Safety in an Uncertain World

1
Safety in an Uncertain World

• Leah Soroka
• Director of ST Foresight and Science Promotion
• Health Canada

2
What is Safety?
 freedom from danger, risk, or injury
3
The Evolving Perceptions of Safety Past, Present
and Future
4
The changing perception of danger, risk and injury

• Moving from physical to mental work (stress)
• Increased psychosocial issues (work/life,
  sandwich generation, keeping pace with changing
  tech)
• Work place illness from inactivity consequences
  of inactivity
• Moving from quantifiable to qualitative
• Moving from validating products to systems
  approach
• From strict ST to safety systems
• Cumulative impact of systems
• Moving from regimented to flexible
• Moving from prescription to outcome based
• Moving from risk management (probability) to
  uncertainty

5
Changed perceptions of danger, risk and injury
change the Concept of Life

• 3 main domain influences
• Society and work organization
• Working hours to work best part of the day, 24/7
  movement
• Management and technology
• Connected remotely
• Environment
• Cumulative impacts, enabling environment
• Glocalization
• Each element influences the othertherefore a
  systems approach is required

6
How to Manage the Transition

• From Physical to Mental work Products to
  Systems and Regimented to Flexible
• Decision support systems (ubiquitous sensing,
  computer capacity, nanosensors)
• Legacy systems Watson
• Real-time communication networks- Motorola 4G
  Networks
• Systems focus
• Danger, risk and injury from multi-sector
  approach
• Flexibility and Experimentation
• Solutions oriented regulation- guidelines and
  rules
• ST assist and support entire system

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• Thank You Comments / Questions /
  Suggestions?FORESIGHT_at_HC-SC.GC.CA