Is the link between Zero Harm and Zero Error normal?

Article by Brent Sutton from Learning Teams Inc .

This week, Brent Robinson and I were fortunate to spend two days with a group of Health and Safety Practitioners about all things HOP, Learning Teams, and the 4Ds. I estimated that the group, on average, had 15 to 20 years of experience in the field. Some would see this as a difficult challenge to create change in an attempt to "convert" people to the "new view." If change were easy, we wouldn't be having some of the conversations in this space. At Learning Teams Inc , we have always seen our role as one of "enabling change" through curiosity, critical appraisal, and critical thinking. We start that with building HOP Fluency and HOP Advocacy amongst the groups.

Of particular interest are the groups of seasoned health and safety investigators who have used various methods of investigating accidents over there time. Why change to Learning Teams when the tools I have used have always served me well? This is a great question to ask.

Telling them they have been doing investigations wrong or they should be doing investigations differently is an alternative to blame.

Context drives behavior, and people have beliefs. Change comes from within, not a course or a certificate of attendance.

During our discussions, we explored the link between the "desire" for zero harm and for workers to make fewer errors and mistakes. This link between harm and error is strong. And the principle of HOP, "Error is normal, people make mistakes," was conflicting for many. I really enjoy the saying from Rob Fisher ,

Always separate Error from the Event.

Without separation, we are forming a bias in how we deal with unwanted events.

With this inspiration from Rob, I asked these simple questions;

Is error an Action or an Outcome?

Is error a Choice or a Consequence?

We observed not the answers but how people began to reflect on these questions. They were questions that made us think deeply about our beliefs. And to open the door to explore this further.

We then took the group through a "Lego-based exercise" that was inspired by the good work of Josh Bryant . I have extended this exercise to explore all of the HOP Principles and to introduce people to "Error Traps," "Error Likely Situations," and "Error Modes" in work.

It was truly a light bulb moment for many in the group because;

Once curiosity kicks in, the HOP journey starts for us all. - Brent Sutton

This topic of Human Error is being explored in Volume 2 of the HOP Beginners Guide to Doing Safety Differently, for release in late April/early May 2024. Volume 1: Introduction to HOP is available now on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVGX424N?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi