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

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • 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, Omicron) 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 and WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2021
    • 167 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
    • 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
You are here: Home / Learning / Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk

Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk

April 20, 2022 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk

imageWhen we study Linguistics in SPoR (https://cllr.com.au/product/linguistics-flyer-unit-21/ ) we look at language, the acquisition of language and the purpose of language. Language is the bedrock of culture in all its forms: spoken, written, unwritten, visual, semiotic, words, discursive, verbal, gestural, conscious, unconscious, as grammar, code, mimetics, metaphor, musically, poetically, syntax and embodied.

If your idea of culture doesn’t include specific focus on Linguistics, you’re not discussing culture. When risk and safety uses the word ‘culture’ it most often it is a reference to behaviourism or systems. One of the things risk and safety is very poor at is its use of language.

As an educative study just explore the way risk and safety uses language and turns words into meaningless gobbledygook. For example, zero. Only this industry seems able to grab a word like ‘zero’ and argue that it doesn’t mean zero. Zero of course means infinity and nothing. It is a place holder created by mathematicians and then a number representing the average of -1 and 1 (https://archive.org/details/nothingthatisnat0000kapl ). Yet it is common in risk and safety to read mantras of ‘beyond zero’ (https://www.jacobs.com/newsroom/news/beyondzero-2025-and-beyond), ‘believe the impossible’ (https://www.consultdss.com/belief-in-the-impossible/ ), zero culture (https://trucesoftware.com/blog/zero-incident-culture-a-proactive-approach-to-safety/ ), ‘zero mindset’ (https://www.ecompliance.com/blog/target-zero/ ), philosophy (https://www.ishn.com/articles/104001-how-one-company-wins-at-safety-with-a-zero-harm-philosophy ) and religion (https://safetyrisk.net/the-spirit-of-zero/ ).

What we see in the examples above is an industry that doesn’t know what to do with language and so thinks it can make language mean whatever it wants. So, the idea of zero in safety started as an injury metric, it quickly became a goal, then evolved to become a symbol for a ‘mindset’ (ideology), a culture, a philosophy and eventually a religion. How did it evolve so quickly to this state? Through the application of binary opposition logic (https://safetyrisk.net/binary-opposites-and-safety-goal-strategy/; https://safetyrisk.net/the-binary-barnacle/; https://safetyrisk.net/asking-the-wrong-questions/ ) of an absolute applied to fallible persons.

The evolution of the use of the language of ‘zero’ is evidence of a poorly educated industry that is yet to discover a mature sense of what to do with fallibility (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/fallibility-risk-living-uncertainty/). What we end up with is an industry that thinks it is intelligent by speaking nonsense to people (https://safetyrisk.net/talking-zero-nonsense-to-people/; https://safetyrisk.net/keep-counting-every-time-you-dont-achieve-your-goal-thats-professional/ ).

If the best question you can think of is: ‘how many people do you want injured today?’ you really need to graduate beyond kindergarten. The best way to respond to such a dumb question is with: ‘why do you ask binary loaded questions that presuppose a numerical answer?’ Why do you allow a numerical idea to drive the way you define risk and safety? Or ‘Why do you think that injury is evidence of non-safety?’

We see similar naïve thinking about language in the AIHS BoK Chapter on ethics that supposes that the words ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’ are interchangeable. Words have meaning in themselves and despite what one would like to believe, ethics and morality are not the same word, they don’t concern the same thing. Similarly, language such as ‘persons’ and ‘humans’ are unique and have quite distinct and separate meaning.

Linguistics is the study of language and how language mediates meaning (semiosis). If you are interested in studying Linguistics and how meaning is created in the risk and safety industry, we have planned face to face workshop set for 11, 12 August 2022 in Canberra. You can register to participate here: https://cllr.com.au/product/linguistics-flyer-unit-21/

  • 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)

  • Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts - May 20, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety Symbolism - May 19, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety Mythology - May 16, 2022
  • The Safety Trifecta and Nothing Changes - May 14, 2022
  • Sleep Dysfunction, Dreaming and Safety - May 12, 2022
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 this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Learning, Robert Long, Semiotics Tagged With: language, linguistics

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Visit Count – Started Jan 2015

  • 24,009,698 Visitors

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 7,422 other subscribers

NEW! Free Download

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

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Roel on Free Workplace Health and Safety Downloads
  • Rob Long on Safety Silences – Video Series
  • BRENT R CHARLTON on Safety Silences – Video Series
  • Rob Long on Sleep Dysfunction, Dreaming and Safety
  • Rob Long on Working Out What Makes Sense in Safety
  • simon cassin on Working Out What Makes Sense in Safety
  • Rob Long on The Safety Trifecta and Nothing Changes
  • Aneta Parker on The Safety Trifecta and Nothing Changes
  • Rob Long on How to Tackle Risk You Can’t See
  • Andrew Thornhill on How to Tackle Risk You Can’t See

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Featured Downloads

  • Preventing Heat Exhaustion (17574 downloads)
  • WHO-recommended Handrub Formulations (1676 downloads)
  • ABCs Of Heavy Lifting (6498 downloads)
  • Stretching At The Workstation (4404 downloads)
  • How To Make Your Own Cloth Face Mask (188151 downloads)
  • My_Defining Moments in Safety .pdf (3308 downloads)
  • OHSW-Plant-Specific-Hazard-Identification.doc (4013 downloads)
  • National-Emergency-Risk-Assessment-Guidelines.pdf (2536 downloads)
  • The-air-that-I-breathe.docx (1035 downloads)
  • WHS-Legislation-A-to-Z-2012.doc (58412 downloads)
  • SEEK-Brisbane-91011-Nov-2016-2.pdf (1632 downloads)
  • Zero-to-HRO-15-March-2017 (2175 downloads)
  • Electrical Equipment Risk Assessment Checklist (4148 downloads)
  • Free Health and Safety Manual (72075 downloads)
  • HOTEL-RESORT-RISK-CHECKLIST.doc (11026 downloads)

Recent Posts

  • Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts
  • Culture Silences in Safety Symbolism
  • Culture Silences in Safety Mythology
  • The Safety Trifecta and Nothing Changes
  • Sleep Dysfunction, Dreaming and Safety
  • Working Out What Makes Sense in Safety
  • How to Tackle Risk You Can’t See
  • Study Reveals an Unexpected Side Effect of Traffic Safety Messages
  • Human Factors is Never About Humans
  • Where to Start in Humanising Leadership in Risk

What is Psychological Safety at Work?

Footer

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 7,422 other subscribers

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • After the goldrush
    • The Internationale
  • 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
    • Psychological Core Stability for Wellbeing in Workers Comp
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle
    • Who is Responsible for This?
  • 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
    • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
    • Culture – Edgar Schein
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Professional Conferences Are A Sleazy Con
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
  • Admin
    • Study Reveals an Unexpected Side Effect of Traffic Safety Messages
    • Humanising Leadership in Risk, Shifting the Focus from Objects to Persons
  • Dr Rob Long
    • Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts
    • Culture Silences in Safety Symbolism
  • Rob Sams
    • The Learning (and unlearning) that Revealed my Vocation
    • I’m just not that into safety anymore
  • Barry Spud
    • Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
    • Bad Safety Photos
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • Simon Cassin
    • Safety values, ideas, behaviours and clothes
  • 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?

Most commented on

The Unconscious and the Soap Dispenser

Forecasting Safety

The Banned Objects Index – A New Development in Safety Culture

Dumbs for Safety

The Real Barriers to Safety

Safety as Faith Healing

Who Said We Don’t Need Systems?

Why Safety Controls Don’t Always Work

How to use signs, symbols and text effectively in communicating about risk

Safety Should NOT Be About Safety

FEATURED POSTS

Human Dymensions Newsletter–Feb 14

Stand Behind The Yellow Line – Do Engineering Controls Affect Risk?

The New Safety Saviour – Algorithms

The Curse of Behaviourism

The Bias of Method Design in Risk

And the Enemy of Safety is? … Humans!

Understanding Personality and Risk

Take Safety Seriously

Doing Something Bad Well

The Different Levels of Wrongness!

A Question of Ethics

The Domino Delusion in Safety

All Risk is Subjective

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick

Human Dymensions Newsletter September 2016

Symbols Have Power

What is Psychosocial Safety

Study at The Centre for Leadership and Learning in Risk

A Great Comparison of Risk and Safety Schools of Thought

Something’s gotta give..

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 7,422 other subscribers

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

 

How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

 

 

How to Make your own Covid-19 Face Mask

 

Covid-19 Returning To Work Safety, Transitioning, Start Up And Re Entry Plans

 

How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?

imageOne of the benefits of the Covid-19 epidemic is a total rethink about how we live and work (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-28/coronavirus-could-reshape-how-australians-work-forever/12097124 ).

Expertise by Regurgitation and Re-Badging

One of the fascinating things about the Coronavirus pandemic is watching Safety morph into epidemiology expertise. I would like a dollar for every flyer, presentation, podcast, powerpoint, checklist template, toolbox talk and poster set that had jumped into my inbox… Read the rest

The Stress of Stasis

One of the challenging things about the Coronavirus crisis is stasis. For those without work and confined to home, for those in self-isolation, it’s like life is frozen in time. ‘Stay at home’ is the mantra. The trouble is, in… Read the rest

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