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

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

Discover More on this Site

  • 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
  • PSYCHOLOGY 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
  • Covid-19
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
    • Covid-19 Returning to Work Inductions, Transitioning, Safety Start Up and Re Entry Plans
    • Covid-19 Work from Home Safety Checklists and Risk Assessments
    • The Hierarchy of Control and Covid-19
    • Why Safety Loves Covid-19
    • Covid-19, Cricket and Lessons in Safety
    • The Covid-19 Lesson
    • Safety has this Covid-19 thing sorted
    • The Heart of Wisdom at Covid Time
    • How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?
    • The Semiotics of COVID-19 and the Social Amplification of Risk
    • Working From Home Health and Safety Tips – Covid-19
    • Covid-19 and the Hierarchy of Control
  • Dr Rob Long 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
    • 77 OF THE MOST CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • 500 BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2020
    • 167 CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) 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
    • 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

How I Feel About Risk

June 5, 2015 by Rob Sams 8 Comments

How I Feel About Risk

Risk“The earliest studies of risk perception also found that, where as risk and benefit tend to be positively correlated in the world, they are negatively correlated in people’s minds.”

“If their feelings toward an activity are favorable, they are moved toward judging the risks as low and the benefits as high; if their feelings towards it are unfavorable, they tend to judge the opposite – high risk and low benefit.”

Slovic (2010, p.26)

These are the thoughts of Paul Slovic from his 2010 book, The Feeling of Risk.

Readers of this site will be familiar with the proposition that risk is subjective. This of course does not mean that everyone accepts this notion, as I know that there are many in risk and safety that continue to argue that risk is objective. However, there is certainly more discussion about the subjective nature of risk than when I started in the industry over 20 years ago.

When we accept that risk is subjective, that it is connected to feelings and emotions, and that many of our decisions and judgments about risk are not always made in a rational, analytical and logical way, we may be better able to understand and support people to deal with risk.

An experience that I shared with a good friend last week is a good example of ‘how I feel about risk’ can impact on the decisions that I make about it.

To begin this story, I should point out that I’m a car fan; this dates back to my childhood. I love to drive in, and experience, different cars; I find them fun and enjoyable. In particular, I like fast cars. My wife De knows this, so of course a perfect Christmas present for me was a voucher for a one-hour drive in a Lamborghini.

I was on a high leading up to last weekend when I would use the voucher and share the drive with my great mate Macca. We’ve been talking for months now about how fun the drive would be. One might say we were pumped and feeling favorable about the activity.

So last Saturday afternoon we arrived at the place where the Lamborghini is parked, ready for our adventure. We were instructed to arrive 20 minutes before our departure time so we could run through the required safety briefings and induction.

This part was pretty painless, it involved me being breath tested (tick!), a basic run down of the features of the car including how the gears work (tick!) and a little bit of planning for the route we were going to take (tick!).

Of course, there were also the six pages of paperwork that I signed (without reading thoroughly of course, goodness knows what I signed up to!), and then I had to pay a $2000 bond that I was not expecting. Then came an important moment.

Just before I hopped into the car, I was reminded that I was about to step into a car that cost $500,000 when purchased new. I was told that the car was in pristine condition and that there had been no accidents from people hiring the car in the two years that the business has been running.

Primed with this information, while at the same time still pumped for the drive, I was then asked to sign the insurance waiver form which basically meant that I was responsible for payment of the excess (or ‘deductible’) for the insurance of the car if I was the ‘at fault’ person in an accident. The potential damage to my bank account if I had an incident, $10,000!

I signed the form, headed over to the car and prepared to take off. I was feeling pretty good about this drive, I’d been waiting for months, my great mate was by my side, and this car was a cracker. I then paused and thought for a moment.

I’m about to drive a car that I have never driven before and it goes from 0 to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds. This thing is a beast to drive, and I’m going to have to cough up $10,000 if I have an accident. I became a little nervous, one might say a little less favorable about the activity.

The guy that owned the business was quick to usher me into the car, he invited me to start the engine, the sound of the exhaust was like music to my ears, this was going to be a fun ride. But what about the $10,000 if I crashed?

