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

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • 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 2023
      • 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
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • 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
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • 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
  • Dr Long Posts
    • 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!
  • THEMES
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Covid-19 / Asking For and Receiving Help

Asking For and Receiving Help

April 26, 2020 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

imageOne of the outcomes of a society that fosters independence, individualism, self-reliance, self-ego and consumerism is the resistance to asking for help. Moreso, even in a crisis when professional helpers are provided on tap, most often they are not accessed (https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/employee-assistance-programs-endangered-service-20180315-p4z4jw.html ). I worked in an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) service for a few years and the uptake was very low in most organisations.

When were in the midst of the Beaconsfield crisis a room of clinical and practical counsellors sat idle for several weeks. People didn’t go to the counsellors to talk, they went to friends, family and to the clergy and had cups of tea, coffee and ‘chats’. It seems that even in a crisis people who seek help do so unconsciously and informally where they feel safe. Nothing is more destructive to well being than breaching confidentiality, a lack of trust and a ‘clinical’ approach that has no foundation in relationship. If you don’t have a relationship with someone and ask them if they are OK, you’ll probably get a yes answer.

A society that fosters individualistic and behaviourist approaches to resilience projects the problem onto the individual. The common approach to resilience is captured in the mythology of: ‘pull yourself up by your own bootlaces, I did!’ When you are in the depths of depression or anxiety and people are paraded out as heroes in resilience it often adds to the problem. Often we think we are parading an example of inspiration when it creates greater separation for those in the midst of depression.

If resilience is not understood as social resilience, it is unlikely to be successful.

Evidences of depression are social disconnection, withdrawal and isolation (https://www.lifeline.org.au/static/uploads/files/lifeline-factsheet-12-depression-wfubrsuerjvl.pdf) If the evidence of depression is social why would we think its solution is individual? Most of the time the warning signs are private. You don’t know and without a relationship, you are unlikely to know. We certainly know that resilience cannot be ‘engineered’ (https://safetyrisk.net/why-resilience-cannot-be-engineered/). Resilience is an organic and ecological dynamic not a mechanical process.

There is a perception in workplaces that having a cup of coffee or tea and a chat is ‘downtime’ and real productivity is ‘up time’, is when things get ‘done’. The idea of someone floating about building relationships, listening and ‘attending’ (https://glosbe.com/en/en/psychological%20attending) is perceived as ‘down time’. We might also call this ‘practicing presence’. Attending carries no agenda, no judgment and just values listening and ‘being with’. In a world of busyness this takes time and people who tend to do attending well are often judged as ‘wasting time’. It’s a catch 22.

There are heaps of professional resources available at this time of Covid 19 (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health-safety/covid19_stressmanagement_5_accessible.pdf; https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health-safety/covid19_stressmanagement_5_accessible.pdf ). But the greatest resource in the workplace is most likely you. If you are concerned about someone you don’t need to ask them if they are OK, you need to get to know them better. Give some time to them, listen and create an activity to do together. Even a walking together 1.5m apart can be a help or a facetime chat. And with no agenda!

You don’t have to be a counsellor or psychologist to be a helper or carer of someone else or to receive help and care from someone else. Sometimes it’s harder to receive than give too. Being helpful is not a technique but a disposition away from self and towards an other.

  • 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)

  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do - February 1, 2023
  • Harming People in the Name of Good - January 31, 2023
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video - January 31, 2023
  • Risk and Safety Maturity - January 31, 2023
  • The KISS of Death in Safety - January 31, 2023
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: Covid-19, Robert Long Tagged With: EAP, help

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel reply

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 7,499 other subscribers

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do

The KISS of Death in Safety

Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health

The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’

The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health

Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)

No Good Reason to Follow Reason

The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult

Toxic Positivity in Safety Doesn’t Help Anyone

Safety, Ethics, SPoR and How to Foster the Abuse of Power

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Brent Charlton on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Rob Long on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Jaise on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Rob Long on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Linda McKendry on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Rob long on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Matt Thorne on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Anonymous on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • Jason on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Admin on How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Rob Long on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Gustavo Saralegui on 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Rob long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Wynand on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • simon cassin on To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Rob Long on Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • NATIONAL SAFETY DAY/WEEK IN INDIA 2023
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators

Recent Posts

  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
  • Harming People in the Name of Good
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Risk and Safety Maturity
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand
  • Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
  • The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
  • SPoR Comes to Vienna June 2023
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • The Visionary Imagination – Louisa Lawson
  • Heaven ‘n Hell and the Safety Religion
  • Confirmity in Conformity
  • Numerology and Psychic Numbing
  • Thinking of Mortality
  • Safety is the Wrong Anchor
  • Foresight Blindness, Hindsight Bias and Risk
  • Getting the Balance Right in Tackling Risk
  • What is SPoR?
  • How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Afraid to Let Go of What Doesn’t Work in Safety
  • When You Don’t Know What to do in Safety, Have Another Blitz!!!
  • Gloves and Glasses Compliance
  • A Case of Desensitisation – What Would You Do?
  • How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • The Mythic Symbology of Safety
  • Dark Waters, The True Story of DuPont and Zero
  • 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…
  • Don’t Look Now Safety, Your Metaphor is Showing
  • Ratio Delusions and Heinrich’s Hoax
  • To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Culture as a Wicked Problem, for Safety
  • Safety Leadership Training
  • Cultural Orientation in Risk
  • The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk
  • Objectivity, Audits and Attribution When Calculating Risk
  • Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?
  • Zero, The Seeking of Infinity
  • Safety Leadership Essentials
  • What Can Indiana Jones Tell Us About Culture
  • Safety as a Worldview
  • The Loathing of Limits
  • Culture Cannot be Framed Through Safety
  • Free Online Workshops
  • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
  • Book Launch – For the Love of Zero – in Portuguese
  • Advancing Backwards in Safety
  • The ‘Noise’ of Safety, Silence and Practicing of Mindfulness

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

A Parallel Universe in Safety

Take Safety Seriously

Suffering – Sometimes There Is No Reason

Risk and Safety Starts with Being?

The 5 Ways We Identify Hazards

Safety Superstitions

Paralysis by Precaution

I am a Spreadsheet King

No Moral Compass in Zero

Safety and Non-Neuroscience

How Risky is Your Safety Spin?

SEEK Investigations Workshop

Tackling Risk, A Field Guide to Risk and Learning

Abduction in Risk and Safety

Fooled by Certainty

The Great Safety is a Choice Delusion

The Different Levels of Wrongness!

Making Sense of Semiotics and Safety

Non-Binary Decision Making in Risk

Who is the Enemy and What War is Safety Fighting?

Seven Essential Safety Reminders

STEM Safety in Drag

Why is fallibility so challenging in the workplace?

Don’t Dare Speak the ‘f’ Word

Body Memory and Safety

There is Another Ethic than Zero Accidents

Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…

The Safety Charade as Tokenism in Safety

Framing Your World

Safety for Luddites

Spin, Nonsense Language and Propaganda in Safety

Zero Vision but Purchase Insurance

Safety People Don’t ‘Save Lives’

Even Safety Is Fallible

The Challenge of the Consciousness Taboo

Understanding Personality and Risk

Risky Conversations – Free Download

Understanding Psychological Terminology

Happy New Year and the ‘Good Life’ Paradox

Second Group Completes Graduate Certificate in Psychology of Risk

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 7,499 other subscribers

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

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY