Ben Hutchinson Profile

Safety management masquerade: How our safety and risk systems can deceive us

What is less studied or recognized, however, is that these same safety systems can also increase an organization’s exposure to risk. Drawing on new research and real examples in practice, this presentation breaks down how earnest efforts to eliminate and manage hazard exposures may create a false sense of safety decoupled from operational work and risk.

Focus areas:
1. A brief primer on breakdowns in safety approaches and field validations
2. Contemporary research covering what these breakdowns look like – including failures of auditing
3. Practical examples of artefacts highlighting these inconsistencies