A Poetics of Safety The idea of Poetics captures all forms of knowing that are non-measureable, non- quantitative, yet are essential to the experience of living. We live our life in the in-between and rarely in the extremes. We daily experience the unresolved tensions between: finitude and … [Read more...] about A Poetics of Safety
poetics
A Poetic Worldview
Someone asked me the other day what was the opposite of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). An interesting question because it begs a binary answer. One might think the opposite of STEM is the Arts and Humanities but I don’t think that really captures the difference enough. When ones … [Read more...] about A Poetic Worldview
Understanding Safety as a Cultural Reproductive Process
One of the most useful understandings we gain from Marxist and post-Marxist readings on culture is the idea of ‘cultural reproduction’. This is never discussed in any Safety text on culture (https://safetyrisk.net/culture-silence-in-safety-cultural-capital/ ). The reproduction of culture is … [Read more...] about Understanding Safety as a Cultural Reproductive Process
An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
When it comes to a discussion on culture, the risk and safety industry leaves out any discussion of the lost critical elements of culture. These are the safety silences on culture (https://safetyrisk.net/category/safety-culture-silences/ ). In SPoR, we propose a completely different understanding … [Read more...] about An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
Power and Influence Through Poetics in Risk
I wrote about vision in Envisioning Risk, Seeing, Vision and Meaning in Risk . Without Vision there is no learning, no ‘thought leading’ or humanising in risk. Using the word ‘vision’, doesn’t make one visionary, using the word ‘learning’ doesn’t mean learning, using the word ‘difference’ doesn’t … [Read more...] about Power and Influence Through Poetics in Risk
Do Not Go Gently, SPoR and the Civility Myth
Continuing our series on Safety Myths – see them all here Dylan Thomas captures the criticality of facing death, in the throes of life, in his classic poem: ‘Do not go gentle in to that good night’. Sometimes when things cannot be stated by propositional definition they can only be spoken in … [Read more...] about Do Not Go Gently, SPoR and the Civility Myth
Poetics of the Self
When it comes to risk and safety, method is critical. Brutalizing and dehumanizing people to get a safety outcome doesn’t work (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/it-works-a-new-approach-to-risk-and-safety/ ). The best way to ensure a humanizing outcome in safety is to move away from zero, … [Read more...] about Poetics of the Self
Is Your Ethic of Risk Poetic?
Is Your Ethic of Risk Poetic? I define risk as ‘the faith and trust required to suspend uncertainty to act’. When we discuss Ethics and Risk we must reflect on our worldview and how we are disposed and oriented towards risk. This is how we make sense of risk … [Read more...] about Is Your Ethic of Risk Poetic?
Poetic Practice and Risk
Poetic Practice and Risk Our daily living is a continual poetic engagement with experience. We only know personally what we experience and the power of cognitive learning is quite weak. Shifting some brain-centred concept is not how learning works. A change in cognition or idea unless enacted in … [Read more...] about Poetic Practice and Risk
The Delusion of Numbers and a Number of Delusions
The Delusion of Numbers and a Number of Delusions I have a friend who was recently threatened with the sack for challenging the delusion that injury rates represent something, safety. The attribution of significance to any number is a reflection of the ideology of the speaker not reality. Numbers … [Read more...] about The Delusion of Numbers and a Number of Delusions
