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

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • 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 2023
      • 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
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • 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
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • 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
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL 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!
  • THEMES
    • Psychosocial Safety
    • Resiliencing
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Robert Long / No Wonder Safety is Confused About Culture

No Wonder Safety is Confused About Culture

December 27, 2022 by Dr Rob Long 2 Comments

Depositphotos_9767607_xsWhenever you hear or read anything from First Nations people about culture it is always anchored to: spirituality, stories, Dreaming, ritual, symbolism, myth, identity, belonging and embodied living in the world. There is no idea that culture is a ‘fog’ or ‘cloudy’, culture is known intuitively, experientially and Poetically.

When Safety discusses culture it speaks none of this. It’s as if defining culture is a kind of rationalist quantitative exercise. We see this in the AIHS Bok on culture, Cooper, Hopkins, Schein, Busch, Dekker etc who speak none of this. Culture cannot be understood from an engineering and behaviourist paradigm (https://safetyrisk.net/on-culture-and-safety/). And yet, this is how First Nations people live culture is it’s life blood.

And it’s not as if safety doesn’t have a spirituality, rituals, symbols, myths etc. it’s just that they are never spoken. Such is the nature of Safety Silences about culture (https://safetyrisk.net/category/safety-culture-silences/ ).

Even when Hopkins and Busch call on Safety not to talk about a culture of safety, they do so from a framework of talking about culture. How strange.

Of course, we see the spirituality in safety with everything attached to zero culminating in the video released in 2022 Spirit of Zero (https://safetyrisk.net/the-spirit-of-zero/). We see extensive mythology, symbolism and ritual in so many Safety systems attributed as effective, which they are not. There is rarely any correlation between paperwork and work as it is done. We see mythology in the attribution of injury rates as a definition of safety, endless meaningless rituals attributed as effective and of course, the love of Safety for heroes and gurus (https://safetyrisk.net/no-gurus-no-stars-no-heroes-needed-in-safety/ ). All of these and more are characteristic of the culture of safety.

Even when behaviourists and engineers speak about safety they use mythological, symbolic and salvation metaphors. For example, Hopkins (Safety Cultures, Safety Models) repeatedly speaks of how Safety is ‘lost’, his own dogmatics and his faith in structure. He speaks of Reason’s ‘state of grace’ and ‘a conceptual fog in which many souls have lost their way’. This is typical of the spirituality of safety.

So much of what I read when engineers and behaviourists speak of culture is little more than faith in its own systems, faith that is unquestioned and attributed as able to ‘save’. Speaking of ‘culturebabble’ (Busch), managing and measuring culture, the Bradley Curve, cults, symbolism and censoring ‘culture speak’, all rings of religion, dogma and acts of faith.

Maybe Safety might learn a little of its own culture by overcoming its own fear of religion, despite the fact that it is so religious.

If you wish to understand culture from outside the safety paradigm, then Dr Long will be conducting a free Module on Culture and safety in 2023. It’s easy to register for this free program, by just send an email to robertlong2@mac.com and you will be put in the list.

The module will run Zoom sessions every Tuesday at 9am (Canberra time) starting on 21 February 2023 and with 90-minute sessions at 9 am and each following Tuesday at 9 am for 5 weeks. This means that the last session will be on 21 March 2023.

The module is positive, constructive creative and innovative, providing practical tools for helping tackle risk.

  • 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)

  • Have You Had a Drink of SafeTea? - September 27, 2023
  • The Blessings of Fallibility - September 27, 2023
  • Safety as Zero, The Perfect Event - September 25, 2023
  • Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero - September 25, 2023
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety - September 24, 2023
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 a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Robert Long, Safety Culture, Safety Culture Silences Tagged With: hopkins

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Crista Vesel says

    December 28, 2022 at 1:09 AM

    This is a good post, Rob! I find that safety ‘professionals’ (as they like to call themselves) are focused on controlling and predicting their culture. Of course, this is not really possible and results in them only pushing the artifacts around – such as behaviors – and not feeling or understanding the deep assumptions of culture, as Edgar Schein would say. Those who attempt to control the idea of culture through Discourse never really acknowledge that they, too, are part of this culture they are trying to represent.

    Crista

    Reply
    • Rob Long says

      December 28, 2022 at 6:03 AM

      Thanks Crista, so true. I think Safety would do well to research and study more of First Nations peoples. Even Schein is too focused on organising.,culture is not organised but is far more ecological and emergent. All these efforts to control culture and define culture to suit safety are simply comedy. Unfortunately, amusing but also harmful and delusional.

      Reply

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them belowCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

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 7,508 other subscribers.

