Presentation by Assoc. Professor Kirrilly Thompson at the Horse SA People.Horses.Culture Conference 2016 http://www.horsesa.asn.au

1. Worker Safety & Horse Welfare
Why culture matters
Associate Professor Kirrilly Thompson
Appleton Institute, Adelaide, South Australia

2. • PhD Research
– Mounted bullfighting in Spain
• Postdoctoral Research
– Human factors and safety science
• Fatigue & Risk Management Systems
– Organisational culture
– Risk perception
– Natural disasters
• Now
– Reducing horse‐related injury/fatality

3. Human factors research
(psychology+engineering)

4. http://www.slideshare.net/shahzad757/human‐factor‐off01 slide 63

5. Human‐horse factors research
(psychology+engineering+animal science)

6. http://www.slideshare.net/shahzad757/human‐factor‐off01 slide 63
• Culture

7. What is culture?

8. “…man is an animal suspended in webs of
significance he himself has spun,
I take culture to be those webs…”
Clifford Geertz, from ‘Thick Description: Toward an
Interpretive Theory of Culture’. In The Interpretation
of Cultures. Pp. 3‐30. New York: Basic Books.

9. • What people do, say, think and feel
• Inevitable, rational and natural to‘insiders’
• Provides collective meaning, sense and order
to the world
• These things identify one group or sub-group
with and from another
• Not just for humans!

10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article‐2578460/Stallions‐fight‐
death‐illegal‐horse‐fighting‐bout‐Philippine‐villagers‐refuse‐
abandon‐tradition‐banned‐1998.html

12. http://blog.juancarloscorchado.com/2012/05/rejoneo‐en‐la‐feria‐
del‐caballo/jcc‐rejoneo‐en‐la‐feria‐del‐caballo‐de‐jerez‐2012‐25/

13. What is Australian culture?

15. 1. Tough little battlers
1. We get on with it
2. We ride with broken
bones
3. We bloody make do
2. ‘Mateship’
3. Rebel convicts
4. Ties to the motherland
(BHS)
5. A big Island
6. Europe‐struck
7. Egalitarian (Tall Poppy)
8. A big Island
9. Optimists: She’ll be
right
10. We don’t fix what ain’t
broke
11. Bush mechanics

16. What is organisational culture?

17. James Reason defines“culture” as:
“… shared values (what is important) and beliefs
(how things work) that interact with an
organization's structures and control systems to
produce behavioral norms (the way we do things
around here).”
Reason J. Managing the risks of organizational accidents.
United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Limited; 1997.

18. • ‘Just culture’ (ie not unjust)
• Good or bad safety culture
• Safety Climate
Based on Reason 1986
http://aviationknowledge.wikidot.com/aviation:safety‐culture
See also: Safety Climate

19. What is equestrian culture?

20. 1. What equestrians do, say, think and feel about:
– Each other
– Horses
– Workplaces
– Safety/Risks
2. Varies by:
1. Discipline
2. Sector
3. Role
4. Philosophical approach
5. Local/global
http://www.bestpysanky.com/6‐5‐Set‐of‐5‐Running‐Horse‐Wooden‐Russian‐
Nesting‐p/nds05080.htm

21. https://www.bellarbys.co.uk

23. What is equine culture?

24. • Prey animal?
• Flight/fight animal?
• Unpredictable animal? Causes ‘freak’ accidents?
• Social animal? Interspecifically?

25. How do we create change?

26. • Cultural understanding
• Leadership
• Normalisation of compliance
• Role models
• Gatekeepers
• Irrelevant motivator
• Policy & enforcement
• Interventions
• Legislation
• Wicked teams

27. DrKirrilly
CQUniversity ‐
Natural Disasters: Saving
Animal and Human Lives
Kirrilly.thompson@cqu.edu.au
Full text articles at
Researchgate.net