David Cant

Seen my fair share of accidents… A man crushed between 2 skips, a circular saw slice through a carpenters thigh.. and scaffolding pulled away from a building by a forklift.. and people had to jump quickly into the building. I was one of them. I help others prevent the same.

@SparkbrookWMP About time it's a nightmare parking and driving down that road.

A busy joint patrol with Birmingham City Council civil Enforcement Officers on Ladypool Road Stoney Lane and surrounding roads.They issued 15 fixed penalties and we gave lot's of advice on safe and legal parking #keepingtrafficfreeflowing

First week on the job. 19 years old. He didn't want to ask questions. Didn't want to look stupid in front of the lads. So he guessed. We found him in the trench without shoring. Alone. Digging away. I wasn't angry. I was frustrated. Afterwards, I sat with him and said, "The only dumb question on site is the one that gets you hurt". Check on your new lads. Because the ones staying quiet are the ones who need you most.

@JuliaBramble No harm done.

@davidgcant Wow!

Got cornered on site by some contractors, laughing… One said, “blimey what did you say to the site manager earlier?…. he came storming out the office and took down all the safety first posters.”

@RobMcNealy That's bonkers..

@davidgcant On an asbestos abatement project, we had workers in full hazmat PPE take the exhaust filters out of respirators so they could smoke cigarettes on the job.

Seen my fair share of accidents… A man crushed between 2 skips, a circular saw slice through a carpenters thigh.. and scaffolding pulled away from a building by a forklift.. and people had to jump quickly into the building. I was one of them. I help others prevent the same.

@managementlogo And just like Kate Adie, I've spent enough time in the field and have diverse real-world expertise dealing with people to know what actually works in safety and what doesn't.

@davidgcant Kate Adie of the safety world

@managementlogo What makes you think that Sam?... Just to clarify, the contractors weren't laughing at the site manager at all. They were laughing at the situation itself. There's an important difference there that you seem to have misunderstood.

@davidgcant Now the contractors are laughing at the site manager. Not an ideal situation.

@ChesterOlympics You're right. H&S is there for a reason, and it's not to stop things from happening, but far too many people think it does.

@davidgcant Sadly, theres a mentality that exisits that still believes H&S is there to create roadblocks. I know someone who never came home from work because a machine had a guard removed

@ahazard_hunter @managementlogo I'm with you. 👍

@davidgcant @managementlogo I wouldn't waste my time with people like that on here mate. They’re not willing to think or be interested in genuine debate.

Cognitive dissonance in action: When workers hold conflicting beliefs about risk and safety, they use mental gymnastics to resolve the tension without changing behaviour. Example: “I'm a careful, safety-conscious worker" - yet I skip wearing the harness to save 10 minutes.

@ahazard_hunter @managementlogo Think you nailed it because it feels like that most of the time.

@managementlogo @davidgcant Are you always a chronic dismisser, a troll even on a massive ego trip? Why do hide behind an anonymous account? Most who do have an identity problem.

@managementlogo Fair point - and honestly, “can’t be bothered” is part of it. If the harness takes too long to put on, that friction is a real design problem worth fixing. Understanding the “cognitive dissonance” angle helps us find better interventions. What’s your experience for a solution?

@davidgcant Just can't be bothered to put the harness on. Giving it stupid names is dafter than not wearing the harness.

@RobMcNealy That's true. Those in charge help create the culture, but with a diverse workforce, it's challenging.

@davidgcant The culture allowed it. You can’t build a culture of safety with non-English speaking, illegal immigrant, temporary workers on your worksite.

Every unsafe construction site has one thing in common - someone in charge allowed it to be that way.

@m_cortizas You're right. The language used can help gauge the situation and what's being said. People with a fixed mindset standout.

@davidgcant Often, a differing opinion is mistaken for being negative. Be careful not to ignore the other side.

Distance yourself from negative people, they drain the life out of you.

Living in the beautiful, peaceful English countryside

Every safety management system is perfectly designed to produce what it is producing. What is yours producing? - Learning? - Shortcuts? - Reactivity? - Proactivity? - Re-training? - Near misses? - Workarounds? - Non-reporting? - Cultural gravity? - Psychological safety? Other?