Category: ISO 45001

b.SAFE Reenactment Workshops: transforming safety culture through storytelling

John and Martin at work on site in UK

‘Systems that value stories and storytelling are potentially more reliable …. people know more about the system, know more of the potential errors that might occur, and…are more confident that they can handle those errors that do occur’’

‘Organisational Culture as a source of High Reliability’ Karl E Weick*

On January 24th 2018 a serious incident took place in a cinema in Dusseldorf. Similar incidents took place on power plants across Europe from 2019 to 2024. The bad news is that in all cases the unexpected release of latent energy resulted in what could have been life changing injuries. The good news is each of these incidents were simulated, part of a b.SAFE Reenactment Workshop. These workshops were run by Beehive for Uniper. Called ‘change the conversation, change the culture’, Uniper was using the workshops to enhance their safety culture with the transformative power of storytelling and reenactment.

Intentional error

After each incident was played out scene by scene the groups held a debrief to discuss how the interpersonal relationships and behaviours of the characters contributed to the end result. This was followed by key skills development which Beehive designed to meet the specific needs of the client. Then a clear plan to avoid a similar incident was discussed and agreed. Finally, the participants had the chance to change the ending; to work with the actors to change the conversations and behaviours and prevent the accident from happening again. Because humans engage with stories more than facts all participants, whatever their level of experience or understanding, became engrossed in the action. In all cases the participants left with better skills and more motivated and inspired to make changes back at work. This is why reenactment workshops are so powerful. They reach the parts of the workforce other types of development just don’t reach.  As one participant commented:

The activities that made you stop and think differently. They made you reflect and dig deeper into why

Uniper b.SAFE Reenactment Workshop participant

Scenario reenactment

Scenario re-enactment is widely used in safety critical industries where trial and error is simply not an option for learning.  Event rehearsal and contingency planning are both situations in which role play is a powerful tool.

But how does storytelling and reenactment enhance your organisational safety culture? And what sets the b.SAFE reenactment workshops apart? It’s their focus. They hone in on interpersonal relationships, lack of trust and immature safety culture. They explore how these latent conditions make accident and injury so much more likely. And having an in-house script writer, co-director of Beehive and b.SAFE Sara Lodge, means the scripts and workshops can be tailored directly to the client’s needs.

Beehive’s research partnership with Bangor University

Mark Sykes, co-director of Beehive and b.SAFE, and Sara have spent the last fifteen years providing high quality behavioural training to safety critical industries.  Originally an organisational development consultancy specialising in behaviour change, the shift in focus to safety culture took place after Sara partnered with Bangor University’s Wales Centre for Behaviour Change, part of the Psychology Department, in 2013.

She worked with client Alstom Power Services and neuropsychologist Paul Carter to conduct research into the Bradley Curve, in particular the key interpersonal factors that most contribute to Interdependent safety culture. This is the culture associated with the lowest levels of accident, injury and defect. From this Sara developed a model of trust-based safety culture and what is now Beehive’s flagship safety leadership programme, the b.SAFE D2iP (Dependency to Interdependency) programme. b.SAFE, Beehive’s safety culture brand, was born.

‘b.SAFE Reenactments’

The shift to reenactment workshops for Beehive was a by-product of this work. Sara and Mark designed the first workshop to address a lack of compliance in Alstom’s workforce in relation to Permits to Work. Bringing an on-site incident resulting from a PtW violation into the training room created immediate impact. Participants were given the chance to use their new skills immediately to change the outcome of the scenario. Because of this, the impact of individual behaviours on safety was brought to life in a way that no other form of training had done before. The effects were dramatic. Incidents involving permits dropped by half in the next year. That’s why Beehive developed the b.SAFE Reenactment Workshops – because they work. As another participant comments:

The acting adds a fun and practical twist to the education. This is one of the best courses I have ever attended.

Uniper b.SAFE Reenactment Workshop participant

Trust-based safety culture

The trust-based safety culture model that Sara developed as a result of the research partnership has informed Beehive’s unique approach to psychological safety and safety behaviours ever since. Because of this, since 2014 Beehive has worked with clients across the power sector, delivering reenactment workshops in UK and Europe. This is alongside their flagship 12 month safety leadership programme, the b.SAFE D2iP. The D2iP is designed to help people move along the Bradley Curve. Part of it is delivered at the Brathay Trust in Cumbria, an organisation that Beehive has a long collaborative relationship with. Brathay is a specialist in experiential learning, and its unique learning environment is another way Beehive makes its safety training high impact. To hear the power of the combination of Beehive’s expertise and Brathay’s resources, listen to Geoff Livingstone, a participant on the b.SAFE D2iP Safety leadership programme.

