Are You a Safety Fool? The fool in Shakespeare is the Archetype of wisdom. The fool in Shakespeare, is a technical term not a descriptor, all language is subjective. The fool both entertains but hidden in their discourse is the voice of ‘truth to power’. In Elizabethan England a clown was just a … [Read more...] about Are You a Safety Fool?
Social Psychology of Risk
Goals and Vision in Safety
Goals and Vision in Safety Safety is the industry of lower order goals (see Figure 1. Goal States). Safety functions under the false slogan ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’. It chooses to ignore a much better aphorism and that is: ‘you can’t count what counts’. We have known for a long … [Read more...] about Goals and Vision in Safety
Freedom in Necessity
Freedom in Necessity The characteristics of fallibility are the benefits of fallibility. Unless humans are fallible we can never know the delights of love, forgiveness, relationship, passion, care, helping or learning. The quest for immutability, to be robotic and without error is delusional … [Read more...] about Freedom in Necessity
Predictably Arational, Safety as a Superstition
Predictably Arational, Safety as a Superstition One of the most annoying things about Daniel Ariely's book Predictably Irrational is that it allows risk and safety people to dismiss aspects of human decision making as stupid when they are not. The framing of the word ‘irrational’ is simply … [Read more...] about Predictably Arational, Safety as a Superstition
The Certainty of Uncertainty
The Certainty of Uncertainty I have written recently on the nature of uncertainty (https://safetyrisk.net/radical-uncertainty/) and its relationship to risk. I have also written about a psychosis that accompanies the fear of uncertainty … [Read more...] about The Certainty of Uncertainty
Daydreaming and Safety
Daydreaming and Safety I can remember when the song Daydream was released (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnlCtPh25jk), I was 13 years of age and the music of the time was astounding even revolutionary. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s version of this song raced to the top of the charts in 1966. It captured … [Read more...] about Daydreaming and Safety
Safety in Design as if Humans Matter
Safety in Design as if Humans Matter I always find it interesting when the discipline of objects attends to something. It’s how we get ‘human factors’ that is about systems, ‘resilience engineering’ that is not about human resilience and Behavior-Based Safety that is not about behaviours or safety … [Read more...] about Safety in Design as if Humans Matter
Censorship and Taboos in Safety
Censorship and Taboos in Safety One of the interesting things we do in SPoR workshops is an audit of language, just a simple psychoanalysis of words associated with a key word. For example, ask any group what they associate with the language of ‘safety’ and the responses are dominated by: controls, … [Read more...] about Censorship and Taboos in Safety
Concept Mapping Risk iCue
Concept Mapping Risk iCue The foundation of the Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) is Socialitie and relationships. It is from this foundation that we learn to listen to others in order to help. Helping is not ‘telling’ and this poses one of the greatest challenges for an industry that loves to claim … [Read more...] about Concept Mapping Risk iCue
What is the Mind of Safety?
What is the Mind of Safety? What limits Safety in innovation, creativity, ideas and vision are the upshifting ideologies of behaviourism/positivism. Whatever slogans one is attracted to, checklists one completes, or how much one repeats the word ‘differently’, how many podcasts one listens to or … [Read more...] about What is the Mind of Safety?