Training Course

A Culture of Safety: Acting on Warning Signs

Creating a Mindful Organisation

Description

Participants will acquire the essential background knowledge required to oversee the development and improvement of Safety Leadership within their organisation.

A 1-day intensive course to guide and instruct organisations in the key aspects of becoming a
‘mindful organisation’.

The course utilises the Creating a Mindful Organisation DVD featuring Professor Andrew
Hopkins. It is based on the lessons outlined in his book Safety, Culture and Risk.

 A Culture of Safety brochure

Overview

The course has been specifically designed to help management address the shortfalls of a
traditional organisational mindset and make the necessary steps towards being “mindful” by
covering the areas of:

  • High reliability organisations
  • Collective mindfulness
  • Culture of Denial
  • Group-think
  • Reporting Systems

Key elements of the course

  1. HROs & Collective Mindfulness: In this session participants will identify the concepts of High Reliability Organisations and Collective Mindfulness. As part of the activities, participants will be able to identify those typical warning signs that are likely to lead to an incident in their organisation and
    conduct an assessment of the organisation against the characteristics of a ‘mindful organisation’.
  2. Culture of Denial - Beliefs: The series of four beliefs will be identified which enable people to dismiss the significance of warnings. As part of the activities, participants will identify for their organisation:
    • Ambiguous warning signs
    • Intermittent warnings signs
    • Examples of normalisation
    • The onus of proof approach
  3. Culture of Denial - Groupthink: In this session, participants will discover the final aspect of the culture of denial - the idea of Group-think. As part of the activities, participants will identify strategies to manage the aspect of Group-think and identify improvements to their meetings within the organisation, based on the Group-think remedies provided.
  4. Reporting System: In this session, participants will review the design and features of a Reporting System which ensure warning signs are picked up properly and assessed. As part of the activities, participants will:
    • Review the organisation’s incident
      reporting system and identify the report
      contents, training and perception of
      employees.
    • Define specific processes in the
      organisation to assist in identifying
      warning signs.
    • Identify actions required to implement/redevelop the Incident Reporting System.
  5. Summary of Program: This session will provide an overall summary of what it means to be a ‘mindful
    organisation’. Participants will conduct a review of each of the course activities and collate their actions into an Action Plan for their organisation. A written assessment questionnaire will be issued as the final activity.

Key learning objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants will:

  • Understand the key elements of a mindful organisation
  • Be able to implement and apply the processes of a mindful organisation
  • Have identified improvement areas for their own organisation
  • Have developed an action plan for implementation in their own organisation.

Who will benefit?

Strategic decision makers including:
• Senior Executives, Managers and Engineers
• Senior Safety personnel
• Anyone who would like to develop an understanding of a mindful organisation

Course structure

The course is structured to provide a learning environment through listening to Professor
Hopkins on short video clips, as he discusses the key ways of creating a ‘mindful organisation’.
At strategic points, the facilitator will engage participants in discussion and debate regarding
the issues that arise which will then lead to identifying actions that need to be taken in their
organisation.
The participant’s notes provided are formatted around the dialogue of Professor Hopkins from
the video, and allow participants to record their response to the course activities.
A summary of the key points of the dialogue is provided prior to each activity.

Development of the course

The course has been developed by FutureMedia in partnership with Professor Andrew
Hopkins.

How is the course delivered?

The course runs for 1-day.
The course is designed for delivery to a single organisation and includes:

  1. Pre-course consultation. The course facilitator contacts the client in advance so as to determine client needs to be met during the facilitation.
  2. Post-course Action Plan. Participant’s action plans are collated by the facilitator and forwarded to the organisation’s coordinator.

Course Facilitators

All course facilitators are highly experienced HSE professionals whilst also being accredited
workplace trainers and have been independently accredited by FutureMedia.

Fee Structure

Creating a Mindful Organisation

1-day course

  • Minimum course numbers 10. Maximum course numbers 15.
  • The cost for facilitation includes the pre and post course consulting, as well as facilitating the course
  • Reduced fees apply for multiple facilitations
  • Transport and accommodation, if required, is additional
  • GST is additional for Australian clients.

Contact us for more information and cost.

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