If You’re Looking for Balance, Don’t Ask Safety

Originally posted on October 15, 2022 @ 9:09 AM

One thing is for sure, when you love the cult of zero (For the Love of Zero – free download), you lose all sense of balance.

The language of zero, the global mantra for safety and darling of the AIHS, is the language of extremism. Any language of perfectionism cultivates cultic extremist thinking.

If you are looking for a sense of balance in tackling risk, the last place to seek balance is asking Safety=Zero.

We see this demonstrated in this article from the Weekly Times about the sad accident of a young woman hit by a roller coaster after fetching a dropped phone.

Poor olde Safety consumed with objects, barriers and bollards and not a clue about the social psychology of motivation or perception.

Of course, people go on rides for adventure and risk, that is their attraction. Ride operators do all they can within their power to manage the risks of these rides. No-one wants to see people get injured. However, if you think you can manage people’s decisions with barriers and bollards, you have been conned by the delusions of BBS.

What a sad industry (not profession) that has so little idea about human judgment and decision making (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/risk-makes-sense/) and is deluded by the nonsense of behaviourism (https://safetyrisk.net/why-safety-is-attracted-to-behaviourism/; https://safetyrisk.net/the-curse-of-behaviourism/). What a sad industry, seduced by behaviourism and so blind to the fundamental foundations of human judgment and decision making.

Humans are not objects and are not the sum of inputs and outputs.

It is a sad reality of modern life that people value their phone more than anything. It’s also a sad reality that phone addiction (https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/cell-phone-addiction ) drives much decision making. Similarly, one could reasonably expect under the principle of homeostasis that an adult would not wish to self-harm on an entertainment ride.

So, we read in this article the same old tired nonsense from Safety projecting blame onto theme park operators who somehow have to compensate for irrational judgments of fallible humans in all circumstances. This is despite the fact that prohibitions of not getting on rail tracks should be pretty fundamental for any adult. This is of course unless you are encouraged to do so by the Dumb Ways to Die cult (https://safetyrisk.net/dumb-ways-to-die-doesnt-work/) that blames people who suicide on the railway system.

If you are seeking some balance in this story, don’t ask Safety. Safety is the grand inquisitor and expert in Hindsight Bias.

This is the industry that loves zero and demonsises risk (https://safetyrisk.net/the-focus-should-be-on-risk-not-safety/). This is the industry that defines safety by injury rates and believes the impossible.

Of course, the Work Health and Safety Act and regulation are NOT like this. The Act and Regulation carry a strong sense of mutuality between all persons involved in any event, between accountability and responsibility of all parties.

The principles of ALARP (https://vimeo.com/162637292) and Due Diligence (https://vimeo.com/162493843) that dominate the Act and Regulation are premised on the mutual obligation of all parties for safety.

Mutuality is the key to understanding safety under the WHS ACT and Regulation.

Targeting Ride operators to predict all decision making of patrons is nonsense.

Taking sides in this sad event is silly. Those who understand WHS Law and Regulation and know the court system know (https://vimeo.com/showcase/3938199) err on the side of wisdom. Wisdom in WHS would suggest NOT to buy into sides in any event, that is what the courts do.

The WHS industry is not a profession in legal expertise indeed, giving opinion with legal implications without such expertise could prejudice future court action.

Nothing is more damaging to the risk and safety industry than WHS arm chair ‘expertise’ adjudicating on events. If you are seeking wisdom and balance in events, don’t ask Safety.

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Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

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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.