Unmasking Safety's Myth of Individualism by Carrillo, Rosa Antonia;

Short description:

This book unveils a critical gap in current safety thinking: safety is not solely an individual responsibility, but a social outcome that entails collective action and thinking.This book is written for all safety leaders, executives and safety professionals. It could also have a role in supplementary reading for graduate programs.

Long description:

Unmasking Safety's Myth of Individualism unveils a critical gap in current safety thinking: safety is not solely an individual responsibility, but a social outcome that entails collective action and thinking. Focusing on individual responsibility often translates into individual blame (most often called accountability) and is usually accompanied by a reluctance to recognize the psychosocial harm that leads to physical and emotional injuries. The cost of this oversimplification is that we miss the crucial role of psychological well-being and social dynamics.

This book encourages us not to dismiss the importance of safety management systems, but to expose their limitations. Along with practical pointers, it advocates for a relationship-centered evolution that prioritizes human connection to break through the current status quo and reduce serious injuries and fatalities. The focus on relationship-centered leadership and the critique of an exclusively individualistic or physical focus is timely and relevant. The book challenges leaders to rethink their approach to safety, moving beyond over-reliance on individual responsibility and embracing a relationship-centered model that fosters collective action and psychological wellbeing. It provides a blueprint where leaders act as catalysts for change, guiding and supporting their teams to achieve shared safety goals. Unlike traditional approaches, this book explores the crucial role of social dynamics and relational leadership in creating truly safe workplaces. It offers specific strategies for fostering communication and building trust. Additionally, this book provides valuable insights into the role of OHS advisors from a social perspective. It explores how leaders can effectively leverage the H&S function by understanding the challenges OHS professionals face in influencing organizational culture. Finally, it offers practical advice and strategies for executives and managers as well as for OHS advisors on navigating hierarchical structures and effectively drive safety improvements.

This book is written for all safety leaders, executives and safety professionals. It could also have a role in supplementary reading for graduate programs.

"Rosa Carrillo continues to challenge the status quo by reminding us that safety is, at its core, a social science. This book is a powerful guide for any leader who wants to move beyond compliance and truly understand that safety is the natural outcome of how we treat, value, and connect with our people. It is essential reading for those ready to lead with authenticity and humanity." Fernando Carlos, Head of Safety Culture NFXP Onshore Project, Airswift

“Rosa confronts a dangerous lie at the heart of modern leadership: that making safety an individual responsibility creates safer organisations. This book names the cost of that lie and gives leaders a practical path to undo the damage it has caused.” Kevin Edwards, MSc. Organisational Behaviour, over 30 years of leadership and organisation development experience, founder of OB Consulting Limited, UK

"I have had the honour of working with Rosa on large organisational transformations, where people and trust are the key to sustainable change. Rosa's book offers a vital blueprint for leaders, guiding them away from a flawed emphasis on individual accountability and blame. Instead, it demonstrates how to cultivate a truly resilient organizational culture by harnessing the strength of relationships and collective trust. This book is not a journey map for safety leadership, it is the foundation for a high performing organisation, from which safety naturally flows." Kelvin Genn, Chief Disrupter @Art of Work, Co-founder of Safety Differently

“This is another valuable book from Rosa Carrillo, who is unafraid to challenge the myths of Safety. In this case, the pervasive nature of individualism and, its implications for organisational resilience.“ Dr. Robert Long, Professor, Global Humanistic University, Founder of Human Dymensions

"This book brings light to  the interpersonal dynamics and collective nature of workplace safety, challenging the individualistic narrative. Rosa brings a refreshing approach to helping us to see Safety as a fundamentally relational concept, shaped by how we connect, communicate, and engage with one another in the workplace. For too long, the perception of safety has been confined to engineering solutions and compliance protocols, which overlook the human elements essential to creating a truly safe environment. This book provides us with much needed guidance in the development of the non-technical skills needed to lead in our increasingly complex work environments. It is a must read for any leader in industry. Ivan Pupulidy, PhD and Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Advanced Safety Engineering and Management, Former USFS Director of Innovation and Organizational Learning

"Rosa’s book shows why procedures, engineering, and formal safety systems—while essential—are not sufficient on their own in today’s complex, tightly coupled operations. As someone who has written about the limits of rule-based control in high-risk systems, I found her work both extending and sharpening that perspective by showing how relationships, power, and psychological safety ultimately determine whether technical controls succeed or fail, and how organizations must learn inductively by noticing emerging patterns rather than relying only on predefined rules. By emphasizing the quality of everyday conversations as the engine of sensemaking and learning, Rosa offers a practical, human-centered guide to sustaining reliable performance when failure is not an option.” Jim Marinus, Co-Author of Critical Steps: Managing what must go right in high-risk operations, Idaho National Laboratory (24 yrs.)

“People don’t get hurt at work because they don’t care about safety — they get hurt when systems and cultures make care hard to do. This book makes that distinction impossible to ignore...Safety has never been an individual achievement. What this book reveals is how power, trust, and everyday relationships quietly determine who gets hurt and who goes home safe...Resilient organizations speak sooner, learn earlier, and prevent harm before it occurs. This book explains why relationships, not rules, make that possible.” Dr Andrew Sharman, CEO & Chair, International Institute of Leadership & Safety Culture, Co-Author of Mind Your Own Business: What Your MBA Should Have Taught You About Workplace Health & Safety and Who Cares Wins: The Psychological Science of Transformational Leadership

Table of Contents:

1. Embracing Safety as a Social Science  2. The Problem with Individualism in Safety  3. Historical Roots and Impact of Individualism  4. The Evolving Nature of Safety Management  5. Safety as a Social Outcome  6. Risk as a Social Construction  7. Using Language as a Strategic Tool  8. Social Construction and Sensemaking in Risk Management  9. A Strategic Blueprint for Relationship Centered Safety  10. The Social Anatomy of Deepwater Horizon and Its Legacy  11. The Counterinsurgency  12. Implementing Relationship Centered Safety  13. OHS Risk Navigator  14. Conclusion  Afterword  Appendices