Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do? I was sent a rather sickening poster this today, another one of those pithy senseless aphorisms that now populate Linkedin. The poster read: ‘The person who choses safety is a person of conviction, character and caring’. This … [Read more...] about Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do?
Simplistic Safety
The Ethics of Safety
A very popular article by Dr Rob Long from the recent past: The Ethics of Safety Quote: The key to the effectiveness of an ethic in safety is the humanization of others and the building of relationships. It is strange that the vice of intolerance is advocated in the workplace but we would never … [Read more...] about The Ethics of Safety
It’s a Fine Line Beyond Pleasure and Pain
It's a Fine Line Beyond Pleasure and Pain Safety could be the profession of the open Socratic question, yet again we don't find much about this in safety texts or training programs. The 'dumbing down' of workplaces by the 'tell, police, punish' formula has now lead to workplace cultures and … [Read more...] about It’s a Fine Line Beyond Pleasure and Pain
The Fallible Factor and What to Do About It
One of my favourites from the archives: The Fallible Factor and What to Do About It Being fallible doesn’t mean one is inevitably stupid, lazy, greedy or weak, there are as many advantages to being human and fallible as there are limitations. No one should want humans to be robotic - this would … [Read more...] about The Fallible Factor and What to Do About It
Heinrich Was Wrong, A NZ Case Study
Oner of the grand delusions of safety amongst many is that there is a relation between minor injuries and fatalities. There is not. The silly Heinrich semiotic that promotes this idea was made up in 1941 by an insurance salesman. Yet this nonsense semiotic is still in safety texts because Safety … [Read more...] about Heinrich Was Wrong, A NZ Case Study
Risk and Safety Rituals
Risk and Safety Rituals Rituals are the foundation of cultural belonging and identity. You can’t really understand or influence culture without a good grasp of rituals and artefacts. The idea that behaviours (‘what we do around here’) define culture is one of the grand delusions of simplistic … [Read more...] about Risk and Safety Rituals
Snap, Crackle, Pop. That’s the Sound we Love to Hear
Snap, Crackle, Pop. That’s the Sound we Love to Hear Rice Krispies were first released by Kellogg in 1928, and introduced in Australia as Rice Bubbles. The breakfast cereal is made of ‘crisped’ rice (toasted rice). The marketing that accompanied the launch of Rice Bubbles was associated with the … [Read more...] about Snap, Crackle, Pop. That’s the Sound we Love to Hear
Nonsense Curves and Pyramids
Nonsense Curves and Pyramids Safety likes nothing more than curves and pyramids, nothing so exciting as parading out the Bradley Curve or Heinrich’s Pyramid to get the troops excited about failure and loss. The Bradley Curve was created by DuPont in 1995 to try and benchmark notions of culture and … [Read more...] about Nonsense Curves and Pyramids
When You Don’t Know About Safety Hire a Marketing Agency
When You Don’t Know About Safety Hire a Marketing Agency It seems to be the trend that when you don’t know about safety you engage a marketing agency. This is certainly the case with Melbourne Metro (Dumb Ways to Die) and with Worksafe ACT (Hazardman). The real problem with agencies that don’t know … [Read more...] about When You Don’t Know About Safety Hire a Marketing Agency
I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock
I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock “We make thousands of decisions everyday in automatic mode without a mistake. Yet we don’t reflect and celebrate this wonderful mode of human decision making at work rather, we put the blow torch on the one moment when it doesn’t work and something goes wrong” So much of … [Read more...] about I Wasn’t Thinking Mr Spock