Blog
Warning! May cause laughter
Posted on: May 15 2013
Charlie Brooker is more well-known for his obscure and often very darkly-tinged comedies such as Screenwipe and Black Mirror, but in his weekend article featured in the Guardian, turned his rapier-like witticisms to a variety of aspects within Health & Safety. When comedians ‘do’ health and safety, it usually focuses on the archetypal elements such as clipboards, hard hats, hi-viz and a generous amount of jobsworthiness (see Ben Elton 
Making an exhibition of ourselves
Posted on: May 09 2013
Last week I shared a piece of H&S ‘good’ news as relief to the several weeks of headline-dominating tragedies that have taken place recently. The purpose of this was also to offer the suggestion that we should ‘accentuate the positive’ more when it comes to our approach to Health & Safety. Some of you agree and I’m grateful to those who have commented both to…
The good of good news
Posted on: May 01 2013
Since last week's post, plans are afoot to delve deeper into the Texas fertiliser plant explosion and it seems likely that more detail around the safety record of the facility will be uncovered. Given this and the tragic news of last week's building collapse in Bangladesh it would have been terribly easy to have put out another post around this or indeed any of the other many safety failings in…
Counting the Cost in Boston & Texas
Posted on: April 30 2013
In the last few days, the US has dominated the world headlines with the horrific explosions during the Boston Marathon and also the fertiliser plant near the small town of West in Texas. Both devastating and far-reaching in terms of the effect that they have had and will continue to have on the communities, we find ourselves as media consumers awaiting the fallout from these events that will begin…
Careful! You nearly used the ‘s’ word!
Posted on: April 18 2013
As well as writing blogs around health & safety, corporate reputation and safety culture I often find myself reading quite a few too. There has been a particular one this week in which the messaging has resonated in my mind and it is this blog from Kevin Jones, an Australian workplace safety consultant. This week he has been weighing up the arguments around the use of the actual word  
Safety isn’t a game, surely…?
Posted on: April 11 2013
If like me, you aim to be up to date with the latest technologies and trends, you might be familiar with the term gamification. For the benefit of those who aren't, gamification is the method of using game-like techniques within applications and organisations to attain user engagement and solve problems by promoting aspects such as competition and reward. If you want a more detailed definition, try this one.…
Learning from Lakanal
Posted on: April 04 2013
As you may have seen this week, the findings of the Lakanal House fire have been published. The fire at the London-based tower block claimed the lives of three women and three children in July 2009 and highlighted some serious failings around fire risk assessments and the communication of fire safety to residents of high-rise residential buildings. The presiding coroner singled out Southwark Council and the London Fire Brigade…
The social impact on reputation
Posted on: March 28 2013
This week I saw a thought-provoking infographic relating to the effect of social media on corporate reputation, among other key business areas. The graphic has been around for a while now and is very much focussed on US business, but the findings and overall message I think are relevant to any business that cares about its reputation. As a company, Rivo puts a great deal of stock into social media…