Posted on

Paralysis by Precaution

Paralysis by Precaution Munthe (2011) investigates the cost of precaution in his book The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk. The Precautionary Principle (PP) is sometimes called ‘prudent avoidance’ and is premised on the idea that inaction in times of doubt and uncertainty is the best action. PP works like this: If in …

Continue reading "Paralysis by Precaution"

Posted on

Zero, A Framework for Psychological Bullying

Zero, A Framework for Psychological Bullying There can never be an Ethic of Risk as long as the safety industry is wedded to the ideology and discourse of zero. How can one be moral to another person when one denies fallibility in goal setting? Of course zero is not a SMART goal anyway! (See Understanding …

Continue reading "Zero, A Framework for Psychological Bullying"

Posted on

A Question of Ethics

A Question of Ethics An ethic is a moral system. When one declares an ethical position, one is making a statement about how a moral position is systematized. The fact that Safety pays little attention to ethics, doesn’t study ethics in its curriculum and confuses moral and ethical definition is an indictment of the industry …

Continue reading "A Question of Ethics"

Posted on

No Ethic of Hope in Zero

No Ethic of Hope in Zero The denial of fallibility in the language of zero offers no hope for fallible human beings. Hope is much more than a concept of wishing, naïve optimism nor some unrealistic sense of desire. Hope is always about the unknown future and therefore should be understood as messianically, prophetically, transcendently …

Continue reading "No Ethic of Hope in Zero"

Posted on

Right and Wrong in Safety

Right and Wrong in Safety Safety is fundamentally a moral and ethical activity. Any desire for a ‘good’ or a virtue, necessitates an ethic. Unfortunately, even in how Safety shapes its own identity it doesn’t know nor consciously articulate an ethic. Even the brand of ‘professional’ demands an ethic. (It ought be remembered too that …

Continue reading "Right and Wrong in Safety"