Hot on the heels of the SPoR March Newsletter (https://safetyrisk.net/cllr-newsletter-march-2023/) on The Data Ethic of Power we get more about the Safety love affair with AI (https://www.nscafoundation.org.au/national-safety-magazine/). And you don’t have to dig deep to find the gems like Figure … [Read more...] about The Safety Love Affair with AI
Robert Long
Safety is not a Person, Safety as an Archetype
Understanding Archetypes is critical for an understanding of SPoR. An Archetype is not a person nor about persons in a group or industry. An Archetype refers to the power and energy of a thing and how it acts as a persona. An Archetype has characteristics as a persona, what one might also attribute … [Read more...] about Safety is not a Person, Safety as an Archetype
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!
Risk You Can Eat
The risk and safety industry just continues to get more absurd as it ventures into conceptual metaphor of eating and diet as it seek to make sense of the unquantifiable nature of risk (https://safetyrisk.net/quantifying-the-unquantifiable/). Then the industry goes into complete gobbledygook mode as … [Read more...] about Risk You Can Eat
Triarachic Thinking in SPoR
One of the foundations of methodology in SPoR is triarchic thinking. Triarachic thinking understands the social world (Socialitie) in dialectic (dialogue). That is, there is something happening in the space between you and me, I and it, us and them. This is best represented by using a hyphen eg. … [Read more...] about Triarachic Thinking in SPoR
Hoarding as a Psychosis Against Uncertainty
One of the great challenges to an industry full of absolutes (zero), controls and compliance is the need for riskability, adaptability, creativity and learning. The ability to adapt engages the willingness to risk and without risk there can be no learning. Weick called this the need for … [Read more...] about Hoarding as a Psychosis Against Uncertainty
The Delusions of AI, Risk and Safety
‘Congratulations, we have just shifted all out Psychosocial data on you, into our hazards register’. Can you just imagine this message being forwarded to you any time soon as Safety takes on the task of implementing ISO 45003 and the Codes of Practice associated with ‘controlling’ Psychosocial … [Read more...] about The Delusions of AI, Risk and Safety
Health, the Poor Cousin of Safety
The use of OHS, WHS and AIHS really doesn’t indicate the way Safety works. There is no sense of balance of Safety with Health in the safety industry. The reality is it’s: OS & H, WS & H and, AIS & H. Health has always been the poor cousin of safety and this is no more evident than the … [Read more...] about Health, the Poor Cousin of Safety