Have you ever stopped to consider how your perspective shapes your reality? René Descartes, the famous philosopher, once said, "We do not describe the world we see. We see the world we can describe." This profound statement holds particular relevance for safety professionals today, especially when we consider the emerging paradigm of New View Safety.
The Power of Perception in Safety
As safety professionals, we often believe we're objectively assessing risks and hazards in our workplaces. However, Descartes' quote challenges this notion. Our ability to identify and address safety concerns is inherently limited by our current understanding and vocabulary of safety.
Think about it: How many times have you walked through a worksite and noticed only the issues you were trained to spot? It's not that other potential hazards don't exist; it's that our traditional safety lens might be preventing us from seeing them in the first place.
New View Safety: Expanding Our Safety Vocabulary
This is where New View Safety comes into play. This approach to workplace health and safety encourages us to broaden our perspective and challenge our preconceived notions about what constitutes "safe" work.
New View Safety emphasizes:
1, Humans as problem solvers: Instead of viewing workers as potential sources of error, we see them as experts in their daily tasks.
2, Safety as an emergent property: Safety isn't just about preventing negative outcomes; it's about understanding how various factors interact to create safe conditions.
3, Learning and Adaptation: Rather than focusing solely on compliance, we prioritise continuous learning and improvement.
By adopting these principles, we expand our "safety vocabulary," allowing us to see and describe a broader range of safety factors in our workplaces.
Organisational Coaching: Bridging the Gap
Implementing New View Safety isn't just about changing policies; it's about transforming how we think about safety at every level of the organisation. This is where organisational coaching becomes crucial.
Effective coaching can help:
Challenge existing mental models about safety
Develop new skills for identifying and addressing safety concerns
Foster a culture of trust and open communication about safety issues
By working with a skilled coach, safety professionals can learn to see their workplaces through a new lens, identifying opportunities for improvement that may have previously been invisible.
Embracing a New Perspective
As safety professionals, it's our responsibility to continually expand our understanding of what constitutes safe work. By embracing the principles of New View Safety and leveraging organisational coaching, we can begin to see – and therefore create – a safer world for all workers.
Wrap Up
Remember, just as Descartes suggested, our ability to improve safety is limited only by our ability to perceive and describe it. So, let's challenge ourselves to see beyond our current safety vocabulary. Who knows what new insights and improvements we might discover?
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