How Do We Practically Apply the "New View" to Our Existing Operations?

The New View of Safety represents a progressive shift in how we approach workplace safety, moving away from assigning blame to individuals and adhering strictly to compliance. Instead, it invites a deeper exploration of systems, behaviours, and the intricate nature of work itself. This approach acknowledges that safety transcends mere rule-following; it is fundamentally linked to the actual processes and interactions that take place within the workplace. By embracing a comprehensive understanding of how work is performed, organisations can more effectively pinpoint potential hazards and craft tailored safety strategies.

Central to the New View is the idea of learning from all experiences, whether they are positive or negative, and fostering collaboration at every level of the organisation. This teamwork-driven mindset cultivates an environment where employees feel empowered to share their insights and experiences, enriching the collective understanding of the challenges they encounter daily. Additionally, it underscores the necessity of building resilience within the organisation—strengthening its capacity to foresee, adapt to, and recover from unforeseen events, which in turn minimises the risk of incidents.

To successfully integrate the New View into existing operations, organisations must take tangible steps to align safety practices with systemic thinking and embed this mindset within their culture. This involves not only reassessing current safety protocols but also actively engaging with employees to grasp the realities of their work environments. By concentrating on how work is truly accomplished, organisations can effectively connect theoretical safety measures with practical applications, resulting in more impactful and sustainable safety outcomes.

Key Principles of the New View

Work as Done vs. Work as Imagined:
- Recognise the gap between how work is planned and how it is performed in real-life situations.
Learning from Normal Work:
- Understand daily operations to identify how safety is maintained or compromised in practice.
Focus on Systems, Not Individuals:
- Address systemic factors contributing to errors rather than blaming workers.
Build Resilience:
- Enhance the organisation’s ability to anticipate, adapt, and recover from unexpected events.

*Pro Tip: Start Small - Begin with a pilot program to apply New View principles, gather insights, and refine your approach before scaling.

Practical Steps to Apply the New View

Observe and Understand Work
- Conduct everyday work explorations to observe how tasks are performed on the ground.
- Talk to workers to understand their challenges, adaptations, and strategies for managing risks.
- Use tools like process mapping or ethnographic studies to document "work as done."
Shift Focus from Compliance to Context
- Reassess safety audits and inspections to focus on the context of work rather than just checking for compliance.
- Look at how workers adjust to constraints and manage variability to keep operations running safely.
Engage Workers in Safety Discussions
- Hold learning teams or group discussions to analyze incidents and near-misses collaboratively.
- Encourage open dialogue to uncover systemic issues and learn from the people closest to the work.
Rethink Incident Investigations
- Investigate incidents using the New View lens by asking:
  - What factors influenced decisions or actions?
  - How did the system create conditions for errors to occur?
  - What can we learn about system design and resilience?
- Focus on identifying improvements to processes and systems, not assigning blame.
Adapt Training and Procedures
- Simplify procedures to reflect "work as done" and ensure they are practical for workers.
- Provide training that focuses on building skills and decision-making rather than rote compliance.
Build Safety into Systems
- Use design thinking to incorporate safety considerations into equipment, workflows, and processes.
- Ensure systems are flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions without compromising safety.
Develop Leading Indicators
- Shift from lagging indicators (e.g., injury rates) to leading indicators that reflect proactive safety efforts, such as:
  - Worker participation in safety discussions.
  - Identification of improvement opportunities.
  - Frequency of near-miss reporting.
Create a Learning Culture
- Celebrate learning opportunities from both successes and failures.
- Promote psychological safety where workers feel comfortable sharing insights without fear of blame.
Test and Iterate Changes
- Pilot new approaches on a small scale, gather feedback, and refine before wider implementation.
- Continuously evaluate the impact of changes and adapt based on findings.
Foster Leadership Engagement
- Ensure leaders model the principles of the New View by focusing on learning, support, and system improvements.
- Encourage leaders to engage directly with workers and operations to stay connected to "work as done."

*Pro Tip: Collaborate with Workers - Involve workers in identifying systemic issues and designing practical improvements.

Challenges in Applying the New View

Cultural Resistance: Workers and managers may be accustomed to traditional safety approaches.
- Solution: Use clear communication and involve stakeholders early to gain buy-in.
Balancing Compliance and New View: Regulatory requirements may still emphasise compliance.
- Solution: Align compliance activities with systemic improvements and learning.

*Caution: Don’t Abandon Compliance Entirely - While focusing on learning and systems, ensure regulatory requirements are still met as part of a balanced safety approach.

Summary

This article explains how to apply the New View of safety to existing operations through a series of practical and actionable steps. One key approach is to observe work as done, which involves directly witnessing how tasks are performed in real time rather than relying solely on theoretical plans or procedures. This first hand observation helps organisations to understand the complexities and nuances of daily operations, allowing them to identify potential safety issues that may not be evident in traditional compliance checks.

Engaging workers is another vital step in this process. By fostering open communication and collaboration, organisations can tap into the valuable insights and experiences of their employees. This engagement not only empowers workers but also cultivates a sense of ownership over safety practices, leading to more innovative and effective solutions to safety challenges.

Focusing on systems rather than individuals is essential for addressing the root causes of safety incidents. This systemic perspective encourages organisations to analyse how various elements—such as workflows, equipment, and environmental factors interact and contribute to safety outcomes. By understanding these relationships, organisations can implement more effective safety interventions that reduce the likelihood of errors and incidents.

Fostering a learning culture is critical for sustaining improvements over time. Organisations should celebrate learning opportunities derived from both successes and failures, promoting psychological safety where workers feel comfortable sharing insights without fear of blame. This cultural shift not only enhances trust among team members but also supports continuous improvement in safety practices.

