This short video is part of an extensive study conducted over a period of 7 years to understand why people don't speak up even when faced with imminent danger. The video draws from the example of the Costa Concordia, the passenger ship that went aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012 resulting in the death of 33 persons.

I was fortunate to engage with the captain to hear his perspective about the accident. Several themes emerged from our in-depth discussions and one particular aspect of our discussion that caught my attention was the underlying belief, 'why don't people speak up even when the danger is imminent?'

The video highlights the problem with approaches such as psychological safety, crew resource management, the divide between technical and non-technical skills, and the underlying belief that errors can somehow be managed and controlled. In the days to follow, I will provide a detailed overview based on my research. If you are interested to learn more, I have recently written a book with a detailed outline of my analysis.

(The video was recorded and produced as part of my presentation at the New Zealand's Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum.)

About the book
Are we learning from accidents? My research into the Costa Concordia disaster and my interviews with Captain Schettino suggest not. The answer to the problem of learning lies not so much in designing fail-safe technologies and user-friendly systems as in questioning our fears, myths, beliefs, rituals, worldviews and imagination about risk and safety. Many organisations work hard to engage their frontline staff in managing risk more effectively. But in our efforts to manage risk we underestimate the interpretive and subjective dimensions of risk itself. From a search for ‘weak signals’ to differntiating between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ work, our unconscious permeates every aspect of our understanding of risk and safety. Risk management is a myth. Safety management is a construct that in promising salvation denies human fallibility. When we recognise the mythical and non-rational nature of risk and safety beliefs, our focus will shift from counting and controlling hazards towards pathways that make us humble, curious, doubtful and conscious about the human ‘being’. When we begin to accept that humans are fallible, we search for better ways to humanise the risks and relate to people. Through a lived journey of dissonance, disturbance, learning and change, this book offers an alternative pathway to wisdom in risk intelligence, and a method to tackle risks in an uncertain world.

You can read more about the book here: https://nippinanand.com/

Book available at: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=are+we+lea...