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)
Tag Archives: safety-II
What Human Factors isn’t: 4. A Cause of Accidents
‘Human Factors’ (or Ergonomics) is often presented as something that it’s not, or as something that is only a small part of the whole. Rather than just explain what Human Factors is, in this sporadic series of short posts I … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics
Tagged accidents, causation, human factors, myths, root cause, safety, safety-I, safety-II
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Learning Teams, Learning from Communities
Learning Teams, Learning from Communities
In this article, I refer to some of the ideas and writings of asset-based community development to reflect on Learning Teams in health and safety, and small group conversations and action more generally in organisations. I highlight four lessons from ABCD for learning teams and host organisations. Continue reading
Posted in Humanistic Psychology, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged ABCD, community, health and safety, learning, safety, safety culture, safety management, safety-II, Systems Thinking, teams, teamwork
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The Real Focus of Safety-II
Safety-II has become a talking point. It is discussed not only among safety professionals, but – perhaps more importantly – among front line practitioners, managers, board members and regulators in a wide array of industries. Its practical and inclusive focus … Continue reading
Posted in Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged accidents, archetypes, congruence, holism, local rationality, normal work, practice, safety, safety-I, safety-II, Systems Thinking, the messy reality, work-as-done, work-as-imagined, work-as-prescribed
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Work and how to survive it: Lesson 2. Understand variation inside your organisation
In this sporadic series of posts, I share a few insights, as they might apply to work and organisations, from ‘Life and How To Survive It’ and ‘Families and How to Survive Them’, by psychotherapist (late) Robin Skynner and comedian John Cleese. Continue reading
Work and how to survive it: Lesson 1. Understand ‘how work goes’
In this sporadic series of posts, Icshare a few insights, as they might apply to work and organisations, from ‘Life and How To Survive It’ and ‘Families and How to Survive Them’, by psychotherapist (late) Robin Skynner and comedian John Cleese. Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, Systems Thinking
Tagged deformation professionelle, fantasy, ignorance, normal work, safety-I, safety-II, systems safety, the messy reality, trained incapacity, work-as-done, work-as-imagined, work-as-prescribed
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Human Factors at the Fringe: BaseCamp
A legendary rivalry: one mountain and two climbers seeking to be the best. We join them at basecamp as they prepare for the challenges of the ascent. Invited into separate tents to join just one of the two climbers, audiences … Continue reading
The Safety-II Dance: A Podcast by Greater Than Code
A few weeks ago, I had a chat with Jamey Hampton, Jessica Kerr, John K. Sawers of Greater Than Code. Here is the podcast that resulted, expertly produced by Mandy Moore. In the podcast, we roamed around topics of human factors/ergonomics, system performance … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety
Tagged ABCD, culture, empathy, ergonomics, human factors, safety, safety-II, WebOps
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Bonding and Bridging at the Philosophical Breakfast Club
On 26 April 2018, I presented at the ‘Philosophical Breakfast Club’ (@philosophicalBC) conference on High Performing Teams (#PBCHPT2018). It was a remarkable conference bringing together healthcare professionals, psychologists, sports scientists, athletes, managers, human factors/ergonomics specialists, military officers and specialists, and others, My first conversation while having tea before the conference was with a spinal surgeon and bomb disposal expert. Throughout the conference I had many other fascinating conversations with people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
This leads me to the focus of my talk: collaboration at the interfaces, and what happens between teams, groups, professions, layers of management, organisations… In this post, I summarise the talk, slide by slide, with tweet-sized explanations. Continue reading
Learning from Communities: A Conversation with Cormac Russell
The study of communities and community-building activities can provide important insights into collaboration within and between organisations. Over the last 21 years Cormac Russell has worked in 35 countries, with communities, agencies, non-governmental organisations and governments. This post includes the podcast and transcript of a conversation between Cormac Russell and me, about learning from communities. Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Systems Thinking
Tagged ABCD, assets, collaboration, community, focus groups, groupwork, safety-II
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