By shifting from compliance based to context based safety management, organisations can enhance resilience, build trust, and improve safety outcomes. This transition allows for a more adaptive and responsive safety approach, where organisations are better equipped to anticipate and respond to the ever evolving challenges of the workplace. Ultimately, embracing the New View of safety leads to a more robust safety culture that prioritises the wellbeing of all employees while achieving operational excellence.

FAQ: How Do We Practically Apply the “New View” to Our Existing Operations?

1. What is the “New View” of safety?

The New View of Safety represents a modern evolution in safety management.
It shifts attention from blame and compliance to systems, context, and learning.
This approach recognises that safety isn’t just the absence of incidents—it’s the presence of resilient systems, adaptive work practices, and open learning.

Under the New View:

Workers are not the problem—they are the source of insight.
Errors are seen as symptoms of deeper system conditions, not individual failings.
The goal is to understand how work really happens and improve the systems that shape it.

This philosophy aligns closely with:

ISO 45001:2018 Clauses 5.4 & 10.2, promoting consultation and continual improvement.
Safe Work Australia’s risk management principles, which encourage adaptive and learning-based approaches.

2. Why is the New View relevant to existing operations?

Many organisations already have established compliance and audit processes.
The New View strengthens these by:

Revealing the gap between “work as imagined” and “work as done.”
Encouraging collaboration instead of control.
Turning incidents and everyday work into learning opportunities.
Building resilience, so operations adapt smoothly to change and uncertainty.

This makes it possible to meet regulatory obligations while enhancing culture, trust, and performance.

3. What are the key principles of the New View?

Principle	Description
Work as Done vs. Work as Imagined	Observe how work is actually performed, not just how it is planned in procedures.
Learning from Normal Work	Study everyday activities to see how people keep things safe in practice.
Focus on Systems, Not Individuals	Look for systemic factors that influence outcomes instead of blaming people.
Build Resilience	Strengthen the organisation’s ability to anticipate, adapt, and recover from disruptions.

Pro Tip: Start small—run a pilot project that applies New View methods to one operational area before expanding.

4. What are practical steps for applying the New View?

1. Observe and Understand Work

Spend time in the field watching “work as done.”
Ask workers about adjustments, shortcuts, and trade-offs they make to keep work flowing safely.
Use tools such as process mapping or task walkthroughs to document findings.

2. Shift Focus from Compliance to Context

Reframe inspections to explore how work gets done, not just whether rules are followed.
Examine how people manage variability and operational pressures.

3. Engage Workers in Safety Conversations

Use learning teams or facilitated discussions after incidents or near-misses.
Encourage open dialogue—workers closest to the job often reveal unseen constraints or hazards.

Pro Tip: Collaborate with workers to design solutions—they understand the system’s realities best.

4. Rethink Incident Investigations

Ask questions such as:
- “What made sense to the worker at the time?”
- “How did system conditions shape decisions?”
Focus on system improvements, not culpability.
Document insights for organisational learning.

5. Adapt Training and Procedures

Simplify documents so they match actual practice.
Train decision-making, not just rule-following.
Encourage situational awareness and flexibility.

6. Build Safety into Systems

Integrate safety in design stages—equipment, workflow, and process planning.
Ensure systems are robust but flexible, so they can absorb variability safely.

7. Develop Leading Indicators

Shift from retrospective measures (e.g., LTIFR) to proactive ones:

Number of near-miss reports.
Participation in safety learning activities.
Identified improvement opportunities implemented.

8. Create a Learning Culture

Treat both successes and failures as data for improvement.
Promote psychological safety so workers can speak up without fear.
Recognise and celebrate learning outcomes publicly.

9. Test and Iterate

Trial small-scale changes first.
Collect feedback, adjust, and repeat.
Use agile cycles to integrate what works into broader operations.

10. Foster Leadership Engagement

Leaders should model curiosity and support, not compliance policing.
Participate in site visits, conversations, and learning reviews.
Reinforce that safety is about understanding, not blame.

5. What challenges arise when implementing the New View?

Challenge	Solution
Cultural Resistance – Workers or managers may default to blame or enforcement.	Communicate intent clearly: the New View strengthens safety, not weakens accountability. Engage key influencers early.
Balancing Compliance and Learning – Regulations still require audits and documentation.	Integrate the two: use compliance checks as opportunities to discuss “why work happens this way.”
Leadership Alignment – Some leaders may view the New View as abstract.	Provide real-world case studies showing improved performance and reduced incident recurrence.

Caution: Don’t abandon compliance—use it as the foundation on which systemic learning is built.

6. How does this align with ISO 45001 and WHS obligations?

ISO 45001 Clause 5.4: Requires consultation and participation of workers—core to the New View.
Clause 10.2: Mandates learning from incidents and nonconformities.
WHS Act 2011 Section 19: Requires duty holders to ensure safe systems of work—best achieved through systemic understanding, not mere enforcement.

Applying the New View strengthens compliance by improving risk management effectiveness and worker involvement.

7. What are the long-term benefits of adopting the New View?

Stronger trust and psychological safety.
More realistic risk controls grounded in how work is actually performed.
Faster learning loops that adapt to changing conditions.
A resilient organisation where people and systems perform safely under pressure.
Enhanced operational efficiency through smarter, more human-centred safety systems.

8. Summary

Applying the New View requires practical engagement with how work truly happens, not how it’s imagined on paper.
By shifting focus from compliance to context, from blame to systems, and from policing to learning, organisations cultivate a resilient, transparent, and adaptive safety culture.

This isn’t a rejection of traditional safety—it’s its evolution: compliance provides the foundation, while the New View delivers the insight and agility needed for sustainable improvement.