Geoff Livingstone describes the impact of the residential module at Brathay on Beehive’s b.SAFE D2iP Safety Leadership Programme

Creating a workshop – script writing and design

‘Writing a script for a client is a complex task’, said Sara, Beehive director. ‘The scenarios are often based on one or more real incidents. I can’t write them too close to the real action. But I have to write them close enough to it to be recognised and credible to the audience! I need to make the characters and events believable. The task and incident have to be credible and staged to create genuine shock and impact. Like any drama there has to be a convincing dilemma to drive the behaviours. Then I have to include variety, humour and tension across different scenes to keep the audience interested. This is while incorporating the specific client safety management system and correct terminology. Then the workshop content has to be developed and designed around this. It’s a bit like putting a jigsaw together!’

Delivering the workshop

‘This becomes more complicated when we are delivering to different countries and in different languages and cultures.’ Mark continues.  ‘On the Uniper project we have delivered native language workshops in Germany, Sweden, Netherlands and Hungary. Not everything translates across languages. But we’re talking about human dilemmas and they are the same across continents. There are logistical challenges in taking the workshops onto site too. However, having been on the road with our teams delivering in Sweden, France, The Netherlands and Germany as well as UK I’ve seen how the different national as well as site cultures respond to the concept. It’s always the same, they always engage. That’s why we use reenactment and storytelling in our safety education.’

Showcase event

On October 23rd 2024 Beehive will be showcasing their reenactment workshops at a seminar at Brathay Hall in Cumbria. We want participants to experience one of the workshops, as well as explore Brathay’s unique learning environment. Beehive and Brathay have a close collaborative relationship, sharing the same values and methodologies, and their partnership is a long and productive one. To see if you are eligible for an invitation to the seminar and to find out more about the b.SAFE Reenactment Workshops please contact info@beecld.co.uk.

To find out more about people development at Brathay Trust please go to https://www.brathay.org.uk/people-development/

*Weick, Karl E., ‘Organisational Culture as a source of High Reliability’,California Management Review, Volume XXIX, Number 2, Winter 1987 – p113

Emotional resilience – making health and safety personal

‘All My Sons’, a play by Arthur Miller, is about greed and human weakness under pressure. A cracked cylinder head and a difficult decision leads to many deaths, including that of a son. It makes me think of a comment made by a participant on one of our reenactment workshops. He’d been involved in an incident which though serious could have been much more so. Now, before putting anyone to work, he asks himself, ‘would I put my son to work in this situation?’ Safety had become deeply personal to him.

Everyone is someone’s son or daughter

That universal idea – would I do this to my son/daughter? – is the central theme of the play . All My Sons is as good an analysis of the causes and devastating consequences of a protection v. production decision as any event report or case study. It explores the need for personal qualities, like courage and resilience, under pressure. Our participant’s comment wasn’t intended to exclude women, he just didn’t have a daughter. But what had happened brought very clearly into focus that he’d been complacent and not very courageous in confronting a colleague, and it was only luck that stopped serious harm happening to another. He realised that similar complacency from someone else in another environment might put his son in danger. Through that incident he became aware of safety in a different way, the difference between ‘knowing’ and knowing.

‘Knowing’ and knowing

The ability to catastrophise is an important skill for a safety practitioner. Part of the role is anticipating what can go wrong, and mitigating risk. But there are two different types of knowing that things can go wrong:

  1. One is the intellectual knowledge, based on training, rationality, laws of probability, physical properties, situational conditions, and endless induction presentations, that mistakes happen and so may happen to you.
  2. The other is ‘lived experience’, the very personal, visceral knowledge you gain through being personally involved in an incident, directly or indirectly. This cuts through the psychological defence of ‘it would never happen to me’. The knowledge that the world can turn from comfortable predictability to chaos without warning is something that can’t be learned through a toolbox talk. And it has a profound effect.

Safety – it’s personal

Those who do not have the lived experience can’t have the second type of knowledge. That’s not a failing, it’s a fact. And there can be a problem if things become too personal. If there is any kind of post-traumatic impact after an event such as hypervigilance – seeing danger in everything – it can be paralysing. So, as a psychiatrist colleague said once, relaxed vigilance is best – being alert to the risks and mitigating them while still functioning as effectively as possible.

Getting the balance can be a challenge. Having been involved in a significant incident in the workplace where the unimaginable happened, I’ve seen and experienced personally the impact that such an incident can have. Also, as a police officer, I dealt with others’ life changing  events on a shift by shift basis; events which had both accidental and intentional causes. Later, as a trainee psychotherapist, I worked with people coming to terms with the effects of similar kinds of incidents and events on their lives. There’s no solution – these events are part of living.

