A Covid lesson in change management

A COVID Lesson in Change Management

Kai Crow Employee experience, Health & Safety, Wellness Leave a Comment

I was talking to my friend Jacinda recently, and a story she told me summed up so much about what is wrong with the way many businesses manage crucial changes. Her change management story starts, like many others, in 2020 with COVID-19 and its impacts on the business she works in: a large print company. Faced with a rapid decrease in demand, the company was forced to make some tough, fast decisions. Many of which turned out to be costly mistakes. Under sudden financial pressure, the company had to lay-off staff and same up with a plan that involved shutting …

The role of psychological safety in workplace Health & Safety

Karen Rayner Employee experience, Engagement, Feedback, Health & Safety Leave a Comment

For many, ‘safety’ means physical safety: PPE, hazard registers and accident prevention. But psychological safety at work is just as important. “Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” – Amy Edmondson Psychological safety is what enables us to speak up, and to take calculated risks without the fear of reprimand. This matters to workplace Health & Safety initiatives for a number of reasons. Empowerment When people feel psychologically safe they are more comfortable making decisions for themselves. If there’s no policy or procedure for the …

Building resilience in the workplace

Building resilience in the workplace

Karen Rayner Health & Safety, Leadership, Wellness Leave a Comment

Resilience is the ability to adapt and recover – to bounce back – following a challenge or problem. Resilient people respond well to a changing environment, deal with obstacles and move on quickly. Resilient companies do the same. As we work on ways to cope with the impact of Covid-19, it’s the perfect time to ask: how do we build resilience at work? Why is workplace resilience important? You can’t plan for everything.  Take workplace health and safety as an example. The traditional approach is to analyse possible emergencies, threats and hazards, and to document the things people need to …

History of Safety

A Very Short History of Workplace Safety

Philip Carden Health & Safety Leave a Comment

If your notion of safety is an absence of incidents then it follows that you will focus on hazards, near-misses, and accidents. Each is an opportunity for improvement – you can analyze the root cause, make sure you understand the likelihood of recurrence and manage risk by amending procedures and ensuring appropriate training. This notion of safety might be described as ‘traditional’. It assumes that the situations workers will face can be anticipated and that the right course of action can be determined in advance, informed by assessment of past events. In some cases that might be true. But we …