Safety, Creating Order Out of Disorder
One of the certainties of Safety is that it likes models that give order. We see this in semiotic models of: swiss-cheese, bow-tie, Bradley curve, dominoes, risk matrices, Jenga blocks etc. I saw a neat cartoon the other day (Figure 1. Making Order in Disorder) that captures this well:
Figure 1. Making Order in Disorder
This safety schizophrenia is common on Linkedin where people wish away risk, dissonance, disorder, human error, blame and any other nasties they dislike.
The best way to do such wishing is with slogans, a common strategy with HOP who simply swap one model (swiss-cheese) for the same model (Jenga blocks) then act as if there is something new. It’s the same methodology as the dominoes and swiss-cheese. Just pull out a block (like Reason’s swiss-cheese hole) and the tower comes tumbling down. Are people that easy to con? Pre-accidents? Amazing!
The last thing Safety wants or, knows how to tackle, is life that is messy, finite, chaotic, disordered, uncertain, or tangled like a rhizome.
No wonder safety loves the swiss-cheese, it’s so simple, just plug the holes and solution fixed. Just make sure no-one pulls out that Jenga block so the tower doesn’t fall over. In HOP semiotics they even put mice by the Jenga tower, so you won’t forget what its modelled on.
It reminds me of placing a framework over a chaotic line in order to reduce disorder to its parts so it can be ‘controlled’. (Figure 2. Creating or from Disorder). And, we all know the favourite word for Safety is ‘control’. You’ve got to love Safety, where reductionism and behaviourism thrive because that’s how it wants the world to be. Don’t let those blocks fall out.
Figure 2. Creating or from Disorder
|
|
The sad thing is that life and being is not ordered or linear. Being human is fallible and messy, unpredictable and uncertain. Life is not like building a block tower or finding holes in swiss-cheese.
The key is to leave the models of swiss-cheese and Jenga blocks and face up to reality. It is of no value to put heads in the sand and imagine things don’t exist.
What does Safety do? It creates a fictional reality, with models to match. It finds what is comfortable and tidy, neat and linear. Ah yes, all is in order.
Or do we develop a methodology that acknowledges reality and develops Everyday Social Resilience as a method for living? (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/everyday-social-resilience-being-in-risk/)
If we face up to reality, fallibility and risk as a wicked problem, we accept disorder and fallibility and develop positive and constructive methods to tackle the realities of risk. That’s what we do in SPoR.
Prof. Robert Long
Latest posts by Prof. Robert Long (see all)
- Sloganeering, Indoctrination and Propaganda in Safety - October 17, 2026
- What No Blame Enculturates - October 17, 2026
- Book Launch: Following-Leading in Risk, A Supplement - October 16, 2026
- Fragility in Risk and Blame as a Wicked Problem - October 13, 2026
- Ultra-Safety is Un-Safety - October 12, 2026