• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE RESOURCES
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • PSYCH. OF SAFETY & RISK
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Robert Long
    • ALL POSTS
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no HIERARCHY of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • Quotes & Slogans
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
    • When Slogans Don’t Work
    • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
    • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
    • Safety Acronyms
    • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
    • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
    • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
    • Safety Slogans List
    • Road Safety Slogans 2022
    • How to write your own safety slogans
    • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
    • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
    • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
    • Safety Slogans for Work
  • Safety Culture
    • Safety Culture Silences
You are here: Home / Risk Aversion / A Bloody Hand Rail

A Bloody Hand Rail

September 28, 2014 by Dr Rob Long 35 Comments

A Bloody Hand Rail

hold handrailIt doesn’t matter where in the world you go there is always a safety crusader who doesn’t understand what safety is about. The safety crusader is so fixated on petty objects they don’t even realise that there are people in the world. I had a classic example this week when presenting at a conference in Helsinki.

I had been asked to present on leadership in risk and safety so as part of my presentation included reference to my Risk and Safety Maturity Matrix. This was one of three models I presented on the capabilities required for leadership in risk and safety. The second model demonstrated the Human Dymensions Dialogue Tool and third the Leading-Following Tool from my latest book. After the presentation a number of people approached me wanting contacts, copies of the tools, offering affirmation and asking questions. Standing in the line of people waiting to chat was this one rather agitated person I could see out of the corner of my eye. When you speak (and write) in public you often experience this, someone wants to come and ‘tell’ you something or set you straight on something that they are bothered about, this was no different.

After a number of people had a chat this person was finally next. As I greeted them with a kind ‘hello’, they blurted it out ‘your model is wrong!’. No ‘hello’ or friendly exchange just ‘your model is wrong’. So I responded kindly and asked what the concern was. ‘Your model has no handrail’ he said. My mind was stunned, I had just presented on risk and safety maturity, just finished chatting to the CEO of one of the largest oil producers in Europe, who affirmed the three models and here was this person agitated about a handrail. This is akin to those people who always see the spelling error in a paper but miss the whole meaning of the text.

image‘You know you really shouldn’t be putting models of safety in public like that with no handrail’. I was dumbfounded so asked, ‘So, how did you find the presentation?’ ‘It was all wrong’ he said, ‘if you miss something as important as a handrail then you don’t know about safety’ he said. I responded, ‘I don’t want a handrail in the model’ and asked if he had ever seen that the leader of the western world never holds the handrail when getting off Air Force One, neither does the Vice President. ‘They never hold the handrail even in the dark’ I said. ‘Well there you go’ he said, ‘they don’t know about safety either’. He then lectured me about falls at his workplace and their zero tolerance policy and how he took delight in catching people not holding handrails and how he had sacked two people for non-compliance. This followed by regurgitating data on some frequency rate he thought was important and other numbers and I started to look for an escape, luckily my host could see I needed rescuing and interrupted and I was introduced to someone else who actually wanted to talk about safety.

clip_image002

Isn’t it sad when all the safety crusader can see is objects, so proud to play Hazardman or dominate others in the name of petty safety. This is the spud head idea that ‘safety is a choice you make’ or that safety is some dumb down binary idea such as zero.

I get similar responses from safety crusaders who look for a tag on the power lead on my laptop or want to tape down trip hazards in the room before they can think of offering me a coffee. This is the sad state of safety that wants to scan the workforce for risk takers and sack them, police a work site with a reign of fear in case someone has forgotten some pissy pathetic item of PPE.

Nothing is more dangerous to safety than to elevate the importance petty safety and totally miss real safety that engages with people and understands human judgment and decision making. Nothing is more dangerous to safety than this myopic safety that doesn’t see people, that doesn’t listen to others, it only wants to make a ‘song and dance’ about a bloody hand rail.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Dr Rob Long

Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Dr Rob Long

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

  • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes - June 27, 2022
  • Ritual Performance and Risk - June 24, 2022
  • Asking Better Questions in Risk - June 21, 2022
  • The Toxic Language of ‘Performance’ and Risk - June 17, 2022
  • The Art of Active Listening in Risk - June 12, 2022
Dr Rob Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Risk Aversion, Robert Long, Slips Trips and Falls, Zero Harm Tagged With: crusader, handrail, maturity matrix

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,434 other subscribers

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Brent Charlton on Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Rob Long on Culture Silences in Safety – Socialitie
  • Joe Zinobile on Culture Silences in Safety – Socialitie
  • HASSAN MOHAMMED on Free Online Safety Training Courses
  • Rob Long on Safety Climate / Safety Leadership Survey
  • Ann on Safety Climate / Safety Leadership Survey
  • Rob on Near Miss or Near Hit
  • Robert Long on The Convenience of Complacency
  • patricia on Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Posts

  • CLLR Quarterly Newsletter–June 2022
  • Spot the Hazards – What is Wrong With These Safety Photos?
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes
  • Are you a Safety Crusader or a Safety Leader?
  • Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Asking Better Questions in Risk
  • The Toxic Language of ‘Performance’ and Risk
  • OHS Compliance Puts Lives in Danger
  • Talking About Teams
  • The Art of Active Listening in Risk

What is Psychological Safety at Work?

Footer

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • After the goldrush
    • The Internationale
  • Bill Sims
    • Employee Engagement: Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry?
    • Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
  • Craig Clancy
    • Task Based vs Activity Based Safe Work Method Statements
    • Safety And Tender Submissions
  • Daniel Kirk
    • It’s easy being wise after the event.
    • A Positive Safety Story
  • Dave Whitefield
    • Safety is about…
    • Safety and Compliance
  • Dennis Millard
    • Are You Risk Intelligent?
    • Honey they get me! They get me at work!
  • Drewie
    • Downturn Doin’ Your Head In? Let’s Chat….
    • How was your break?
  • Gabrielle Carlton
    • All Care and No Care!
    • You Are Not Alone!
  • George Robotham
    • Risk assessment tips
    • How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
  • Goran Prvulovic
    • Safety Manager – an Ultimate Scapegoat
    • HSE Performance – Back to Basics
  • James Ellis
    • Psychological Core Stability for Wellbeing in Workers Comp
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle
    • Who is Responsible for This?
  • Karl Cameron
    • Abby Normal Safety
    • The Right Thing
  • Ken Roberts
    • Safety Legislation Is Our Biggest Accident?
    • HSE Trip Down Memory Lane
  • Mark Perrett
    • Psychology of Persuasion: Top 5 influencing skills for getting what you want
  • Mark Taylor
    • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
    • Enculturing Safety
  • Max Geyer
    • WHS Legislation is NOT about Safety it’s about Culture
    • Due Diligence Is Not Just Ticking Boxes!
  • Matt Thorne
    • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
    • Culture – Edgar Schein
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Professional Conferences Are A Sleazy Con
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
  • Admin
    • CLLR Quarterly Newsletter–June 2022
    • OHS Compliance Puts Lives in Danger
  • Dr Rob Long
    • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes
    • Ritual Performance and Risk
  • Rob Sams
    • Are you a Safety Crusader or a Safety Leader?
    • The Learning (and unlearning) that Revealed my Vocation
  • Barry Spud
    • Spot the Hazards – What is Wrong With These Safety Photos?
    • Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • Simon Cassin
    • Safety values, ideas, behaviours and clothes
  • Safety Nerd
    • The Block isn’t portraying safety as it should be
    • Toolbox Talk Show–PPE
  • Wynand Serfontein
    • Why The Problem With Learning Is Unlearning
    • I DON’T KNOW
  • Zoe Koskinas
    • Why is fallibility so challenging in the workplace?

Most commented on

The Banned Objects Index – A New Development in Safety Culture

The Unconscious and the Soap Dispenser

Dumbs for Safety

The Real Barriers to Safety

Safety as Faith Healing

Who Said We Don’t Need Systems?

Why Safety Controls Don’t Always Work

How to use signs, symbols and text effectively in communicating about risk

Safety Should NOT Be About Safety

Why Personify Safety?

FEATURED POSTS

Real Risk – Free Download

What Safety and Risk Could Learn From Patch Adams

Safety People Don’t ‘Save Lives’

Mapping Social Influence Strategies

The Learning (and unlearning) that Revealed my Vocation

Safety – Learning by Doing and Learning by Theory

The Curse of Cognitivism

No Moral Compass in Zero

Study Social Psychology of Risk Online in 2018

Abby Normal Safety

The Illusion Of Hazard Identification

Dumb Ways to Die Doesn’t Work

Risk Leadership

Ten Risk and Safety Program Essentials

What Can Safety Learn from Barbie

There is no HIERARCHY of Controls

The 5 Ways We Identify Hazards

Even Safety Is Fallible

Social Psychology of Risk Workshop-Sydney

An Social Ecology of Resilience

More Posts from this Category

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,434 other subscribers

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

Top Posts & Pages

  • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
  • Free Safety Moments Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Memes
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • Road Safety Slogans 2022
  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • IDEAS FOR SAFETY TOOL BOX TALKS, HARD HAT CHATS and SAFETY MOMENTS
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format

 

How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

 

 

How to Make your own Covid-19 Face Mask

 

Covid-19 Returning To Work Safety, Transitioning, Start Up And Re Entry Plans

 

How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?

imageOne of the benefits of the Covid-19 epidemic is a total rethink about how we live and work (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-28/coronavirus-could-reshape-how-australians-work-forever/12097124 ).

Expertise by Regurgitation and Re-Badging

One of the fascinating things about the Coronavirus pandemic is watching Safety morph into epidemiology expertise. I would like a dollar for every flyer, presentation, podcast, powerpoint, checklist template, toolbox talk and poster set that had jumped into my inbox… Read the rest

The Stress of Stasis

One of the challenging things about the Coronavirus crisis is stasis. For those without work and confined to home, for those in self-isolation, it’s like life is frozen in time. ‘Stay at home’ is the mantra. The trouble is, in… Read the rest