Grade One Lessons in Culture I picked up my granddaughter from school the other day and she showed me her work and it was delightful to see what they have been doing in Grade One in Primary School on culture. What a shame we don’t do such work with people in risk and safety. Instead, safety … [Read more...] about Grade One Lessons in Culture
Semiotics
This Is Not A Pipe
In a recent blog by Dr Rob Long, “Myths and Symbols In Safety”, Rob has stirred some great discussions about myths and symbols in safety. Rob is polemic in nature and writes in a way to give pause to think. And to state is upfront, Rob is a friend and mentor and I study with him via the CLLR … [Read more...] about This Is Not A Pipe
The Sacred Bra Tree
The Sacred Bra Tree “When we begin to understand the significance of Bra Trees and roadside memorials then we might learn something about culture and why zero is such a dangerous sacrament” It’s not likely that you have ever seen a ‘Bra Tree’, a rare species of Australian eucalyptus in the … [Read more...] about The Sacred Bra Tree
Safety as a Masculinist Activity
Every time we run a program or workshop the number of females that attend is quite low. Indeed, it is extremely difficult to find women who have stayed long in the safety industry. It is also difficult to find any women in the safety industry who openly profess a Feminist ethic. A recent report … [Read more...] about Safety as a Masculinist Activity
Linguistics and Safety
When I was teaching Linguistics in Secondary and Tertiary contexts, I would always repeat the well-known aphorism: ‘say what you mean and mean what you say’. How unfortunate that the safety industry has no interest in Linguistics and thinks it is fine to speak gobbledygook to people … [Read more...] about Linguistics and Safety
Semiotics and Corporate Logo Fails
See also: Culture Silences in Safety – Semiotics It is unfortunate that some of organisations below didn't have a better understanding of semiotics when they were in the process of designing their corporate logos – scroll down to see the result but a WARNING – some may be offended, but most will … [Read more...] about Semiotics and Corporate Logo Fails
The Dynamics of Dehumanisation
The Dynamics of Dehumanisation It is a very sobering experience to stand in a gas chamber and reflect on what happened there. I recently stood in the facility of Mathausen-Gusen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen-Gusen_concentration_camp), one of the largest concentration camps in the Third … [Read more...] about The Dynamics of Dehumanisation
Top 10 Things About Safety and Risk That Only a Handful of People Know
Top 10 Things About Safety and Risk That Only a Handful of People Know Republished by request Here are 10 and a bit things about safety that I plucked from some recent blog posts, that singularly or collectively only a handful of people may know. Or, if they knew them, perhaps did not know … [Read more...] about Top 10 Things About Safety and Risk That Only a Handful of People Know
Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk
Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk When we study Linguistics in SPoR (https://cllr.com.au/product/linguistics-flyer-unit-21/ ) we look at language, the acquisition of language and the purpose of language. Language is the bedrock of culture in all its forms: spoken, written, unwritten, … [Read more...] about Linguistics, Language and Meaning in Risk
Don’t Stress on the Investigation
Don’t Stress on the Investigation Whenever we discuss culture and investigations in SPoR we always discuss the nature of stress and temperament (unconscious type) and how both of these affect interviewee, interviewer and the collective unconscious. We know from the Culture Cloud (See Figure 1. … [Read more...] about Don’t Stress on the Investigation