Safety Aphorisms and Platitudes Someone recently posted a photo of an old safety sign from NC Transport Museum on LinkedIn. Its a great find of an interesting artefact. I am not sure how old it is and it was probably considered to be amazingly insightful in its day. We often laugh at these very … [Read more...] about Safety Aphorisms and Platitudes
Safety Slogans
Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
'Tis the season to be decorating the workplace with safety slogans so I thought I should republish this classic: Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple One of the most annoying things about social media, especially Linkedin (as its intention is to be professional), is the constant … [Read more...] about Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
Why Deliver Outcomes When Propaganda Will Do?
I recently watched Goebbels and the Fuhrer and read Trump and Hitler, A Comparative Study of Lying and it resonated with so much with what circulates in the safety industry, that is simply propaganda. Why deliver outcomes or practical methods when slogans will do? … [Read more...] about Why Deliver Outcomes When Propaganda Will Do?
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
Culture Cloud Tour part 12 – Slogans
Slogans dominate the landscape of business and Safety. Think of the most popular slogans It’s finger lickin’ good – KFC Say it with flowers – FTD (Interflora) Have a break, have a Kit-Kat Snap, Crackle, Pop – Rice Bubbles Just do it – Nike Zero Harm – no claimants There is … [Read more...] about Culture Cloud Tour part 12 – Slogans
Safety as a Blessing Scam
It’s so easy to fall victim to a scam. We generally want to believe the best in people or find ourselves in a situation where things make sense but mask a hidden reality. I fell victim to the Netflix scam myself, quite easily. When scammers know enough about you, human psychology and common … [Read more...] about Safety as a Blessing Scam
The Danger of Bad Safety Slogans in Traditional Safety
We know that silly slogans mislead people and create single statements that are not true. Such linguistics limit the way we think about risk and promote simplistic thinking when the truth is, risk is a wicked problem. (Our next module on Linguistics and Risk starts tomorrow). The trouble is, … [Read more...] about The Danger of Bad Safety Slogans in Traditional Safety
Don’t look Now, Your Slogan is Showing
Slogans are very powerful and serve as a semiotic for organisations. Slogans are not just text but are symbolic and give organisations semiotic meaning. The moment a slogan is contradicted, they will be used against you. When this happens organisations look like clowns and what is remembered is the … [Read more...] about Don’t look Now, Your Slogan is Showing
When Slogans Don’t Work
One of the many slogans that have been circulated about during the Covid-19 crisis is: ‘we’re all in this together’. In an interesting take on this slogan (https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/no-we-re-not-all-in-this-together-20200505-p54q0p.html) we learn much about the power of slogans … [Read more...] about When Slogans Don’t Work
What’s in a Safety Mantra?
What’s in a Safety Mantra? One of the characteristics of the safety industry is the repetition of process, rituals and language attributed to have salvic purpose, to save lives. Any examination of the language of the safety industry reveals an extensive soteriology (theory of salvation). The … [Read more...] about What’s in a Safety Mantra?