• 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 / Robert Long / Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts

Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts

May 20, 2022 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts

When you ask an Anthropologist about culture they most often think about artefacts, when you ask Safety, it’s always about behaviours. Artefacts carry a code and requires enormous research and historical knowledge to interpret meaning. Similarly behaviours, except that Safety thinks that behaviours are self-evident and measurable. They are not. Any behaviour that involves para-linguistics incorporates: myth, sign, symbol, gesture and Poetics and are interpreted. None of these fit the culture definition of ‘what we do around here’.

Artefacts don’t speak for themselves and often involve extensive Transdisciplinary knowledge to understand meaning. For example, one may not be able to see a ritual in practice yet artefacts from that practice remain, often dug up a thousand years later. The London Mithraeum (https://www.londonmithraeum.com/ ) is a site that includes over 3000 objects recovered form archaeological digs. There is much to discover about the Roman Empire from this site.

Why would Archaeology and Anthropology be relevant to safety?

These two disciplines have a much stronger understanding of culture than safety. If Safety were to listen to and engage in Transdisciplinary conversations it may just understand why so many strategies in safety don’t work in affecting change to culture. When a worldview is framed by engineering and scientism, there so little understanding of culture and all that cannot be measured.

The London Mithraeum tells us a great deal the importance of cults to the Roman Army. There are many other sites across the Roman Empire, not as complete as the London site, that tell us about essential rituals, soteriology (theory of salvation), religious practice, myths and symbols. There are over 110 site across the empire that tell us much about Roman Life (See Figure 1. Mithras Sites)

Figure 1. Mithras Sites

clip_image002

Each black dot on the map represents a site of a Mithraeum, considered the foundational unifying cult for the Roman Army. What we find at all these sites are different cultural artifacts explaining a diversity of rituals and religious practices that shaped belief (https://mithra-project.eu/ ).

The same can be done in a study of safety culture.

Every safety artifact tells of a belief and ritual that Safety considers efficacious and yet many artefacts involve no behaviour. Usually the artifact is a symbol/myth that anchors belief. Symbols and artifacts like swiss-cheese, risk matrix, bow-tie, pyramids and zero all offer evidence of belief in myths maintained by an industry that fears death and promises salvation.

A study in Archaeology, Religion, Theology, Linguistics and Anthropology what help the engineering-centric industry of safety become more aware of its own cultic practice. How strange that this industry that seeks to be scientific is so cultic in the way it seeks to ‘save lives’. The apocalyptic video of The Spirit of Zero (https://safetyrisk.net/the-spirit-of-zero/ ) is a classic example of zero as a cult. The video has all the indicators of a Pentecostal healing temple.

When an archaeologist or anthropologist finds an artefact, they open up a wealth of critical thinking and comparative transdisciplinary skills that safety could only dream about for a cultural investigation. When you define culture as behaviours or systems you have created a constraint that excludes some of the most important aspects of culture to research and understanding. Just look at any of the safety culture surveys on the market and you will see typical misguided and impoverished explorations that don’t get to the heart of what culture is about. The kind of skills and thinking common to Anthropology and Archaeology are simply not present anywhere in safety.

So, what do we learn from this Archaeological and Anthropological understanding of culture, when comparing a Mithraism to the video The Spirit of Zero:

  1. What we see in Mithras is a god that saves, what we see in zero is an ideology that ‘saves’.
  2. What we see in Mithras is a unifying ideology, in Zero a unifying ideology, myth and symbol.
  3. In Mithras, we see rituals that save, in safety we see rituals that ‘save’.
  4. We see Mithras is belief in the impossible, in zero belief in the impossible.
  5. In Mithras safety is defined by sacred practices, in safety ‘cardinal’ rules and ‘life saving rules’.
  6. In safety, we see belief that a number that defines itself, in Mithras we see an act that defines itself.
  7. In Mithras, we see a god that protects from harm, in safety we see an ideology that protects from harm.
  8. In Mithras we see a liturgy that ‘saves’, in safety we have ‘safety moments’, ‘safety minutes’ and ‘safety shares’ as liturgies.
  9. In Mithras we see the protector of truth, in zero we see the embodiment of truth, the absolute.
  10. In Mithras we see the power of dualism and an ethic of duty, in safety we see the power of dualism, binary thinking and the ethic of duty.
  • 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)

  • Not Just Another ‘Hazard’ - February 3, 2023
  • How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety - February 2, 2023
  • Free Download – Real Risk – New Book by Dr Robert Long - February 2, 2023
  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do - February 1, 2023
  • Harming People in the Name of Good - 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: Robert Long, Safety Culture, Safety Culture Silences Tagged With: Anthropology, Archaeology, artefacts, safety moments

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 7,500 other subscribers

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

Not Just Another ‘Hazard’

Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?

How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety

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

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob long on How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Rob Long on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Rob Long on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Matt Thorne on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • simon p cassin on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Hurak Learning on How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Rob Long on An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Paul Gentles on An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • 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

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
  • Proving Safety
  • 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
  • NATIONAL SAFETY DAY/WEEK IN INDIA 2023
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators

Recent Posts

  • Not Just Another ‘Hazard’
  • Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Free Download – Real Risk – New Book by Dr Robert Long
  • Proving Safety
  • 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

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

Tentative at Tooleybuc

Zero Accident Vision Non-Sense

How does collective mindfulness apply to workers compensation?

Safety Myopia

The Human Safety Newsletter is Out

Even Safety Is Fallible

Sexual Stereotyping Can Be Deadly

Safety Investigation – Whodunit?

Free Download – Tackling Risk, A Field Guide to Risk and Learning

Flooding is Dangerous, and I don’t Mean the Water….

Incommensurability and Discourse in Risk

Conforming and Questioning in Safety

Europe – International Workshop Social Psychology of Risk Introduction

So, You Want Culture Change

I’m Concerned That We Can’t See The Safety Forest For The Safety Trees

Living In Glass Houses

I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock

Building resilience trumps the prevention of harm

Risk You Can Eat

A Picture Tells a Thousand Lies in Safety

What is a Safety and Risk ‘Thinking Group’?

An Ethical Psychology of Risk

Themes and Concepts in Risk – Requests

Safety – Learning by Doing and Learning by Theory

Disrupting the Methodology in Safety?

Risk and Safety Starts with Being?

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety

Zero Discourse and Perfectionism

Transdisciplinarity and Worldviews in Risk

Risk and Safety Matrices and the Psychology of Colour

Social Sensemaking Available Now PLUS Free Share and Giveaway

Heretical, Unorthodox and Sacrilegious Safety

How is the unconscious in communication critical for understanding and managing risk?

Compliance, Obedience and The Attraction of Risk

A Scaffolder’s Journey in SPoR – A Podcast

Safety-1, Safety-2, Safety-3

Risk Culture and Cultural Risk

How Groupthink Works

‘Can’t Means Won’t Try’ – The Challenge of Being Challenged

Risk and Safety as a Wicked Problem

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 7,500 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