Another really enjoyable and thought provoking article by Dr Robert Long. There is no learning without risk, risk is not the enemy. Just think of all the inventions and pleasures of life we enjoy had not our pioneers taken risks. If There was a Risk Gene, Would you Engineer it Out? Ever since 1996 … [Read more...] about If There was a Risk Gene, Would you Engineer it Out?
Robert Long
The Space Shuttle That Fell to Earth
The Space Shuttle That Fell to Earth is a new miniseries (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31251016/) currently screening on the ABC and iView (https://iview.abc.net.au/show/space-shuttle-that-fell-to-earth ). The Columbia mission was the second space shuttle disaster after the Challenger disaster, … [Read more...] about The Space Shuttle That Fell to Earth
Smoke Screen Safety
A paper by Provan and Rae (the lovers of zero), argues about the nature of ‘safety work’. The paper rightly questions whether the many activities of Safety actually keep people safe or, are just ‘busy work’. I think the premise of the paper is right. Many activities that Safety undertakes provide … [Read more...] about Smoke Screen Safety
Petty Safety is Not Professional
We have seen recently the absurdity of hyper-safety, suggesting all outdoor activities be banned and that Santa wear a seatbelt (https://safetyrisk.net/the-horrors-of-hyper-safety/ ). All suggested by so-called ‘safety professionals’. Of course, this kind of preoccupation with petty low-risk … [Read more...] about Petty Safety is Not Professional
The Manual Handling Secret
The Manual Handling Secret One of the great challenges of safety is effective manual handling. One in three of all injuries in the Australian workplace are due to manual handling issues. For years we have been developing programs, codes of practice and regulations to help minimize this problem – … [Read more...] about The Manual Handling Secret
Second Group Completes Graduate Certificate in Psychology of Risk
Second Group Completes Graduate Certificate in Psychology of Risk This week the second student group completed the Graduate Certificate in the Psychology of Risk at ACU. The Graduate Certificate comprises four units: · An Introduction to the Social Psychology of Risk · Leadership and … [Read more...] about Second Group Completes Graduate Certificate in Psychology of Risk
The Horrors of Hyper-Safety
Whenever Hyper-Safety is on the scene, you can expect the suppression of any sense-making, intelligence or learning. We see this yet again, in another clanger from New Zealand. Yet, we know from all the research (Amaberti, Taleb etc) that hyper-safety is not just unachievable but … [Read more...] about The Horrors of Hyper-Safety
The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
Slogans play a special role in any process of indoctrination and propaganda. A good investigation of how this works is by de Berg (2024) Trump and Hitler, A Comparative Study in Lying. Slogans have a special poetic rhythm and simplify complex ideas into simplistic short phrases. Slogans usually … [Read more...] about The Seduction of Slogans in Safety
How the Ideology of Zero Destroys Learning in Risk
I read recently about what Zero is doing to recreational enjoyment in New Zealand. This is the lunacy of the absolute of Zero. This is the nonsense you get from the delusion of absolute-safety (Amalberti) and the quest for zero (Taleb). The quest for absolute safety simply makes the populace more … [Read more...] about How the Ideology of Zero Destroys Learning in Risk
When You Don’t Know What Culture Is. How Can you Improve It?
One of the new myths invented by Safety is that psychosocial health is about ‘controlling hazards’. Only Safety could warp reality in such a way. Now we have an industry that thinks it is addressing an issue by actually making it worse (https://safetyrisk.net/what-is-psychosocial-safety/ ). Moreso, … [Read more...] about When You Don’t Know What Culture Is. How Can you Improve It?