Safeguarding – an essential part of QHSE

A significant indicator of a mature safety culture is when safeguarding goes beyond compliance and purely physical safety to psychological safety and well-being. To do that we need to make safety personal. So ask yourself the questions, ‘Would I be happy for my son or daughter to work in the environment that I do? If not, what can I do to change it?

Case study – Mark Sykes, Beehive Director says:

“While suicide obviously effects all genders, I know personally how hard it is to be a man and talk about feelings when something bad has happened. Not having anyone to talk to about how you feel reduces your emotional resilience. I have two sons in their thirties who, while being apparently happy and stable, are at a very vulnerable age when it comes to emotional well-being and risk of suicide. The statistics are frightening. It really brings it close to home.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/articles/leadingcausesofdeathuk/2001to2018#uk-leading-causes-of-death-by-age-group

A participant on our D2iP b.SAFE Safety Leadership programme shared that through the coaching skills that he’d learned on the programme he had almost certainly prevented someone from taking their own life. We can never be sure of course, but I know that had I had the skills, knowledge and awareness I have now in my 20s and 30s I would have made very different decisions.

Beehive’s mission is to reduce error and accidents at work by taking a different approach to safety education and safety culture. We see developing the skills of emotional resilience as being directly related to keeping people safe at work. ”

Related b.SAFE workshops

The link between well-being and error is clear and yet not well-researched. For more information on B.SAFE’s ‘Well-being and error’ half-day on-line workshop please contact info@beecld.co.uk

For more information about the b.SAFE D2iP Safety Leadership Programme contact Mark Sykes on mark@beecld.co.uk or go to https://beecld.co.uk/b-SAFE-D2iP-Safety-Leadership-Programme

Transitioning to ISO 45001 – four things you need to know about organisational culture

Find out why an organisational culture change initiative is like reading Stephen Hawking’s book ‘A Brief History of Time’

In my blog post ‘Why ISO 45001 is a safety revolution’ I mentioned the key differences between ISO 45001 and OHSAS 18001. One of them is the need to understand the cultural context of the organisation and what drives it – an aspect of ISO 45001 which has no equivalent in OHSAS 18001. As an organisational development consultancy, organisational culture is the backdrop to everything that we do – if you work in an organisation it’s the back drop to everything you do too. It’s also something that is often misunderstood. To understand organisational culture, you need to know the following four things. Hopefully, when you do, this will help you to ‘build in’ not ‘bolt on’ safety to organisational culture.

Before we begin, here’s a question:

What is an organisational culture change initiative like reading Stephen Hawking’s book ‘A Brief History of Time’?

You’ll have to wait till the end of the blog for the answer, but here’s the first thing you need to know about culture:

1. It’s complex

Organisations are ‘complex systems’ – open systems to be exact. The ‘systems’ bit means that all the different parts of an organisation are connected, so something happening in one area impacts on the others through the ripple effect. The ‘open’ bit means all those parts are also connected to the outside, so changes outside impact inside. The ‘complex’ bit is that the connections between the parts aren’t necessarily obvious or even visible, so the impact of changes inside or outside can be unpredictable. In addition, organisations are constantly moving and changing as internal and external conditions change. All of which make organisations, and therefore culture, complex.

2. It has breadth

From bsafebuzz.com 'Transitioning to ISO 45001 - four things you need to know about organisational culture' - a blog post to help those wanting to 'build in' not 'bolt on' safety to organisational culture. How all the different elements of an organisation are connected through core values, the beating heart of the organisation.
Beehive SySTERMS Model showing formal connections through the core values of the organisation

Culture encompasses everything in and about an organisation. It isn’t held in HR, it isn’t a ‘thing’ that is ‘bolted on’ – that sits alongside strategy or in corporate – it is everything. The structure of the organisation, its strategy, the systems, the employees and training, management, resources, and the patterns of how these functions interact – all of these are part of the culture. So, culture is both complex, and it has breadth.

3. It has depth

Most of organisational culture is invisible – held at what’s called the ‘psychological’ level. Like an iceberg, part of it is above the surface but more of it is below. This means you’re unlikely to be aware of it most of the time because it’s just ‘the way we do things round here’. In fact the only time people are really aware of the culture is in the first two to three months of a new job, or after a merger where two cultures are brought closely together!

The things above the surface include what you can touch, like the uniforms, offices and reception areas, company cars, PPE, for example, and what you can see like the branding, and behaviours – how employees speak to and treat each other, how conflict is dealt with, what happens in meetings, etc.