I must admit that this did concern me as I drive off in the car. I was worried about what might happen if I were to have an accident. For the first 15-20 minutes of the drive, I drove very cautiously until I got a ‘feel’ for the car. I then started to feel much more relaxed. We hit a 100km/hr zone and I was able to ‘give it a bit’, I was cruising in that beast and loved it. By the time I got half way through the one hour drive, the thought of the $10,000 excess wasn’t as relevant anymore, I was enjoying the drive, another thing off my bucket list, I was feeling favorable about the activity.

It’s interesting to reflect back now about how I feel about risk. In the weeks leading up to, and as I arrived for the drive, my feelings for the activity were very favorable, and I reckon if you had asked me about the risks associated with the drive, I suspect I could only name very few. This was a low risk and high benefit activity for me.

However, as I signed that form and got in the car, my feelings about the activity were less favorable, at least for a little while. I started to worry as I changed lanes, I was asking Macca to check over my shoulder and I was very cautious. How I felt about risk at that moment was that it was high.

As I became more comfortable with the car, I started to feel more favorable about the activity, in fact as the vehicle arrived at 140km/hr after I ‘put the foot down’ I was feeling very favorable indeed and on an emotional high. Combine this with the fact that Macca was sitting beside me with a grin on his face a mile wide, and I know it was very favorable. $10,000 wasn’t even on my mind.

When I am aware that how I feel about an activity may impact on how I assess risks, perhaps I am better able to discern it. My awareness of how I was feeling about risk did impact on how I considered risk throughout the drive. I’m conscious that it changed, I can reflect now and think about this. As I was going through the emotions (in my non-conscious mind) of the drive however it was very hard for me to consider the risk in a rational and logical way, as I did before I started to drive. My feelings about the activity definitely shaped the way that I considered the risks associated with it.

Does how you view and activity (favorably or not) impact on how you feel about risk? Are there activities that you feel favorable about that might be impacting on how you think about risk?

Or, is your view that it is objective and has nothing to do with ‘feeling?

As usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts, experiences and comments.

Author: Robert Sams

Phone: 0424 037 112

Email: robert@dolphyn.com.au

Web: www.dolphyn.com.au

Facebook: Follow Dolphyn on Facebook

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Rob Sams

Rob Sams

Owner at Dolphyn
Rob Sams

Latest posts by Rob Sams (see all)

  • I’m just not that into safety anymore - June 1, 2020
  • Social ‘Resiliencing’ - January 7, 2020
  • Resiliencing….. (and other such ‘ings’…) - January 3, 2020
  • Our Social Being – and why it matters in Mental Health and Suicide - December 8, 2019
  • Models of Sensemaking and Suicide (and their challenges) - July 15, 2019
Rob Sams
Rob is an experienced safety and people professional, having worked in a broad range of industries and work environments, including manufacturing, professional services (building and facilities maintenance), healthcare, transport, automotive, sales and marketing. He is a passionate leader who enjoys supporting people and organizations through periods of change. Rob specializes in making the challenges of risk and safety more understandable in the workplace. He uses his substantial skills and formal training in leadership, social psychology of risk and coaching to help organizations understand how to better manage people, risk and performance. Rob builds relationships and "scaffolds" people development and change so that organizations can achieve the meaningful goals they set for themselves. While Rob has specialist knowledge in systems, his passion is in making systems useable for people and organizations. In many ways, Rob is a translator; he interprets the complex language of processes, regulations and legislation into meaningful and practical tasks. Rob uses his knowledge of social psychology to help people and organizations filter the many pressures they are made anxious about by regulators and various media. He is able to bring the many complexities of systems demands down to earth to a relevant and practical level.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Risk Management, Rob Sams, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: objective, risk, subjective

