May 09
Historian Niall Ferguson has been reported as apologising for remarks in which he implied that John Maynard Keynes did not care about future generations because he was childless and gay leaving open the cause of Keynes indifference to the long run. This provoked a letter from me to todays Guardian. For non-Guardian readers here it …
Apr 17
In the aftermath of the 2005 7th July bombings in London I wrote a piece entitled “7/7: What kills you matters – not numbers” I illustrated it with a diagram highlighting the remarkable lack of correlation between quantified measures of risk and common response. I identified two key variables that helped to explain this lack of …
Apr 03
I recently visited an exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London entitled The Bride and the Bachelors: Duchamp with Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg and Johns More recently I was invited to speak to a conference entitled Risk culture for charities organised by the Institute for Risk Management. I began my conference presentation with an overview of …
Mar 24
Last Thursday (21 March 2013) I attended a conference entitled Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics? Understanding casualty trends and the causes. It was sponsored by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). At the conference PACTS, the Department for Transport, and seven other organizations interested in promoting road safety launched a website called www.roadsafetyobservatory.com. …
Feb 12
Peter Bonisch has posted a comment on my RoSPA post (11 February) that merits an answer. He asks: would you advocate now removing the seatbelt requirement? The world has changed since the law was introduced including having been changed by it. Would it now be constructive to abolish the law in the knowledge that we …
Feb 11
Dear Tom Following our meeting at a dinner at the RSA over six years ago I sent you an email (22 February 2007).You replied the same day saying When I have a moment, I would like to look into this in more detail and so I will follow up on the links you have kindly …
Feb 08
31 January marked the 30th anniversary of the implementation of Britains seat belt law. A television interviewer sent to quiz me about my opposition to the law said I reminded him of Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who spent 30 years in the jungle, fighting on, unaware that the war had been lost. The interview …
Aug 01
The debate Is ISO 31000 fit for purpose is the headline above a debate published in the June edition of Risk Management Professional for online version click here. The debate consisted of an abbreviated version of my blog ISO 31 000: Dr Rorschach meets Humpty Dumpty - and a rebuttal by Grant Purdy, one of …
May 07
Until recently most online discussion of ISO 31000 has been confined to a friendly Linkedin site for supporters: two quotations – I know the ISO 31000 and think it’s almost perfect and I think the ISO 31000 definition of risk is great will convey the flavor of the critical discussion to be found on the …
Apr 13
Last night (11/4/2012) I took part in an interesting Radio 3 discussion programme called Night Waves . The first contributor, Jonathan Haidt, was fascinating and Ive just ordered his new book The Righteous Mind. In the discussion he made a point that resonated with a problem that I have been wrestling with: discussing the relationship …