Hi, I’m Ben Hutchinson and thanks for visiting my site. This is a collection of research summaries posted to LinkedIn.
*** Importantly, this is a labour of love and NOT a commercial project subject to peer review or double checks. I’ve likely made a lot of mistakes in my analysis of the research. So, please, don’t quote me on anything and instead go to the original source to check the claims. ***
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“Errors have very little in common” – Pt1 interview with Dr Steven Shorrock
“Errors have very little in common” Did you check Part 1 of my interview with Steven Shorrock? Steven doesn’t mean people don’t make mistakes – people, of course, forget things, misperceive, misjudge, or press wrong buttons. One problem is treating ‘error’ as some monolithic cause, where it often becomes a convenient stop rule in investigations.…
Audits & Hierarchy of Control & the folly of paperwork
When audits identify gaps, how often are fixes just more paperwork? My recently published solo study mapped 448 corrective actions from 65 HSE audits (>16 independent auditing firms) against the hierarchy of control. ~86% of actions targeted ‘soft’ fixes (admin, paperwork and PPE). About 81% were admin alone, mostly incomplete documents: missing signatures on documents,…
Asymmetries in safety outcomes and learning from failure in subcontracting hierarchies
Who learns the most from accidents: prime contractors or the subcontractor? This Korean study evaluated learning from failure in manufacturing between prime contractors, prime subcontractors, subcontractors and non-contractors. Shared under an open access licence. PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=V2dbdmW–WbnhzA9 Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson Extracts: · “subcontracting may distribute not only production activities but also the…
A comprehensive systematic review of safety leading indicators in construction
Are your indicators measuring ‘safety’, or more often activity? This systematic review evaluated 51 studies, unpacking indicator themes, trends & their effectiveness in construction. Shared under an open access licence. PS. Did you check out my video on better indicators? Link in comments – it unpacks how to identify & set measures around your risk…
Safety concepts through a memetic lens
Why do some safety concepts spread while others become lost in time, like tears in rain? [** Cue wicked synthwave bladerunner tune] Anyway, this article from @carsten busch and colleagues explores the history of the accident triangle “over nearly a century through successive cycles of replication, variation, and selection”. It’s explored via memetics. Shared under…
Dr Steven Shorrock Part 1: Is HOP actually ‘new’ or built on Human Factors?
“There’s nothing new [in the HOP principles] since the 1980s there” Part 1 interview with Dr Steven Shorrock 🌻. He’s worked for about 30 years as a psychologist and human factors engineer in aviation, air traffic management, rail, healthcare and chemical manufacturing. Steven questions how much of HOP and the ‘new view’ really comes from…
Safety alchemy: mistaking the document for the risk
Are your safety documents making your organisation less safe? And, the better they look, the worse it gets? As we argued in our Safety Alchemy article: “For many organisations, managing safety also encompasses managing a system of safety documents” These documents are “enabling devices: they function as institutional passports that allow work to commence or…
Passing an audit, and zero harm days – yet we still blow things up. This week on Safe As
We pass audits, and our site safety boards record a string of zero-harm days. And management is reassured. And something blows up anyway. Did you check out this week’s episode on Safe As? Drawing on Emeritus Professor Andrew Hopkin’s work, it unpacks why organisations are blindsided by calamity even while their systems look flawless on…
![“[Leaders create cultures by] what they systematically pay attention to” and ignore… – Schein & others](https://safetyinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/schein1.png?w=1200&h=900&crop=1)
“[Leaders create cultures by] what they systematically pay attention to” and ignore… – Schein & others
“[Leaders create cultures by] what they systematically pay attention to”. So says Ed Schein (* well actually, that was Andrew Hopkins’ reframing of Schein). Nevertheless, Schein noted how leaders, whether intentional or not, known or invisible to them, shape what is prioritised, discussed, measured, monitored etc. by what they focus on. However, what they **…
Hidden Hazards: Factors Influencing Near-Miss Reporting in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services
Are fewer near-miss reports good news or a trust / silence problem? This surveyed and interviewed a total of 116 US air medical crewmembers on their near miss reporting behaviours and pressure to fly. PS. Check out my YouTube: https://youtube.com/@safe_as_pod?si=V2dbdmW–WbnhzA9 Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson Extracts: · “major accidents routinely reflect the accumulation of deeper organizational…
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