Towards human-centred organisations
Ethical. Practical. Balanced.
What are we missing?
The culture of risk and safety is traditionally anchored to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). STEM sciences has its main focus on efficiency and optimisation. Unsurprisingly, safety and risk have turned excessively towards measurement (the KPI culture) and more specifically towards a dominant focus on 'reducing harm’.
This singular approach to measuring risk and safety comes with its own set of problems. Within this culture, humans are treated like objects to be controlled and hazards to be managed. One obvious example is accident investigations where people feel more traumatised and stressed by the investigation process than by the experience of an accident. The situation is no different with audits and inspections. Over the years, this efficiency machinery has turned into a source of fear, anxiety, trauma, distress, and even dehumanising for those at the sharp end.
Who is this helping? What are we missing?
A day in Svendborg Our first meeting to discuss these issues will be held in Svendborg on 17th December from 10am-3pm
Venue: Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC), Nordre Havnevej 4, 5700 Svendborg, Denmark.
The purpose of this meeting is to bring a small group of people from across disciplines and sectors who realise the need for Humanistic Ethics in Risk Management.
What is our purpose?
Our purpose is to bring a balance perspective in risk management. Managing the risk should first begin with a focus on people. People who are at the lowest rung of the ladder. The workers, the experts, the technicians, the operators and the supervisors. No one should feel threatened by this efficiency engine. No one should feel pressured by the thought of an inspection or an audit. This simple message needs to be brought to the attention of regulators, risk managers and policy leaders. We do this by introducing a strong foundation in Humanistic Ethics and a range of practical methods that can be applied to work towards humanising organisations.
How can we achieve our purpose?
We can only expect organisations to become human-centred when we can show how it translates into practice. Over the years, we have drawn from across disciplines both in STEM and non-STEM (theology, mythology, anthropology, social psychology, sociology, analytical psychology, linguistics, cognition and more) to create practical methods and tools. These highly intuitive methods are designed based on a humanistic philosophy. Our aim is to help regulators, managers, designers and operators to recognise the subjective nature of human decision making and keep it in balance with the existing focus on measurement and objective sciences (STEM). For example, understanding human decision making (under pressure), psychology of goals, motivation, perception, subjectivity, beliefs, values and cultural constructs. Focusing more on these areas will help to bring a balanced perspective on risk management.
Key focus areas to build competence in Humanistic Ethics:
- Ethical leadership
- Safety-oriented Culture
- Holistic Ergonomics, Design Thinking and Human Factors
- Social Psychology of Decision Making and Risk
- Trauma and Social Resilience in Crisis Management
- Change Management - Event Learning (Accident Investigations)
- Critical Thinking
- Social Organising and Sensemaking
A suggestion for consideration:
Transdisciplinary education: Young pupils (and those educated in STEM) to learn and practice Humanistic approaches in managing risk.
A day in Svendborg Our first meeting will be held in Svendborg on 17th December from 10am-3pm
Venue: Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC), Nordre Havnevej 4, 5700 Svendborg, Denmark.
The purpose of this meeting is to bring a small group of people from across disciplines and sectors who realise the need for Humanistic Ethics in Risk Management.
It is not our intention to set a strict agenda, an objective or a desired outcome for this first meeting. The aim is to engage in an open conversation to see how we can bring this vision to life through your participation and support.
After the meeting is over, we invite you to join us for a social event to share drinks and a humble meal. The details for the social gathering will follow soon.