Kitcher Risk Solutions

Kitcher Risk Solutions supports our client businesses with the adoption of a Just Culture as well as providing information on human error management and advice about dealing with at-risk and reckless behaviour in the workplace.

We are keen to assist in developing a pervasive risk-aware culture and risk intelligent behaviours.

When it comes to managing risks like corrupt, bullying or unsafe behaviours, promoting ethical behaviour and mitigating poor choices we trust the effectiveness of Just Culture over all tick-box compliance approaches.

Creation of a Just Culture requires management action and leadership.

Everyone must be made aware of the company's values and how everyone is expected to behave, protecting those values by the choices made, decisions taken and accountability accepted..

The Just Culture Model


Human Error

As humans we all make mistakes.  Sometimes those mistakes can hurt others or cause damage to the business.

Management has an obligation to understand what errors can occur and the potential impact of those errors especially if they may significantly affect business objectives, lead to physical or mental injury or cause financial and reputational damage.  Then to put in place thought-out error recovery systems that will stop or reduce the bad outcomes.  It is usually futile to try and stop errors being made but company practices can be made more resilient to the impacts of error.

Ideally employees feel sufficiently secure to acknowledge they have made a mistake or bad choice so that the system can be made more robust.  This is a learning culture and one that proactively manages its risks.

At-Risk Behaviour

At-risk behaviour is where we unintentionally drift away from good choices, values-based choices and safer choices.  This may be one person's choice but is often following the behavioural norm of the workgroup or others.

Examples include jaywalking, arriving for work late or leaving early, or using the office printer to do some copying for home.  It could be that the risk is considered insignificant or maybe there is a lack of situational awareness.

This is where your supervisors and front-line managers have the biggest role to play.  If properly trained they can identify at-risk behaviours in their team (and themselves) and take action to deal with poor behavioural norms.  They can "call out" poor behaviours and incentivise good ones.

It is important that senior managers are also conscious of their behaviours.  They should actively and visibly demonstrate values based and safer choices.  Many poor behavioural norms are not limited to front-line workers.

Reckless Behaviour

This behaviour crosses the line.  It is a conscious disregard of organisational values and appropriate behaviour.  The individual chooses an action that knowingly puts others or themselves in harms way.  A risk is identified and ignored.

Reckless behaviour is much less common that errors or at-risk behaviours.  The individual must know that the action or choice is wrong; that's why effectively communicating company values, expected behaviours and risks is important.

It is the choice of behaviour that is a problem and not whether there was any actual harm as a result of that choice.  Any lack of harm may be more about luck than anything else.  Reckless behaviour would normally result in some form of individual sanction or discipline.

Kitcher Risk Solutions acknowledges the thought leadership provided by David Marx and Outcomes Engineering in the area of Just Culture and the above model.