Reader Interactions

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

Primary Sidebar

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

Visit Count – Started Jan 2015

  • 21,744,635 Visitors

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join over 30,000 other discerning safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Bernard Corden on Risk Without Faith is Not Risk
  • Bernard Corden on Safety at Risk
  • Rob Long on Safety at Risk
  • Rob Long on Safety at Risk
  • Admin on Safety at Risk
  • Rob long on Safety at Risk
  • Rob Long on Risk Without Faith is Not Risk
  • Bernard Corden on Risk Without Faith is Not Risk
  • Site Safety NSW on 10 Reasons Why Safety Can Never Make You Happy
  • Bernard Corden on Silence, Power and an Ethic of Risk

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Featured Downloads

  • Understanding-the-Social-psychology-of-Risk-and-Safety-3.docx (3144 downloads)
  • Convention-Flyer-November-2018.pdf (347 downloads)
  • "School of Ethics Map" has no version set!
  • How To Make Your Own Cloth Face Mask (187247 downloads)
  • Sample-risk-assessment-form.xls (26563 downloads)
  • Volunteer-Risk-Assessment-checklist.pdf (770 downloads)
  • Risk Intelligent Tract March 2017 (182 downloads)
  • Risk-Life-Poster-SPoR.pdf (347 downloads)
  • Safety-Backronym-Poster.pdf (404 downloads)
  • Workplace Checklist Covid-19 (6790 downloads)
  • Walking is Still Our Best Medicine (7551 downloads)
  • Supervisor-Induction-Checklist.docx (370 downloads)
  • Supervising Children Around Water (7300 downloads)
  • Field Activity Risk Assessment Form (694 downloads)
  • ABCs Of Heavy Lifting (4650 downloads)

Recent Posts

  • The Less You See, the More Likely to Die
  • Safety at Risk
  • The Poetics of Resistance and Risk
  • Risk Without Faith is Not Risk
  • Curriculum and Bodies of Knowledge as Instructional Affordances
  • Silence, Power and an Ethic of Risk
  • Dobbing, Culture and Risk
  • What Brand of Ethics is Safety?
  • Greater or Lesser Harm
  • The ‘Roots’ of Behaviour

Footer

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • Covid 1984 – The Shake Hands Maskerade and Vial Diplomacy
    • AHH$ Covid$afe Chri$tma$ New$letter
  • 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
    • How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
    • How To Write a Safety Report
  • Goran Prvulovic
    • Safety Manager – an Ultimate Scapegoat
    • HSE Performance – Back to Basics
  • James Ellis
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
    • What and how should we measure to support recovery from injury?
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • Who is Responsible for This?
    • Who Are Your People?
  • 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
    • It was the SIA until someone wanted to swing from the Chandelier
    • Common Sense is Remarkably Uncommon
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
    • Misleading Indicators
  • Admin
    • Making Sense of Safety Management Systems
    • Happy New Year for 2021 and Theme
  • Dr Rob Long
    • The Less You See, the More Likely to Die
    • Safety at Risk
  • Rob Sams
    • I’m just not that into safety anymore
    • Social ‘Resiliencing’
  • Barry Spud
    • Barry Spud’s Hazard Control Tips
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • 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?

FEATURED POSTS

I Don’t Serve Systems

What Does Your Risk and Safety Icon Say?

King of the World – Why is Sociopathy and Psychopathy so prevalent ‘at the top’?

Fake News, Fake Safety and Fake Christmas

What Can Safety Learn From Desire Paths?

Rhythms, Musicophilia and Safety

The Challenges for Organisations in Dealing with Mental Health

Bridging the Disciplines for Better Outcomes

Please Don’t Try to Fix Me – I’m Not a Machine

Incrementalism, Catastrophism and All That’s In-between

Thinking About Harm

Wisdom, Discernment and an Ethic of Safety

What Safety and Risk Could Learn From Patch Adams

Safety and Risk Leadership Master Class

safety compliance

You Don’t Want a Compliance Culture

The Unconscious and the Soap Dispenser

How Risky is Your Safety Spin?

Symbols Matter

Deepwater Horizon and The Suppression of Risky Conversations

Who Gives a Toss?

More Posts from this Category

Paperwork

https://vimeo.com/162034157?loop=0

Due Diligence

https://vimeo.com/162493843?loop=0

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.