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • Rob Long on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Rob Long on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Matthew Thorne on Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • rosa a carrillo on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Matthew Thorne on The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • Rob Long on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Matt Thorne on Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Rob Long on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Rosa Carrillo on Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Brent Charlton on Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Anonymous on What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Rob Long on Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Rob Long on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Rob Long on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Rob long on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Anonymous on Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • Joseph D Zinobile on Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Jason Martell on Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

Have You Had a Drink of SafeTea?

If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health

Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk

7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden

Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health

If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking

Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work

CLLR Newsletter July 2023

Playing With Mental Health in Safety is Dangerous

STOP ‘BREAKING’ PEOPLE! The notion of Psychological Safety

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Footer

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Have You Had a Drink of SafeTea?
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • Icebreakers and Games that Safety Trainers Play
  • The Blessings of Fallibility
  • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails

Recent Posts

  • Have You Had a Drink of SafeTea?
  • The Blessings of Fallibility
  • Safety as Zero, The Perfect Event
  • Validating, Endorsing and Supporting Zero
  • The Global ‘Zero Event’, This is Safety
  • If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health
  • Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk
  • Embodied Enactivity in Safety
  • The Meaning of Myth in Risk
  • Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
  • Icebreakers and Games that Safety Trainers Play
  • The Power of Safety Myths
  • What Do You Mean By Performance?
  • Hopkins-Dekker on Reason and Other Laughs
  • Perfection is Safety Child’s Play
  • Podcast – Dr Rob Long With John Morlan and The Risk Matrix
  • What’s Funny About Safety?
  • Zero Hour part 6 Knowing Yourself
  • Free Videos, Podcasts and Books on Zero
  • Don’t Be Dumb Like Me, the Typical Safety Keynote
  • If You’re Happy in Safety, Clap Your Hands
  • Safety Cops and Safety’s Adoration of Power
  • Zero Hour Part 5 – Surfacing the Unconscious
  • Zero Hour Part 4 – Zero and the Unconscious
  • Auditing the 7 Golden Rules of Zero, A Miserable Fail
  • 7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden
  • The Non-Golden Rules for Leadership in Zero
  • Seven ‘Golden’ Rules for Zero and Yet No Ethic
  • Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health
  • Is this Your Safety?
  • SPoR Workshops Canberra 18-21 September
  • The Dominance of Zero as the ‘Common Denominator’ of Safety
  • Zero Hour Episode 3
  • Goal Setting and Zero
  • Zero as a Worldview
  • If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking
  • Book Launch – “Zero, The Great Safety Delusion” – Free Download
  • Breach of Faith and Psycho-Social Risk
  • Zero Harm is Never Zero Harm
  • Why Would You Want to be a Safety “Geek’ or Hero?
  • The Mental Illness of Identifying as Safety
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a place holder
  • Zero Hour – Zero as a Philosophy
  • CARING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
  • Care is NOT a Factor and Yes, Your Model Matters
  • Care Ethics and the Ethics of Care, in Risk
  • FEAR AND CONTROL – Dialogue in a technological society
  • Of Course, Method Matters in Safety
  • Day 12 SPoR in Europe
  • Free Study Module Following-Leading in Risk August-September

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

The Mechanistic Worldview and the Dehumanisation of Risk

Gesture in Risk Matters

Triarchic Thinking and Risk

How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety

The Perils of Excessive Safety Management Systems

Perfectionism in Safety and the Denial of Humanity

Emotions are not the Adversary

Coping With Paradox and Ambiguity in Safety

The Difference Between Psycho-Social Health and Social-Psychology of Risk

How was your break?

Tentative at Tooleybuc

Kinesthetic Safety

What Does Misinformation Do in Safety?

Making Technicians Not Helpers

‘Pause and Ponder’ – what we can learn from social psychology academics

I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock

There is Nothing more Imaginative We can Do in Safety

Is Risk and Safety Perfectionism a Disorder?

Mapping Social Influence Strategies

Real Risk – Free Download

SOCD – Safety Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

STEM Safety in Drag

Report on SPoR Convention 2018

A Semiotic Map for Safety

Free Safety and Risk Lunch n Learn

Beware the Cult of Denial

Safety Holistically a Case for Change

There’s a Hole in Your Investigation.

Safety Isn’t Sexy, and it Shouldn’t Be!

SPoR Quarterly Newsletter September 2021

Disrupting the Methodology in Safety?

Regulation Madness

Safety for True Believers

Something’s gotta give..

‘False Consciousness’ and Perception in Risk and Safety

I Just Want Clear Answers

What’s Faith Got To Do With Safety

Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do?

I was just trying to Help

The Safety Control Delusion

More Posts from this Category

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

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 7,508 other subscribers.

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY