By Billy Snead
Tired of compliance-driven systems that reduce people to numbers.
Tired of endless audits and checklists that feel more like busywork than meaningful action.
Tired of being told that “zero harm” is the goal, while knowing deep down that this mantra often ignores the complexity of real-world risk.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if your safety practices are focused solely on compliance, you might be doing more harm than good.
Workers feel dehumanized.
Risks are overlooked because they don’t fit neatly into a checklist.
And you, the ‘Safety Professional,’ are left wondering if your efforts are truly making a difference—or just maintaining the illusion of control.
This is the cognitive dissonance we all face in safety: the gap between what we want to achieve—real, human-centered safety—and what the system demands of us.
But what if there’s a way to bridge that gap?
What if you could move beyond compliance and rediscover the heart of safety: protecting people, fostering trust, and creating environments where workers thrive?
The Houston SPoR Event: A New Way Forward
This May 19-23, the Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) event in Houston offers a chance to confront this dissonance head-on. Led by Matt Thorne, Frank Garrett, and Billy Snead, this event isn’t about more rules or metrics. It’s about rethinking safety from the ground up—embracing embodied practices that prioritize connection, personhood, and ethical decision-making.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
Clarity: Understand why compliance-driven safety often fails and how to shift toward practices that resonate with workers and leaders alike.
Tools for Transformation: Learn practical, embodied strategies to foster trust, engagement, and meaningful change in your workplace.
Inspiration: Connect with a community of like-minded professionals who are ready to move beyond the status quo and create a new vision for safety.
The Challenge
Ask yourself: Are you willing to confront the limitations of your current approach? Are you ready to embrace a new way of thinking about safety—one that aligns with your values and truly protects workers?
If the answer is yes, then Houston is where you need to be. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a movement that’s redefining safety for the better.
Enroll Here: https://linktr.ee/SPoR.USA.may2025
Rob Long says
Who are these safety professionals? Where is this ethic that qualifies a profession? It is because safety is not a profession that the predicament you describe in this blog exists. Any job that dehumanises others cannot be by definition a ‘profession’. Unless safety has an ethic of helping, its just an industry NOT a profession. and, we shouldn’t associate that word with what the industries does to people.