Safety for True Believers
Is the safety industry a religion? You work it out.
Religion | Safety |
| God ordains salvation | Individuals ordain salvation – ‘safety is a choice’ – ‘unsafety is a choice’ |
| Aspiration to perfection God is omniscient | Aspiration to perfection – Humans are omniscient ‘All accidents are preventable’ |
| Sense of the sacred | Sense of the sacred, safety is above all things and justifies all power over others |
| Sacred texts dictate knowledge | Sacred texts dictate knowledge (SWMS, Risk Assessments) |
| Studying sacred texts, can’t be taken away | Studying sacred texts: legislation, regulation, standards and codes of practice, can only be added to, can’t be taken away |
| Belief in the absolute (zero=infinity) | Belief in the absolute (zero=infinity) https://www.learner.org/courses/learningmath/number/pdfs/session1/session1.pdf |
| ‘Cardinal’ rules/sin | ‘Cardinal’ rules (eg. https://asciano.com.au/system/ckeditor_assets/attachments/34/patricksafetycardinalrulesjune2011.pdf) |
| Delusions visions | Delusions visions http://oshwiki.eu/wiki/Zero_accident_vision http://www.perosh.eu/research-projects/perosh-projects/safety-culture-and-accidents-promotion-of-zero-accident-vision/ http://www.robwel.ca/documents/zero_incident.pdf |
| Original sin (humans are innately sinful) | Original sin (Humans are innately unsafe – Bradley Curve ‘Natural Instincts’ http://www.dupont.com.au/products-and-services/consulting-services-process-technologies/brands/sustainable-solutions/sub-brands/operational-risk-management/uses-and-applications/bradley-curve.html |
| Disbelief results in excommunication Believers and unbelievers | Disbelief in zero results in excommunication Believers and unbelievers |
| Infallibility – God Mortality – humans | Infallibility – Humans Mortality is denied |
| Shibboleths for in-out groupness | Shibboleths for in-out groupness |
| Binary opposition irrationality | Binary opposition irrationality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYwPMIpXMmM |
| Taboos | Taboos |
| Professionalised class of people | Professionalised class of people |
| Vestments | Salvation through PPE fixation |
| Mantras as absolutes | Mantras as absolutes |
| Gobbeldygook language | Beyond zero, zero plus etc http://nsca.org.au/beyond-zero-harm-human-factor-safety/ http://www.beyond-zero.com/ http://www.cos-mag.com/safety/safety-columns/zero-tolerance-rules-are-anything-but-absolute.html |
| Priests as gatekeepers | Zero Harm Managers as gatekeepers |
| Intolerance | Intolerance http://www.z-safetyservices.org/en/zero-tolerance.cshtml?nav=2 |
| Sunk cost in traditions | Sunk cost in traditions |
| Acknowledgement of suffering and pain as the human condition | Denial of suffering and pain as the human condition |
| Exclusive knowledge and language | Exclusive knowledge and language |
| Faith and belief irrational discourse | Faith and belief in irrational discourse – eg. LTIs as a measure of culture, Heinrich’s pyramid |
| Rituals and symbols | Rituals and symbols |
| Unquestioned traditions | Unquestioned traditions |
| Certainty in the face of uncertainty | Certainty in the face of uncertainty ‘All accidents are preventable’ |
| Internal cults | Internal cults |
| Eugenics, weed out non-believers | Eugenics, weed out non-believers http://sia.org.au/forums/showpost.asp?ContentID=105270&ContainerID=2960&TopNodeID=105270 |
| Narrow training 70% of religious studies is on the shape of belief | Narrow training 70% of safety training is on Legislation and Regulation, the shape of belief |
| Military language of warfare | Military language of warfare http://www.safetydifferently.com/lean-green-safety-machine-part-3/ |
| Identity against the enemy | Identity against the enemy http://www.safetydifferently.com/lean-green-safety-machine-part-1/ |
| Fear and lack of critical theory | Fear and lack of critical theory |
| Entitlement in knowledge, religious knowledge extends to all of life | Entitlement in knowledge, a Dip WHS and safety experience makes one expert in everything (apparently) |
| Making things holy | Non-negotiables |
| Denial and defensiveness | Denial and defensiveness |
| Hierarchies and pyramids | Hierarchies and pyramids |
| Calculative culture, who is saved and not saved, presence of something by the absence of something | Calculative culture, who is saved and not saved, presence of something by the absence of something, injury as a measure of safety |
| Enculturated overconfidence, we have all the answers | Enculturated overconfidence, safety has all the answers (positivism) |
Dr Rob Long
Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)
- Branding, Marketing and The Semiotics of Safety - July 26, 2021
- Making Safety Religious - July 26, 2021
- Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference? - July 21, 2021
- Speak Up, Reporting and Trust in Safety - July 19, 2021
- Are Safety People Lie-Detectors? - July 18, 2021
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