Evolve Consulting Scotland Ltd

02/09/2025

Risk Tolerance – Don’t be a Headcase

It’s a big day for sports fans as Scotland Rugby host the indominable Ireland for the second round of the 2025 Men’s 6-Nations. Meanwhile, over the ocean, Kansas City Chiefs are gearing up to take on the Philadelphia Eagles for the Super Bowl.

All four teams have been uncompromising in their training and will be singularly focussed on getting a win today. Scotland go into this game as the underdog, having failed to secure a win against Ireland in their last 10 meets. But fans and pundits see glimmers of hope of maintaining their dream of the Triple Crown if the team can keep the discipline tight and take advantage of the home crowd.

The outcome of the Super Bowl tonight is less clear, with bookies offering a 55% chance of a win to the Chiefs.

All the blood, sweat, and tears feels worth it for the elation of a win – the upside risk. That moment of glory is a strong motivator against the pain of a physically gruelling game.

However, both sports have been marred by tragedy with countless players suffering concussions that have led to motor-neurone disease, permanent brain injury, and even death[1]. But the risk was tolerated and, worse than that, even celebrated. Like Roman gladiators, crowds would often cheer the clashes on the pitch, perpetuating the culture of aggression.

Mercifully, in recent years and with more research into the consequences of head injuries, both games have changed to reduce the risk of head injuries. We have seen changes to the rules; increased penalties for rule violation; the use of monitoring technology (smart mouthguards); head trauma avoidance training; and a communication campaign targeting players, coaches, and supporters.

In the energy industry, we have gone through a similar process. Missing fingers were once a badge of honour – the risk associated with the hazardous work we do was accepted as “just part of the job”. However, employers and Step Change in Safety have worked hard to challenge this risk tolerance and strive towards a place where we can win (deliver the energy) but without incident (injury, environmental release, quality event).

So - don’t be a headcase. Look out for risk being tolerated as “just part of the job” and challenge it. Whatever our role - whether a player or fan, a frontline worker or a manager - we can all play our part.



[1] The British Medical Journal reported in 2018 that, after 25 games, professional rugby players were more likely than not to suffer a serious concussion

05/02/2024

Knight Rider, my childhood TV obsession from the '80s, was my first introduction to the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. It's amazing how a show from decades ago sparked my curiosity about AI's potential impact on our future.

At an Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce event earlier this year, leading expert, Nina Schick, predicted that AI will radically transform our lives in the next 12-18 months. It is both exciting and thought-provoking. It's incredible to imagine the advancements and changes on the horizon.

Who else was captivated by KITTs capabilities?



P.S. post partly created by ChatGBT

09/12/2023

3 years ago, I set up Evolve Consulting in the middle of the pandemic, from my spare room. This year we moved into these lovely new offices in Westhill. We’re excited about the next chapter

07/05/2023

At the Positively Influencing Safety event yesterday, I was thrilled to meet Dr. Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer, West Sussex Fire and Rescue who delivered an impactful keynote address. I’ve recently finished her excellent book, “The Heat of the Moment” – a book that is both insightful and easy to read. In it, she shares profound insights from her frontline experience as a firefighter, while using her scientific expertise to shed light on the critical nature of making choices under extreme pressure.

The book is a vivid reminder of the horrors that firefighters face daily – and the debt of gratitude we owe them. We learn how it really feels to enter a burning house – “too hot to draw breath. But the sensation doesn’t ease…it just gets hotter”- only to find a pram in the hall, and realise there is probably a child upstairs. Sabrina takes the reader through a series of mind-bendingly awful decisions: who should she rescue first, the children trapped in a car with their dead father, or the unconscious man in the other vehicle? Is it better to divert floodwater into a hospital or an electricity substation? Can she justify sending firefighters into a burning warehouse when she knows no one is inside?

The book skillfully guides us through principles of decision making including:
- Continually seeking out new information to build an accurate mental jigsaw
- Trusting your gut but before using you intuition: consider the goal, expectations, and risks v benefits
- The importance of training, drills and practicing different scenarios
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As we reflect this week on the 35th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, it’s hard not to draw parallels. Both narratives shed light on the harrowing circumstances that demand split-second decisions, and the immense weight these choices carry for individuals and their surroundings. By dissecting the factors that influence decision-making, Sabrina's work and the Piper Alpha disaster serve as powerful reminders of the need for effective decision-making processes and the immense consequences when they fall short.
Let's embrace these invaluable lessons and foster a mindset that prioritises critical thinking, situational awareness, and continuous improvement in our decision-making processes. Together, we can work towards a safer and more resilient future

06/15/2023

Error traps. Performance influencing factors. Performance shaping factors. Call it what you will, these are the conditions that make it more likely that people will make mistakes when doing their work.

Yesterday I met with Step Change in Safety’s “Human Factors Workgroup” where experts collaborated to debunk some of the mystique around error traps. Often seen as the domain of specialists, many managers and their companies have studiously avoided considering these in risk assessments and toolbox talks. Yet, some studies estimate that a whopping 98% of accidents have human error as a contributing factor, so it makes sense to anticipate where things could go wrong.