Below the surface are the intangible and invisible parts of culture – the collective mindset, attitudes, beliefs and values that drive organisational behaviours. What’s above provides the clues to what’s below. A great example of this are the ‘symbols of power’.

'Transitioning To ISO 45001' - four things you need to know about organisational culture to make it easier. If you want to make a cultural change it's helpful to know these four things before you begin. Understanding the complexities and the multi level nature of culture means you can anticipate and plan more effectively.

‘Symbols of power’ are the things that demonstrate who and what’s important – who gets a parking space or company car, who gets the best office, the state of the works canteen, helmet colour, who’s late for meetings without comment. There can be a difference between what’s said, in the mission statement or company values, and what’s done – that difference is part of the culture too. If you want to know the real values, look at what happens, not what’s said. For example, on the Niceberg, CEO Mr C Gull is giving friendly fish a V sign despite the mission statement ‘to be nice’.

4. It has a fourth dimension – time

In the same way that our past experiences shape us as a person and influence how we feel about what’s happening in the present, past organisational events impact on how employees respond to what’s happening in the present too. If there has been a poorly executed job evaluation in the past where employees felt undervalued, for example, the next time a significant change is introduced there may be more resistance. Past events and the feelings associated with them are communicated through stories told that can develop into powerful organisational myths. These can be exaggerated over time, and rarely challenged.

So in a nutshell:

In order to transition to ISO45001 you need to understand the cultural context. To help you do this you need to know: organisational culture is complex. Organisational parts – functions, teams, departments, sites – are interconnected, and therefore interdependent. The connections aren’t linear, though, or immediately obvious or even visible because they include what’s under the surface too; collective values, attitudes, beliefs, emotions and experiences. Most of culture is held in that out of awareness place – what’s above the surface only provides the clues to it. This is the case whatever the size of the organisation, but the bigger the organisation the more complex it is.

Example – introducing a questioning attitude on site

  • Introducing a questioning attitude sounds straightforward – you tell people, if you’re uncertain or think something is unsafe, ask a question or challenge. But for it to be most effective, and referring to the Beehive SySTERMS Model:
  • Employees need to have the communication skills and confidence to challenge constructively – asking ‘what the f***!’ isn’t what’s needed here (Employees).
  • If employees are recruited on the basis of technical skills alone this may not be the case (HR SYstems).
  • If the training function has a technical focus there may not be the capability within the organization to develop the communication skills needed (Training).
  • If soft skills are not seen as important (Values) there may not be the money made available for soft skills development (Resources).
  • Managers need to have the awareness and confidence to deal constructively with questioning and challenge (Management).
  • In traditional hierarchies where managers tell and others do (Structure), having employees question may feel like too big a challenge to ‘how we do things round here’ (Values).
  • An employee who questions a manager in this environment is taking a big risk.
  • If someone questions and is knocked back, that story could become part of company folklore where it can act as a barrier to change.

So, how does all this answer the question: why is an organisational culture change initiative like reading Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’?

Answer – Because they are both started with the best of intentions, but rarely finished.

They’re both rarely finished because people underestimate the amount of time, commitment and energy required to finish them. In a short-term, fast-changing world anything that doesn’t create immediate results is likely to be side-lined, and the importance of ‘soft’ power, and the intangible elements of culture are often not taken into account in the planning. This can result in a re-structure, but with the same core values, beliefs and mindset, and therefore the same behaviours, causing the same problems.

First steps in culture change

To truly ‘build it in’, safety has to become a core organisational value – running through the organisation like words through a stick of rock; role-modelled by directors, adequately resourced and measured, a key part of business strategy, the backdrop to every decision made. The good thing is the shift from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001 shows that that is now recognised – it is the future of safety.

Beehive SySTERMS Model – building safety in, not bolting it on

What are your experiences of culture change or behaviour change? Do any of these four things ring true for you? I’d be interested in your examples.

PS Beehive is running a free safety culture seminar as part of its ‘b.SAFE@Brathay’ partnership at Brathay in Cumbria on March 29th 2019. We’ll share the results of our research with Bangor university into organisational culture, and our trust-based safety culture model, the D2iT. For more information please contact info@beecld.co.uk.

Beehive is working in partnership with the National Skills Academy Nuclear (NSAN), providing one-day ‘Coaching to Support a Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture’ workshops. The next workshop is on June 12th 2019, venue tbc. For more details please contact Stacy Balmer:stacey.balmer@nsan.co.uk

The first step in any change is a gap analysis – identify where you are now and where you want to be so you can plan the next steps. There are many ways of doing this – an ISO 45001 audit, a safety culture analysis, or a more general cultural 360 like the OCI, the Organisational Culture Inventory. For more information contact info@beecld.co.uk