So much of what we believe about humans, work and how decisions are made is conditioned by the language, metaphors and semiotics used. These symbols are made myths that drive belief and decision making in risk and safety and are often why many approaches to safety don’t work. One such metaphor is the cog. The cog is the symbol of machine-like process attributed to humans.
Let’s look at just a few examples:
The Brain as Cogs
This semiotic is common across many approaches to human thinking but bears NO resemblance to any sense of how humans think. But, like all simplistic populist semiotics, seeks to explain complexity by simplistic models/symbols that create myth. Any research in neuroscience (https://safetyrisk.net/essential-readings-neuroscience-and-the-whole-person/ ) simply blows such models away.
Like all indoctrination, symbol/myth operates in a similar way to the propaganda of slogans.
Innovation as Cogs
This is the image that anchors the so-called ‘safety science innovation lab’ and says a great deal about why this symbol was chosen as an anchor for identity. The attraction of mechanistic metaphors and technical images is common in traditional safety.
Human Factors as Cogs
One of the bizarre things about so called ‘human factors’ safety is that it has nothing to do with humans. Indeed, human factors is all about the performance of systems (https://safetyrisk.net/human-factors-factors/ ). Indeed, human factors never discusses the centrality of personhood to anything, humans are seen as cogs in a system:
One thing we know for certain is that ‘human factors’ is never about humans: https://safetyrisk.net/human-factors-is-never-about-humans/
Behaviour Based Safety as Cogs
One of the most popular images in BBS is the idea of the human Mind as cogs. This is such a necessary symbol for an ideology that seeks to de-humanise persons. Such a model (https://www.theradgroup.com/the-rad-group/tag/Behavior+Based+Safety ) completely ignores all the research on the embodied person and has no explanation for how the body participates in thinking (https://monoskop.org/images/2/21/Varela_Thompson_Rosch_The_Embodied_Mind_Cognitive_Science_and_Human_Experience_1991.pdf).
The image of thinking as cogs helps BBS in inflicting brutalism on people.
Mental Health as Cogs
The idea that psychosocial hazards and mental health is about cogs in the head, is a common model for understanding mental health (https://tistraining.com/managing-psychosocial-hazards-at-work/). Of course, mental health has nothing to do with what we do to our bodies, stress, heart function, gut, diet, sleep or a host of embodied and social influences on who we are. Nup, its all about wrong cognition.
Human Emotions as Cogs
Even when Safety tries to explain human emotions (https://www.myosh.com/blog/difference-between-hazard-and-risk) it uses images of cogs in heads to explain why people do what they do. It even describes emotions as ‘obstacles’.
None of this is real, supported by research or remotely accurate to how human persons function. It’s all symbol/myth.
Risk as Cogs
In risk management using cogs is common for symbolising the way risk works, even though risk is not predictable, not machine like nor ordered or mechanical.
If you are wondering by now what the human body is for, you wouldn’t be alone.
All of this mythology conditions the way we think about thinking, think about the human Mind and think about why people do what they do. BTW, motivation has nothing to do with cogs.
Resilience as Cogs
The idea of resilience has nothing to do with cogs neither is it like an element in a machine. So much of resilience should be anchored to Everyday Social Resilience (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/everyday-social-resilience-being-in-risk/), about how people live, need community and social meaning.
Cognitive Load as Cogs
Cognitive load has nothing to do with cogs. Stress is most evident in the heart and blood pressure not about brain-thinking. Indeed, life style and holistic approaches to ergonomics are essential for understanding cognitive load. We will be discussing this at the SPoR Conference in Edinburgh in Feb (https://spor.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Edinburch-Flyer.pdf).
The problem is: when we accept and normalise human thinking and functioning as mechanical-like cogs, we don’t see people as persons nor, do we see people holistically or ecologically. Bateson should be foundational reading for anyone in safety (https://ejcj.orfaleacenter.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1972.-Gregory-Bateson-Steps-to-an-Ecology-of-Mind.pdf).
Leadership as Cogs
How easy is leadership when it is framed as cogs in a system (https://sparksuccess.com/systems-thinking-and-organizational-culture-the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts/). Didn’t you know that people work together like predicable machines. All you have to do in leadership is manipulate the cogs.
Didn’t you know. When the team is falling apart and morale is low, you just need to change gears and everything will be functional again.
Control the Cogs for Safety
When you don’t know what to do about risk, wheel out the cogs and an ipad checklist, the perfect symbol for controlling systems and people in systems (https://safestart.com/news/3-quick-safety-wins/). This is how you get an easy ‘safety win’ whatever that is.
Of course, when one understands systems as cogs, the brain as cogs and the Mind as cogs, all one needs is to sell more training to oil, service and manage the cogs.
Safety Culture as Cogs
How easy to manage culture when it’s a cog. No need to know anything about anthropology, the nature of persons, rituals, myths, semiotics, beliefs. Nup, just oil those cogs or better still ‘don’t talk about it’. All of this just make culture easy and manageable (https://www.pm-partners.com.au/insights/5-success-factors-for-safe-implementation/). Just buy and implement out plan and safety culture improve. Bingo and bank the balance.
Systems and Learning as Cogs
Everything is so simple and easy when systems and learning are cogs (https://jpt.spe.org/twa/systems-thinking-learning-organizations). You don’t need to know anything about complexity, wicked problems, human psychology, sociality or much to do with persons at all. When it’s all mechanical, the solutions to problems are mechanical NOT human.
Metaphors
This is not just about symbol/myths either. Most of our language and metaphors about Mind and thinking are explained as ‘brain work’, as if decision making was like cogs. To understand the power of how metaphors shape belief read here: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~jhoey/teaching/cs886-affect/papers/LakoffJohnsonMetaphorsWeLiveBy.pdf The metaphors we use, shape the way we see the world (https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/stretching-theory/202407/how-metaphors-shape-our-thinking).
Of course, with all of this mythology and symbolism its clear what we need to get safety right. A safety engineer. Of course.
If we need to fix safety, just oil the cogs, service the cogs and maintain the cogs. If the system is wrong, just get things ‘in gear’, ‘make things run like a well-oiled machine’ and get the right cog-nition.
The language we use, metaphors and symbol/myths we accept and normalise condition the way we understand what to do. It’s very clear that when we use symbols of cogs, mechanistic metaphors and brain-as-computers we have a frame on the world to help demonise persons in systems.
Our symbol/myths normalise the way we see the world. We don’t have to think of decision making as embodied, stress as social or well-being as holistic, just get the cogs in motion. Make things run like ‘clock-work’. Make things ‘mesh’. You need some ‘synchro-mesh’.
Just imagine how safety might ‘work’ if cogs were NOT the dominant metaphor/myth for safety.
In SPoR, understanding semiotics, myth, language and symbols are foundational to understanding safety culture. Unless one gets these oriented towards the humanising of persons, safety can never be ethical/professional. This is why the myth of cogs is so dangerous to an understanding of risk.
If you want to know more about SPoR (semiotics, myth, language and symbols) you can request a free introduction (admin@spor.com.au) or are welcome to come to either of the conferences that are being currently publicised (https://safetyrisk.net/spor-conference-edinburgh-4-6-february-2026/ ). If you want to know how SPoR works, perhaps a free download is a better option (https://www.humandymensions.com/shop/).
Prof. Robert Long
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