SEMIOSPHERE
CULTURE - RISK - LEADERSHIP
Support & Services- What Semiosphere Does
Semiosphere helps people and organisations tackle culture.
I seek to make workplaces happier, healthier and safer through the provision of customised support and services anchored within a social psychological paradigm (or philosophy).
Support ranges from full cultural maturity programs, risk and safety leadership workshops and training programs, and well as consultancy and advice on specific culture maturity interventions and programs. Click here for a bit more detail about the services offered, and some of the work I have done.
Culture change has to be an inside job, so my work is structured around a framework (shown below) that scaffolds and supports an organisation through the culture maturity process, while also building up their internal knowledge and capacity to maintain the change. In this way, I see myself more as a culture and leadership coach, than being the specific driver of change.
About Semiosphere & Dave- Who & Why
Semiosphere (click here for a little pop-up of what that means and how it relates to culture) is me, Dave Whitefield. Previously called People and Risk, I started out on this path in 2014 after having been part of a national safety training business for about 8 years. All up, I've been in the safety and risk industry for just on 30 years.
While I didn't really know what it would look like at the time, my aim when I started out on my own was to bring social psychological principles to the people side of safety and risk. Initially this came in part from my frustration with the repeated application of orthodox safety practices that, while working well enough for the hazard and system elements of safety, just didn't work for the people stuff (and I feel were often making things worse). Later, as I learnt more about social psychology, I started to see that there is a paradigm or approach that is suited to this area, and that these ideas and concepts can act as a set of tools that are very well placed to support meaningful cultural change.
In 2016 I completed a Graduate Diploma in Psychology of Risk, to complement my undergraduate behavioural science degree and a Grad Dip in OHS. I now see myself a culture and leadership specialist. I tend to still focus mostly on safety and risk because that's my background, but this work is really just about how people deal with risk and uncertainty, and how organisations can actively and positively influence that.
Articles Videos & Links- More on the Social Psychology of Risk
Articles:
Great Blog site with many other articles:
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SafetyRisk.net - Great safety blog site.
Does getting home injury free mean that we were safe that day?
Here is my 7 ½ minute take on the issue looking through the lens of culture.
Is being compliant the same as being safe?
Here is my 7 ½ minute take on the issue looking through the lens of culture.
Some of the partner organisations I get to work with are:
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Human Dymensions - People and Risk can offer selected Human Dymensions services under a partnering agreement.
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Link Resources - Nationally recognised training, recruitment, labour hire, HR Support, employee assistance.
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GCG Health Safety Hygiene - Safety, hygiene and fire consulting, auditing, systems and training.
These businesses are run by great friends of mine who also work in the safety, risk, leadership, culture and human focussed space:
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Resylience - Risk and culture consulting (Sydney based).
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Framework - Human focussed workplace injury management (NSW based).
My interview about with Dr Garry Marling from Culture Radar, talking about why you can't systemise your way to resilience.
My extended conversation on the couch with James Ellis, discussing fragility and the risk paradox
Fragility- Part 1
Fragility- Part 2
Fragility- Part 3
Contact
Semiosphere
(People and Risk Pty Ltd)
7 Seng St, Graceville Qld 4075
0412 782 191