It is always easy to claim something a ‘self-evident truth’ (Heinrich p. 12) in safety, when this is just nonsense speak. This is the stuff of myth (https://safetyrisk.net/deconstructing-the-myth-of-heinrich/). Safety makes many claims like Heinrich does and they are simply not true and are not … [Read more...] about What is Evidence?
Search Results for: Myth
New Rhetoric but Same Old Dynamics in HOP
We know that the 5 affirmations of HOP are not ‘truths’ as asserted by Conklin. Indeed, this echoes similar claims by Heinrich 90 years ago of ‘self-evident truths’ in safety. Whenever you read assertions like this in safety you know that what follows is NOT science but marketing. Just because … [Read more...] about New Rhetoric but Same Old Dynamics in HOP
Declaring What is By What Isn’t, HOP as Traditional Safety
One of the things Safety does best is declaring what is, by what isn’t and, when it comes to Safety, it seems believing one’s own lies is par for the course. I see this in HOP when reading Conklin’s book The 5 Principles of Human Organisational Performance. Of course, as in all traditional … [Read more...] about Declaring What is By What Isn’t, HOP as Traditional Safety
Causal Patterning and Affirming False Belief in Safety
There are many mysterious forces and energies that drive human decision making. One of these energies is called ‘Allostasis’, the power, energy, motivation and drive for self-preservation. This is the energy and drive of sustaining life and the self. This stands in stark contrast to the nonsense … [Read more...] about Causal Patterning and Affirming False Belief in Safety
Embracing Imperfection
The opposite of zero culture is Kintsugi. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of embracing imperfection (https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210107-kintsugi-japans-ancient-art-of-embracing-imperfection). Fear of imperfection and fallibility is fostered by the ideology of zero=safety. … [Read more...] about Embracing Imperfection
The Culture of Safety
The word ‘culture’ has an agri-cultural origin and extends back thousands of years. We all accept the language and notion of agriculture as it denotes growing and living on the land. Before written text there are extensive semiotic and oral representations for the ethos of activity in and on the … [Read more...] about The Culture of Safety
Understanding Violence at Work
Understanding Violence at Work I read with interest today a guide on work-related violence from the South Australian regulator. Unfortunately, the guide doesn’t really get to the guts of what violence is about Safework Australia . This is the problem when regulators view the world of safety only … [Read more...] about Understanding Violence at Work
The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia
Rightly or wrongly, “Safety” has become one of the most despised words in industry. The debate over accreditation of the Profession has been simmering for too long and now it is time to bring it to the boil! The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia by Dr Rob Long I have been inundated … [Read more...] about The Quest for Accreditation of Safety in Australia
If You Want to Know About Culture, Don’t Start With Safety
Safety is a mono-disciplinary endeavour, anchored to the philosophies of Rationalism, Positivism and Behaviourism. If you seek out knowledge from this industry, that’s the methodology that generates all that follows. The method that follows has been the same in safety since 1931. These dominant … [Read more...] about If You Want to Know About Culture, Don’t Start With Safety
Culture is NOT a Construct
One of the most important things to know about culture is that it is beyond definition, proposition and mechanistic thinking. One can’t control, define or ‘engineer’ culture as if it is a ‘thing’. Indeed, this is one of the characteristics of discourse in safety about culture, usually coming from … [Read more...] about Culture is NOT a Construct
