About the Author
Steven Shorrock is an interdisciplinary humanistic, systems and design practitioner interested in human work from multiple perspectives.
Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) & Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist (CErgHF)
Monthly Archives: March 2019
System Safety: Seven Friends of Explanation
In this short series, I highlight seven foes and seven friends of system safety, both for explanation and intervention. Each is a concept, meme, or device used in thinking, language, and intervention (reinforced by more fundamental foes that act as barriers … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged ABCD, adjustments, assets, degraded system, goal conflicts, human performance, interactions, local rationality, patterns, performance adjustments, performance variability, Systems Thinking, trade-offs, work, work-as-done
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System Safety: Seven Foes of Intervention
In this short series, I highlight seven foes and seven friends of system safety, both for explanation and intervention. Each is a concept, meme, or device used in thinking, language, and intervention (reinforced by more fundamental foes that act as barriers to thinking). They are not the only foes or friends, of course, but they are significant ones that either crop up regularly in discussions and writings about safety, or else – in the case of friends – should do.
In this post, I outline seven foes of intervention. Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged culture, incentives, just culture, never events, performance targets, safety, systems safety, Systems Thinking, targets, work-as-done, work-as-imagined, work-as-prescribed, zero harm
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System Safety: Seven Foes of Explanation
In this short series, I will highlight seven foes and seven friends of system safety, both for explanation and intervention. Each is a concept, meme, or device used in thinking, language, and intervention (reinforced by more fundamental foes that act as barriers to thinking). They are not the only foes or friends, of course, but they are significant ones that either crop up regularly in discussions and writings about safety, or else – in the case of friends – should do. Continue reading
Posted in Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged causation, crew resource management, five whys, human error, monolithic explanations, root cause, safety, safety culture, situation awareness, systems safety, Systems Thinking, violations
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