Occupational Safety Management and Critical Thinking

The critical nature of occupational safety management tools such as risk assessments and criticality and vulnerability studies reflects just a glimpse of the methodical tools of the occupational safety manager. The risk assessment itself looks at the value of organizational assets, accounting for both the criticality and vulnerability of the asset to determine the amount of the occupational safety investment. In itself the comprehensive process of risk analysis utilizes a process of critical thinking. 

The intent of this chapter is to move beyond statistical safety tools and focus on ways that the occupational safety manager can apply critical thinking skills to improve an organization s everyday performance. This chapter provides an understanding of the critical thinking process as a methodical process that the safety manager should cultivate as an interpretive lens through which to evaluate the occupational safety environment on a daily basis. 

Critical thinking shonld become a natural process to occupational safety managers. Schon s (1983) idea of critical thinking involves understanding the relations between theoretical and practical knowledge as part of our daily spontaneous and 

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