Three stories in the news this morning have significant implications for the safety industry regarding the need for critical thinking.
These are:
- https://theconversation.com/fake-podcast-clips-are-misleading-millions-of-people-on-social-media-heres-how-to-spot-them-246425
- https://theconversation.com/dont-rely-on-social-media-users-for-fact-checking-many-dont-care-much-about-the-common-good-246977
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/17/apple-suspends-ai-generated-news-alert-service-after-bbc-complaint
Each story poses a significant challenge for people who use the Internet, trust AI or believe what is on social media.
In an era when the President of the United States declares anything he doesn’t like as ‘fake news’, we need critical thinking more than ever.
Unfortunately, critical thinking in the safety industry is discouraged, because any negativity is deemed wrong, only compliance is good.
In order to develop critical thinking certain skills must be encouraged and taught. None of these are in any safety curriculum globally. Key skills in ethical and political thinking are particularly important.
It is most important in safety to resist the popular trend in blind slogans and positive thinking. The slogan ‘blame fixes nothing’ pushed by HOP is a good example of the naivety and ignorance of an industry that confuses negativity as ‘bad’.
Without mindfulness and sensemaking that is critical, Safety falls for delusions such as Zero (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/zero-the-great-safety-delusion/) and the ongoing seduction of counting injury rates as safety.
In order to deconstruct text and discourse, in SPoR we use a simple tool to help get to the bottom of what is happening regarding power, culture and ethics. How fascinating that the AIHS BoK Chapter on non-ethics never mentions the word ‘power’. Understanding where power lies and who benefits from the abuse of power is the beginning of being moral and ethical.
Of course, this is why Safety so enjoys and relishes in its power and desire to over-ride the culture of other (Hopkins) (https://safetyrisk.net/safety-gives-me-the-right-to-over-ride-your-rite/). This is why Safety Differently wants to continue to ‘harness’ you. This is why academics (with no expertise in ethics) believe zero is a moral goal (https://safetyrisk.net/zero-is-not-noble-moral-or-sense-able/). This is why some marketting of safety (https://safetyrisk.net/selling-safety-and-the-safety-of-selling-safety-culture/) is unsafe. This is why slogans are deemed ‘principles’ and personhood is not studied in safety.
The tool we use to deconstruct Discourse is below (Figure 1. Critical Political Questions)
Figure 1. Critical Political Questions
There is also much you can do to enhance critical thinking skills but this takes some courage.
Having a disposition of questioning, being sensitive to the use of power and skills in Linguistics is essential. Being sensitive to spin, indoctrination and propaganda requires a healthy sense of scepticism that seeks out who benefits from any discourse. Seeking out trajectories of proposals and propositions is important.
One only has to ask ‘where is this taking us’ to realise that zero ideology is toxic. One only has to ask where slogans like ‘all accidents are preventable’, ‘blame fixes nothing’ or ‘safety is a choice you make’ take you, to know they are dangerous and harmful. One need not be afraid of doubt or uncertainty, these enable one to get underneath so called ‘truth claims’ and ‘false propositions’ masked in slogans and spin.
And, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.
Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below