One of the favourite pastimes of Safety is parading ignorance as expertise. We see this constantly with engineers writing on culture and psychosocial health. We even get Safety running programs on learning that have nothing to do with learning nor education. Ah, this is the Safety Way. I was … [Read more...] about You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
Psychosocial Safety
When Safety (Zero) is Abusive
We learn from Gabor Mate that trauma is the foundation of suffering and harm. In his movie The Wisdom of Trauma we learn how extremisms creates harm and suffering. Safety in zero is one such extremism. The Wisdom of Trauma should be mandatory viewing for any safety person. Of course … [Read more...] about When Safety (Zero) is Abusive
Hands Up the Best Safety Fraud!
In the Safety tradition of speaking nonsense to people here is the latest from IOSH: ‘We must predict to be preventative’ Of course, the same tradition upholds the idea that Safety is entitled to present or write on matter in which it has the least expertise, knowledge and experience. This is … [Read more...] about Hands Up the Best Safety Fraud!
Communicating Professionally in Risk
The foundations of communicating and messaging is: framing, priming, pitching, anchoring, reframing and suspending agenda. We learn this in many SPoR programs as a foundation for understanding communication and influencing effectiveness. We use a simple tool shown at Figure 1. Language … [Read more...] about Communicating Professionally in Risk
How NOT to be Professional in Safety
Imagine going to your parent teacher evening and sitting down to discuss your child’s progress at the school and professional teacher describes your child’s challenges in school as a ‘hazard’. Imagine your child is having issues with bullying and is upset about it and approaches a teacher who … [Read more...] about How NOT to be Professional in Safety
Celebrating 60 Years of Lifeline
It was an absolute pleasure to participate in celebrations of Lifeline on its 60th birthday celebrations (https://60years.lifeline.org.au/) this week. The wonderful thing about Lifeline is that they save lives but don’t brag about ‘saving lives’. The last thing one ever needs in the work of mental … [Read more...] about Celebrating 60 Years of Lifeline
Liking and Not Liking in Safety, A Tale of In-Group and Out-Groupness
One of the foundations in the development of Social Psychology was the study of the Nazis and in-group and out-groupness. Most Histories of Social Psychology trace its roots back to Kurt Lewin. Lewin (a Jew) like many of the founders of Social Psychology like Milgram, Zimbardo etc. simply … [Read more...] about Liking and Not Liking in Safety, A Tale of In-Group and Out-Groupness
Duty of Care is NOT Duty to Care (for persons)
The darling of Psychosocial ‘hazards’ is ‘duty of care’. It is important to understand that duty of care’ is not about care or caring. Duty of care does not mean duty to care (for persons). The change in preposition is so slight but make all the difference. Similarly, the deletion of the word … [Read more...] about Duty of Care is NOT Duty to Care (for persons)
Safety, Ethics, SPoR and How to Foster the Abuse of Power
There seems this strange belief in the industry of safety, that any action can be justified if the intent, passion and outcome is safety. As long as the outcome is zero, any action is OK. This belief comes from a long tradition in engineering and behaviourism that commits the industry of safety … [Read more...] about Safety, Ethics, SPoR and How to Foster the Abuse of Power
Psychosocial Spin – Naming Bad as Good, Good Work Safety!
One of the things Safety is good at is spin, reframing language so that meaning is anchored to gobbledygook. The use of spin, propaganda and misinformation is a ready way to market to the undiscerning to distract from Real Risk (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/real-risk/). For an industry … [Read more...] about Psychosocial Spin – Naming Bad as Good, Good Work Safety!