Rank: Forum user 
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Good morning Behavioural change enthusiasts. I'm looking to enrol on my Masters this year and don't yet know whether MRes or MSc. I'm about to research which is best for me. Do any of you have experiences and recommendations or pointers in the direction of resources regarding organisational and behavioural change within health, safety and environmental management? I read Dominic Cooper's book 'Improving Safety Culture' 2 years ago in my BSc final year. He has 2 more books since then I'll be looking to acquire very soon. I've booked onto the Eddie Woods seminar in Glasgow next week after hearing he is a leading figure. Any help is appreciated especially those already on the path.
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Rank: Forum user
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Well, i think you does not get proper guideline and honestly speaking i am a graduate so i can't tell you about masters level and what is right for you but i can say that you may have to beileve in yourself and do the thing that you think is right for you. No one can give you right suggestion except you and your heart. So listen to yourself and do what you want. I am telling you because i can't do what i want to so that's why i want you to do everything independetaly.
God Bless you!
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Rank: Forum user
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You might want to read some of the following: Erik Hollagel, David Woods, Sidney Dekker (Field guide to Human Error is a good place to start), Jens Rasmussen, James Reason, Todd Conklin (he has a really good podcast called preaccident investigation, google it) Daniel Hummerdal, Robert Sams (Book: Social Sensemaking), Edgar Schein, organisational culture and leadership A caution about behavioural safety. Does it look beyond the worker being a problem to be solved and instead understand the variability in the environement, goal conflicts etc that they make sense of which influences the actions they take. To Paraphrase Hollnagel the difference between an error and a great idea is the outcome. Workers constantly experiement and diviate from they way we expect work to be carried out (problem solving a human dispostion). To help them be successful we need to understand the variability in the working environement (location, instruction, communication, ETTO ,culture etc) that influences the way work is done and what drives the experiementation or diviations. Keep an open mind, sounds like you are about to embark on an interesting area. Where are you planning to study? Edited by user 02 March 2017 15:12:25(UTC)
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 2 users thanked fairlieg for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user 
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Being a BS enthusiast myself, the best thing I can suggest to you is have an open mind. Do not research BS from a single point of view (occupational safety that is) but do a cross discipline research. Psychology and behavioural economics would be my personal suggestions. It is indeed a very large area to cover so chose your "spot" wisely and focus on it. E.g. are you currently working? Where? Is this the path you want to follow in the future? Where would you like to see yourself (sector)? Narrow down your options and find something you are passionate about. Then find your topic for your behavioural research. Good luck!
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1 user thanked Mr Curious for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I agree with Mr Curious have a look at basic psychology.
It is now old and aimed at the layman but I have always liked Desmond Morris' "human zoo"; and his "naked ape". Both can be had for a fiver each delivered, from a well known tax dodger.
I'm a big fan of both Cooper and Reason. Don't overlook the works of Andrew Hale (some useful down loads here http://www.hastam.co.uk/publications/
I must admit I think BS has been hijacked to some extent and non H&S managers see it as a way of shifting responsibility. Dont forget BP were big fans too, and look where it got them!
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1 user thanked walker for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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I also found this: Nudging Behavioural Safety by Brian Stretton. It is a light read on behavioural safety. Gets you thinking and a good way to sneak out more little gems on the topic. Talking about gems, I highly recommend my personal favourite: Thinking fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Mind that this is not an every day light read and looking into comments on sites like amazon, you will see that customers whine about this being a heavy read, and indeed it is. I can't even read it during my daily commute. It is a book that will certainly open your mind and get you thinking on perspective of decision making. I like to connect its content to decisions around safety. It has some wonderful examples of how the brain works. It is very cheap and it's worth its weight in gold!
My 2c for books :)
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1 user thanked Mr Curious for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Thank you all for your comments and suggestions including resources. One of the above just gave me a significant pause as to what I am aiming for here. For the record, I have been fascinated with human behaviour on an individual basis for 20 years and whilst 20-30 H&S books sit over my left shoulder as I write this, I've spent far more time studying psychology without having ever being examined, so to speak. Case in point, I've just revisited the first 2 chapters of 'How to win friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie whilst rambling the Yorkshire coast close to home. And only earlier in the week did I try finding an audio for 'Thinking fast & slow' but had to settle for a presentation from Daniel until I find one. I have a bucket list of 50 books and another that is growing even bigger on Leadership and Coaching. The pause for thought was that I want to encourage all levels of an organisation into avoiding more risky decision making. But as I read the comments above, sure, my biggest problem experiencially in my short 7 years in H&S is Leadership and the resultant culture eminating from decision makers.
I hadn't even considered that taking up BS studies as a Masters meant I may be leaning towards Human Error (or have I missed something), because consciously (career suicide disclaimer), I believe the culture and normal working practises influence an individual far more than the reverse. I wouldn't go as strong (or on record) as saying all Senior managers are dreadful at H&S commitment, but my experiences need a positive and soon. Anyway, I only know of Hull Uni where I gained my BSc and Derby so far. Any other references or educational institutions welcome. Thanks so far to everyone who contributed.
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Rank: Forum user
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"I hadn't even considered that taking up BS studies as a Masters meant I may be leaning towards Human Error (or have I missed something), because consciously (career suicide disclaimer), I believe the culture and normal working practises influence an individual far more than the reverse"
This may be a little controversial but I don't think human error is even interesting, it happens all the time however, on occasions there are unwanted consequences. Mostly you can attribute an unwanted event to someone making an error but I don’t think error is a conscious decision, which is why it is not interesting. I think the sense making part of the circumstances which lead to the error may be more interesting from a Human Perspective (Robert Sams writes about this). From an organisational perspective perhaps understanding the sense making piece will help create better working systems which eliminates the circumstances and signals that drive the sense making and builds in capacity for errors to occur without consequence.
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Rank: Forum user
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Well I've just arrioved in Glasgow so hoping for inspiration from the man himself, Eddie Woods, in the morning at the IOSH seminar. Thanks for all the comments, feel free to keep them coming
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