The Brain As The Hazard- Next Level Blaming

In the increasing quest for the next solution that will control, mitigate, and eliminate hazards in the workplace, it now turns out that your brain is a hazard. This is according to Dekra, who are inviting people to learn about the Seven Brain Centred Hazards (that's trademarked by the way, so no stealing that term).

When I initially read about this I was concerned that it might be a terrible concept that could end up further blaming individuals for incidents. Now that I have had some time to consider it I am now convinced that it is a terrible idea that will definitely end up blaming individuals for incidents.

More BBS, Less Human

Making the brain a hazard is taken straight from the behaviouralism (behaviour based safety) playbook. It will be very appealing to people who think that safety is a choice you make, and that you just need to have a big enough reason to be safe (like your family, your pet, or your bank manager).

However it completely ignores the role of workplace culture and other external influencers on thinking and behaviour. It is also dehumanising, and negates the role that thinking plays in keeping us alive and businesses safe.

Thinking V The Brain

Now, I understand that the way I think can be fallible, and I also understand that that fallibility could sometimes result in me (or even someone else) getting hurt. It certainly has in the past, and it might again in the future. But my thinking is not the same as my brain, and making my brain the culprit can have negative outcomes, including:

• I'm quite fond of my brain, and so when you make it the problem to fix, you're implying that I am also the problem (again, I am aware that behaviouralists see no issue with this);
• There is no discussion of fallibility, which is a very human thing, and so this is why treating the brain as a hazard is dehumanising; and
• My thinking has managed to keep me alive (and mostly safe nearly all the time) for 47 years, so if anything my brain should be getting credit for that, rather than being told it's the problem.

It's About Trajectory

Of course Dekra are not exactly be saying that the brain is a hazard, and they are instead talking about brain centred hazards. But we all know that industry is not that nuanced. With any approach we have to ask "Where is this heading?", and the trajectory of this type of approach is to further blame the person as the custodian of the brain.

I'm sure you can imagine that even without an incident there will be discussion about which of the seven brain centred hazards a person has. When organisations are trying to decipher why someone took a short cut or didn't speak up, there will be no discussion of cultural or organisation factors, only a targeting of which one/s of the brain hazards the person failed to control.

In this context the brain is an object with the potential to cause harm (a hazard), and therefore, by extension, the person becomes the potential source of harm that needs to be controlled, mitigated, managed or eliminated.

Maybe the goal is to eliminate people, after all, that is the only way we can ever make something 100% safe...