Today I’m joined by Professor Patrick Hudson from Delft University in the Netherlands.

This episode is made possible by Safety on Tap Connected – what you might call a drastic innovation to your usual professional development.
Did you know that Safety on Tap Connected isn’t just an online platform with coaching, community and great learning content. But that’s not all! It’s an ecosystem of professional development? You and your teams can tap into to become more effective, more relevant, more valuable to your business….which adds up to two main things – you will secure your place in the world, which means a great career, and you will actually make a significant difference to improving business, including health and safety along the way. You’re probably wondering whether that’s all just hot air. Let me give you a practical example.

A few weeks ago I hosted international futurist and previous guest of the show Dave Wild in Sydney, for a workshop that has never been done before. I’ve been thinking about the future, and the innovation thinking that Dave talks about on Episode 66. And I thought why haven’t I ever experienced that beyond my own independent learning. So Dave and I created this workshop for a group of people who came along to Think Like A Futurist. The events we run here at Safety on Tap Connected are not like anything you’ve experienced before – because we need to do things differently in our development to get a different result, right?! We had an amazing day with this small group of passionate health and safety professionals, getting focused on their better self. Without doubt its an experience, not your traditional kind of training or workshop. One person there described it having a ‘profound impact’.
If you want to think outside the box, and want our help to unleash the potential of your team, get in touch with me – andrew@safetyontap.com

Today’s episode:
Many of you will know Patrick Hudson from his work on safety culture. We chat today about that, and I get to poke and prod his model, including the uses and abuses you need to be aware of when you are thinking about safety culture.
Patrick will be speaking at the 2018 OHS Leaders Summit which is being held on the 7th and 8th March in the Gold Coast. The OHS Leaders Summit is the only event in Australia specifically designed for the Group Heads of health, safety and wellbeing. It offers a unique combination of standout speakers, industry thought leaders, networking and personalised meetings with the leading suppliers of products and services, meaning you can leverage the best of what’s out there to help your health, safety and wellbeing programs succeed. Visit ohsleaders.com.au to find out more and get your seat – spots are limited.

Let’s climb into this discussion. Here’s Patrick:

So many good takeaways! But I’ve been accused of being verbose and voluminous in my earlier career, so wary of that. I’ll stick to three, which I think are the most leveraged for you to take action:
Takeaway #1: Don’t agonise over the detail – we touched on the agony over culture vs climate, whether culture is values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours…..Patricks approach is pretty pragmatic – measure what you need to in order to take action – behaviour is a good place to start in his mind.
Takeaway #2: Don’t abuse the model, any model. The two page article is not enough for your to be confident you wont be using a square peg in a round hole. Patrick mentioned his disdain for the use of his model by regulators to set goals for entire industries and using it as a comparative measurement – its plain wrong. So you should understand any model well enough not to abuse it, don’t just use it on face value.
Takeaway #3: Here’s the improvement equation. Measure enough to be confident about where you want to go, and where you are now. Remember Einstein’s message – “measuring the right things, if inaccurately, will be better than measuring the wrong things accurately”. Keep it simple enough that you can engage your business to ask and answer the question ‘what would it take to get us there?’. That becomes your plan. Focus on that. And I reckon you’ll go a long way.

I mentioned I would share a few links to help you learn more about Safety Culture and the Maturity Model.  Here’s a few to get you started:

A quick video primer on Safety Culture from Safe Work Australia, by Professor Hudson

The primary source of Safety Culture Maturity info, based on Hudsons original work with the oil and gas industry (plenty of good downloads here too)

A critical analysis of the concept of safety culture, which contrasts Patrick’s views on culture with a number of other contemporary scholars

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Until next time, what’s the one thing you’ll do to take positive, effective or rewarding action, to grow yourself, and drastically improve health and safety along the way. Seeya!