Safety First with Peter Norton (Phil & Junko on AV Safety ep02)
Historian Peter Norton joins Phil & Junko in a discussion of the surprisingly rich history of the slogan "Safety First."
We discuss the history of multiple cycles of adoption and repudiation of the concept of Safety First in industrial and automotive safety. We also cover cautionary tales from the history of safety regulations in other industries. Perhaps it is time for the autonomous vehicle industry to re-think its Safety First messaging.
Paper referenced in the discussion: Widen, W. & Koopman, P., "Autonomous Vehicle Regulation and Trust: the impact of failures to comply with standards", UCLA Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 27, No. 3, Spring 2022. (Author copy | SSRN)
(For clickable time stamp links, view the episode on YouTube)
00:00 Teaser
01:59 Peter Norton introduction
03:35 Why ‘safety first” is a wrong message
07:28 Who started ‘Safety First’ messaging
07:57 Employers typically had no liability
09:12 Rail companies started the Safety First slogan
10:08 The Safety First movement in 1911
11:06 The National Safety Council
11:35 Started with good intentions
11:53 Deflecting blame onto workers
13:16 Mr. Otto Nobetter & the Nut Behind the Wheel
14:55 From factory workers to public safety
17:43 Mr. Otto Nobetter, meet Mr. Jay Walker
18:24 Blaming the victim
19:25 Safety First as a blade that cuts both ways
20:28 Does safety first apply to cars, or pedestrians (or both?)
21:08 Automakers abandon Safety First for decades
22:13 Selling safety? Or selling cars?
23:24 Autonomous vehicle regulations & trust
24:01 Over-regulation of the train industry: a cautionary tale
31:31 Do we have to wait for a big AV disaster for the industry to get behind safety?
33:43 Chasing Waymo puts pressure on competitors' safety
35:00 The pro/con of end to end machine learning
37:08 Scaling issues and cornfield meets
38:36 The auto industry has comparatively light regulation
41:30 Some FDA history on risk management
42:43 A comparison with NHTSA
45:47 A comparison with FAA
48:28 Are autonomous vehicle companies really Safety First?
49:34 End Titles
This post is part of a collaboration between Phil Koopman & Junko Yoshida on AV Safety. Please subscribe for free if you’d like to receive future posts.
