Questions we are often asked

There are fundamental differences between these two concepts, despite often finding that the terms are used interchangeably. Human Factors (and ergonomics) represents a science, discipline, and a profession (CIEHF). It is concerned with optimising human well-being and overall system performance through understanding human interaction, by applying theory, principles, data, and methods (International Ergonomics Association). It’s reasonable to suggest that TRM, with its roots in Crew Resource Management which is used in the aviation industry, to be an element of the HF and ergonomic discipline. However, it is not the ‘only’ element! TRM seeks to provide individuals with processes, styles and methods to improve team behaviours, decision making and task completion – however, it should not be used in isolation to cover up or ignore system related challenges, and disruptions. We can help you and your organisation improve team behaviours, communications, and decisions. Just get in touch here to find out how.

This question is an often-asked question, and very much assumes that people are knowingly taking risks in their day-to-day work, with the assumption often being that they don’t care. People tend not to do things that they actively believe will put them in immediate danger, but our operating style, and the decisions we take are shaped by many things, including: Those who we work with Organisational culture Organisational goals It’s also fair to say that we all have a different perception towards risk – what feels ok at the time, might not turn out ok, all the time. Furthermore, we perform differently each day – this variability, can and often is, a positive – we should be careful not to view it as only a negative. To fully understand why people are not performing in the manner we might expect, we should look to try and understand everyday work. Is it even possible to follow the procedures as defined, or does the organisation inadvertently encourage corner cutting? We can help you and your organisation answer this question – just get in touch here to find out how.

It’s likely that this judgement is made with hindsight, and it’s even more likely that an individual did not choose to perform a task that would result in causing themselves harm. However, we need to understand the situation the individual was faced with at a particular time. This is where an effective safety investigation will look to understand the various influencing factors present – many of them may be entirely normal, procedures may have drifted from their original intent, and perhaps the organisation may have made it harder for someone to perform a task correctly than incorrectly – this can encourage deviations. The reality is we take some form of risk every day, in all that we do – people make decisions, and take actions that make sense at the time – the question we should ask, is why did it make sense in the moment? We can help you and your organisation answer this question – just get in touch here to find out how.

There’s lots of reasons why this might be, and context is everything. Are people not following the rules all the time, or just some of the time? It could be that the rules that are being broken, are simply no longer fit for purpose, and people are finding ‘workarounds’ to ensure the job gets done. It could also be a local culture has moved in such a way, that deviations from procedures have become common practice. This can be indirectly tolerated by management – especially if production or operational pressures are prevalent. It’s important to understand why procedures are done in the way that they are – understanding normal, everyday work is something that goes beyond audits and observations and can take time to fully explore. We can help you and your organisation answer this question – just get in touch here to find out how.

Ensuring psychological safety exists within your is a key element when considering a modern, progressive safety culture. Psychological safety exists at the group (of people) level and represents the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. Ultimately, organisations can’t fix problems that aren’t known about, so environments that lack effective psychological safety may constrain organisational learning, and in the moment mitigations. Trust on the other hand exists on a more personal level between individuals and is often cited as comprising benevolence (care), ability and integrity. Trust should be present between all colleagues, to create an effective operational environment for colleagues to work within. We can help you and your organisation answer this question – just get in touch here to find out how.

Exploring and understanding organisational safety culture is important, and the desire to explore it is often conflated with safety climate – how people feel about safety at any moment. Firstly, it would be key to understand organisational capability, for example how effective reporting processes are, whether learning takes place (safety recommendations) and whether the business actively talks about safety and encourages effective questioning. With respect to how people ‘feel’ about safety – the best way is to ask your people. Interviews, audits, focus groups and surveys are commonly used methods – but there must be effective organisational support for these methods to be successful. We recommend bespoke exploration methods – to ensure language aligns with your organisation. We can help create these tools for you, just get in touch here to find out how.

We can’t fix problems we don’t know about, so for organisational learning, its key to foster a culture where colleagues feel that they can safely highlight incidents, near misses and accidents. In organisational cultures that do not foster an open reporting culture, these issues may remain hidden with undesirable behaviours and decisions prevalent. People will make their decision to highlight problems or not, for many individual reasons. For example, will they be taken seriously? Will they be disciplined for highlighting a concern? Do colleagues have visibility of safety reports they raise, and do they believe that their organisation takes safety seriously? We can help you and your organisation improve team behaviours, decisions; just get in touch to find out how.