Is 'Safety Culture' a nebulous construct, or even a myth, that obscures more than it reveals?

Or is its persistence because it provides a useful vehicle for explaining phenomena in organisations and groups?

This episode unpacks several articles (at least 10), from authors like Borys, Guldenmund, Schein, Silbey, Hopkins, Cooper and more, to unpack safety culture from both an interpretative and functionalist perspective.

The episode covers common critiques from the research, proposed links with areas of performance, and some lingering ambiguity.

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

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Leadership walkarounds seem simple on paper: get a leader to walk around, talk with some people, and then bounce out with a gleeful smile, and warm hearts.But is it that simple? Do walkarounds improve any measures of teams or organisations? Do they improve safety climate, engagement, or even safety incidents?Support the channel: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinsonToday's episode explores these questions with these sources:1. Foster, M., Mha, B. S., & Mazur, L. (2023). Impact of leadership walkarounds on operational, cultural and clinical outcomes: a systematic review. BMJ Open Quality, 12(4), e002284.2. Thomas EJ, Sexton JB, Neilands TB, et al. Correction: the effect of executive walk rounds on nurse safety climate attitudes: A randomized trial of clinical units [Isrctn85147255]. BMC Health Serv Res 2005; 5.3. Shaw KN, Lavelle J, Crescenzo K, et al. Creating unit-based patient safety walk-rounds in a pediatric emergency Department. Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine 2006; 7:231–7.4. Purvis S, Kennedy GD, Knobloch MJ, et al. Incorporation of leadership rounds in CAUTI prevention efforts. J Nurs Care Qual 2017; 32:318–23.5. Luria, G., & Morag, I. (2012). Safety management by walking around (SMBWA): A safety intervention program based on both peer and manager participation. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 45, 248-257.6. Rotteau, L., Shojania, K. G., & Webster, F. (2014). ‘I think we should just listen and get out’: a qualitative exploration of views and experiences of Patient Safety Walkrounds. BMJ quality & safety, 23(10), 823-829.7. Singer SJ, Tucker AL. The evolving literature on safety Walkrounds: emerging themes and practical messages. BMJ Qual Saf 2014; 23:789–800.

Does using AI make us smarter, or just more confident?This ep covers a recent study on how generative AI affects our "metacognition" - our ability to judge our own performance. Researchers tracked hundreds of people solving logical reasoning problems with and without AI.They found: a) AI improved scores, but people overestimated their results even more, b) people who knew more about AI were less accurate judging their own work, c) the Dunning-Kruger effect disappeared, where everybody becomes equally overconfidentRef: “AI Makes You Smarter, But None the Wiser: The Disconnect between Performance and Metacognition” (Fernandes et al., 2026).

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

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Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please help share the news, and leave a rating and review on your podcast app.

I also have a Safe As LinkedIn group if you want to stay up to date on releases.

There are a lot of safety practices in industry. How do we know which are the most effective interventions to use?This systematic review of the evidence assesses the best evidence to answer this question.

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

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Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please help share the news, and leave a rating and review on your podcast app.

I also have a Safe As LinkedIn group if you want to stay up to date on releases.

When I say BBS - what is your initial impression? A big smile and thumbs up, or visible disgust?It certainly divides people. But is that division deserved? What does the evidence say are both the pros and cons of BBS approaches?And, how can we move forward with this debate and incorporate the best of both? Or, should we?This episode references 7 articles to provide an overview and balanced discussion of BBS in contemporary organisations.

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

Intro/Output "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com)

Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it useful then please help share the news, and leave a rating and review on your podcast app.

I also have a Safe As LinkedIn group if you want to stay up to date on releases.

This episode unpacks the Dreamworld Thunder Rapid ride disaster, using the Ten Pathways to Failure model.

Ref: Gregson, S., & Quinlan, M. G. (2024). Death at Dreamworld: Ten pathways to disaster and failure to learn. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 35(2), 436-453.

Support the channel at: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

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How can you develop better indicators targeting the effectiveness of your risk control system?This episode draws on a few sources, including the HSE UK's HSG254 and the ICMM's critical control framework, among others, outlining an approach to safety indicators that targets measuring the most important elements of your risk control systems.

Support the channel at: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson

More research at SafetyInsights.Org

Outro music "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com)

Re-recording of an older episode for YouTube

Does counting change what counts? If we create indicators on actions that we'd like to monitor, like injuries, profits, tendering, productivity, do we inadvertently focus on managing the numbers instead of the core issues?Source: Chang, L. W., Kirgios, E. L., Mullainathan, S., & Milkman, K. L. (2024). Does counting change what counts? Quantification fixation biases decision-making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(46), e2400215121.Support the channel at: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinsonMore research at SafetyInsights.OrgOutro music "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com)

Seven hours before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, four senior executives were on-site congratulating the crew for achieving seven years without a lost-time injury. It wasn’t that these leaders ignored risk; it’s that they were systematically blinded to it by a focus on the 'wrong' metrics. In this episode, we break down Andrew Hopkins’ analysis of that final visit to explore the important distinction between personal safety and process safety. We look at why injury measures may be next to useless in preventing major disasters. This isn't a story about incompetent people or 'bad apples', but how well-intentioned leadership behaviours can quietly reinforce organizational risk blindness.Source: Hopkins, A. (2011). Management walk-arounds: Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout. Safety Science, 49(10), 1421-1425.Support the channel at: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinsonMore research at SafetyInsights.OrgOutro music "Dark Synth Wave" by ElephantGreen (PixaBay.com)