The Paradox of Positivism for Safety Most people in safety would be unaware that the common philosophy driving the safety worldview is known as Positivism. You can get some background on positivism here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism. Positivism privileges information interpreted through … [Read more...] about The Paradox of Positivism for Safety
positivism
The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety
The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety One of the weaknesses of the positivist ideology (https://safetyrisk.net/the-paradox-of-positivism-for-safety/) that dominates safety is the behaviourist notion that humans are objects that simply respond to inputs and outputs. Wouldn’t it be neat and … [Read more...] about The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety
The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety
The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety Risk and safety by their evolution through Engineering and Science have now become disciplines of quantity. Unfortunately, critical human skills like: communications, listening, dialogue, understanding persons, social psychology, community, ethics, … [Read more...] about The Quantitative and Qualitative Divide in Safety
Don’t Be Emotional! Another Safety Myth
As our society (and safety industry) continues to suffer under the burden of Scientism (Positivism), we still here this terrible accusation ‘don’t be emotional’. More so, even most awfully directed at women. This kind of language promotes ignorance from assumptions about personhood developed 300 … [Read more...] about Don’t Be Emotional! Another Safety Myth
Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk
Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk Such a small amount of what we ‘see’ is processed through the eyes and brain indeed, this amounts to less than 5% of all ways in which we sense the world and make decisions. The idea that humans make decisions like a computer is completely … [Read more...] about Brain-Centredness and Occular-Centredness in Risk
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?
The Challenge of the Consciousness Taboo
One of the by-products of STEM-only thinking in safety is the taboo of consciousness. You won’t find this challenging issue being discussed anywhere in the industry. How strange, because if there was any one subject that should be of critical importance to this industry it would be about conscious … [Read more...] about The Challenge of the Consciousness Taboo