28 Oct 2015

The 'human factor' in disaster mitigation

From Nine To Noon, 9:34 am on 28 October 2015

Professor Patrick Hudson is a psychologist and one of the world's leading authorities on the human factor in the management of safety with nearly 30 years experience in a variety of high-hazard industries. After BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico he chaired a new program for Shell on high consequence low probability accidents and appeared as an expert witness on process safety and safety culture in the BP Deepwater Horizon lawsuit in New Orleans. From the Netherlands, Professor Hudson is credited with developing the widely-used 'Swiss cheese model' on why major safety accidents occur and the 'Hudson Ladder' on the levels of workplace safety culture and on the role of leadership in workplace safety. Professor Hudson is positive about New Zealand's new Health and Safety at Work Act which will come into effect on 4th April 2016, but would like to see the agriculture sector included.