For example, a carefully curated list of relevant error traps can be used to help spot where mistakes could be made and, therefore, lead to the identification of controls that will reduce the risk.

Does it still sound like gobbledygook? Consider these scenarios:

· You’re driving to work and, after some time, you suddenly realise you’re farther through your journey than you thought, and you don’t remember how you got there (distraction)
· You’re making dinner, listening to your children argue, working around the dog who is on the look out for scraps, and thinking about that last, uncomfortable meeting you had with your boss. You accidentally forget to add a key ingredient in your recipe (high workload / multitasking)
· You didn’t sleep well and, as a result your patience is wearing a little thin which causes you to snap at a colleague (fatigue)
· You’ve been on 2 weeks holiday and can’t remember your laptop password (first task after time off)
· During your trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, you quickly jump in the car to urgently get some medicine for your fevered child. You begin driving on the left side of the road (stress / non-routine work)

If you can relate to any of these, you’ve fallen into an error trap – and that’s ok, we all do it. The good news is that they can be identified and controlled.

For more information about human factors including some great case studies, visit: https://www.stepchangeinsafety.net/workgroups/human-factors/

06/07/2023

“A.I. is the perfect co-pilot for people with dyslexic skills,”
- Richard Branson

AI has appeared in the news a lot recently. Richard Branson is one of the world's most well-known dyslexic thinkers. In this article, he shares his vision for how AI can support and enhance the creativity of his fellow dyslexics.

Did you know? LinkedIn has added "dyslexic thinking" to its key skills.

I'm fortunate to have two neurodiverse family members and celebrate their novel approach to problem solving. If you'd like to find out more about the unique strengths of your dyslexic colleagues, check out Made By Dyslexia for more information

Richard Branson, who dropped out of school at 15, said dyslexia might have made his career.

06/06/2023

Impressive from SSE plc who were very responsive last week when a line failure resulted in the loss of power to our house. The problem was difficult to locate but they persevered, trying various creative solutions - all while keeping themselves and others safe. They installed a generator in case we needed back-up power but, thankfully, they were able to restore the line. Thank you

06/05/2023

Pumped to start the week following up on this workshop. Thanks to all the speakers for so generously sharing your good practices in offshore induction, and to all participants for working together to help improve this important safety training

🔺Offshore Induction Workshop

Yesterday we had a great attendance at our offshore induction workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to identify existing good practice in offshore inductions and determine the minimum information required at an induction.

Thank you to the following companies who were willing to share their own offshore induction good practice:

🔺Ithaca
🔺NEO Energy
🔺Anasuria
🔺Perenco
🔺Spirit
🔺Shell
🔺CNOOC

06/04/2023

Come the autumn, my camera roll fills with pictures of these beautiful forest organisms. Here, David Andrew Quist suggests we have much to learn from the resilience and intelligence of fungi

After a billion years of evolution, fungi are masters of invention and resilience. What wisdom can we draw from their long, remarkable existence? Mycologist ...

05/10/2023

My daughter was barely moments old when the unthinkable happened. The elation of holding her in my arms for the first time was replaced by horror as the midwife swiftly rushed my blue- skinned baby to resus. Thankfully, she was fine and is thriving as a sassy pre-teen now. But, in that instant, the primitive drive to protect my child engulfed me like a tsunami.

This urge controls our imaginations which vividly conjure the worst-case scenario, and prompt us to do everything in our power to protect them from harm. But, in doing so, we often focus on the downside of risk and we neglect to remember the good that can come.

This week at Brownies, we taught our 7- to 10-year-old girls to strike a match – a simple and useful skill. As leaders, we followed Girlguiding’s risk assessment procedure to identify the measures required to keep everyone safe. Each Six (team) was assigned an adult leader and we explained the mission. We demonstrated how to strike the match safely away from the body. We asked what could go wrong and how we could keep everyone safe – the girls were enthusiastic in their safety discussions and came up with some fantastic ideas. We were outside for this activity but the light breeze thwarted our attempts so, as a team, we decided to form a tight circle to shelter the flame from the wind - and that triggered another conversation about what else we had to do to stay safe. Without prompting, the girls even kept each other in check when one or two “forgot” the rules we had agreed. Some were a little hesitant and didn’t use enough pressure but, with some encouragement from the Six and some coaching from the leaders, every girl managed to light a candle.

The result: a unit of happy, confident, girls who took great pride and satisfaction in learning a new skill and accomplishing their mission. In involving the Brownies in assessing the risk, we empower them to take responsibility and give them the opportunity to practice risk management for themselves. We equip them to be able to respond appropriately when they, inevitably, face a risk when we’re not around.

Does this sound familiar in our work lives? We strive to produce energy/manufacture/deliver a service or achieve some other mission but, in doing so, we face risks that might have undesired consequences. However, we go ahead because we have mitigated the downside risk through the use of procedures, task risk assessment; planning; toolbox talks with the work party; change management; supervision and coaching; teamwork; communication; and accountability….just like the Brownies.

Girlguiding Scotland