a risk assessment if it is not an exercise in imagination? – Rob Long
Behavioural safety observations tell you much more about the observer than the person under observation. – Bernard Corden
Safety is never ‘attained’ but a work in progress in tension between ALARP and the Precautionary Principle. – Dr Rob Long
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. — Albert Einstein
Once silly safety rules are implemented, with no consultation or critical thinking, then the same weak leaders who enacted them will surely not be brave enough to retract them!
Much easier to sell an answer than a question. Much more comforting to sit in delusion than reality. – Dr Rob Long
“The point is that being able to demonstrate ‘due diligence’ is not about having a thing (a policy or a system or a heap of procedures and checklists) it is about doing a thing” – Max Geyer
“Thank god we don’t have to rely on the brilliance of the safety trade to determine what is art, history, aesthetics, dance or intelligence, I think safety would paint over the Mona Lisa if they thought it was unsafe”. – Rob Long
“We would also ask real estate agents, who much they think our house is worth. But we never ask a safety professional, socially, how do I stay safe at work. In my experience, when people find out I am a safety professional, there is a deafening silence as, either, people don’t know that safety has a profession or my skills just seem irrelevant”. Kevin Jones
“Luckily my company has a Zero Harm Policy do I don’t have to worry about safety as much as others do” – Supervisor from a Tier 1 organisation
“we believe that we want to do what we are doing, otherwise how would we explain to others why we are doing it?” – Chris Paley “Unthink” p95
“Now: target zero; zero harm; no accidents, although they all look good on paper, they all focus on what you want to avoid. Imagine setting your business goals at the start of the year and presenting a goal of wanting to avoid any financial loss this coming year to the board. They would boot you straight out of the room! So, for what reason do we accept that with safety?” – Chad Lilley
“Our systems have become the equivalent of the Internet – it’s where you go to get answers without even really knowing the question or the context. Through the excessive use of processes, procedure, checklists and forms we have dumbed down their curiosity.” John Green
“Off the shelf Safety Systems – if you want a good dust collector, buy a vacuum cleaner” – Dave Collins
“Paper doesn’t save people, people save people” – Dan Peterson
“Like love, we cannot get enough safety, but not the kind we are used to – what would happen to love if every day were Valentines Day? So flooded are we with contrived and controlling safety that it is becoming dangerous”
“There is no such thing as an accident, only a failure to recognise the hand of fate” – Napoleon
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts…for support rather than illumination” (Scottish poet – Andrew Lang)
“Traditional Safety is not enough, but traditional safety is too much” Safety Crusaders Anonymous
“Also, they may simply have been blinded by their zeal to do something quick and easy for safety – and thus doing nothing for it.” – Gerald Wilde
If Safety is “Zero Harm” then Love must be “Zero Hate” – Dave Collins
