There seems this strange belief in the industry of safety, that any action can be justified if the intent, passion and outcome is safety. As long as the outcome is zero, any action is OK. This belief comes from a long tradition in engineering and behaviourism that commits the industry of safety … [Read more...] about Safety, Ethics, SPoR and How to Foster the Abuse of Power
Psychological Safety
Risk and Safety Maturity
Risk and Safety Maturity There are many programs which advertise about ‘safety leadership’ and ‘safety culture’ but advocate little more than tightening up systems, vigilance in policing and raising penalties for non-compliance. Whilst systems, policing and compliance are important, they are not … [Read more...] about Risk and Safety Maturity
The KISS of Death in Safety
I came across this Safety ‘goop’ a few weeks ago that serves as a good example of the nature of indoctrination in this industry (https://www.qmihsconference.org.au/wp-content/uploads/qmihsc-2008-writtenpaper-reynoldson.pdf). One of the most reliable things in safety and characteristic of its … [Read more...] about The KISS of Death in Safety
Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
The foundation for behaviourism is the myth of ‘in and out’. This simplistic discipline imagines that fallible humans respond to positive and negative reinforcement like computer-like objects. Behaviour then becomes the sum of inputs and outputs. Nothing could be further from the truth. All of this … [Read more...] about Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
One of the principles of Wicked Problems is that any attempt to ‘fix’ such a problem usually makes things worse. Indeed, taking an accepted ‘problem solving’ approach to a wicked problem is not just futile but dangerous. Rittel and Weber identified ten primary characteristics of wicked … [Read more...] about The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
Safety is the industry of ‘hazards’ and ‘controls’. This is the most popular and frequently used language for an industry that struggles to be ethical and professional. Now with the advent of ISO 45003, all of a sudden, this industry has to become person-centric, human-centric and holistic, fat … [Read more...] about The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
Well, you have to hand it to the zero industry. Going into the abyss in a tissue box armed with a Cert 4 OHS. And what is this minefield? ISO 45003:2021 OHS Safety Management – Psychosocial Health and Safety at Work – Guidelines for Managing Psychosocial Risks. Only the industry of zero, metrics, … [Read more...] about Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
No Good Reason to Follow Reason
Whenever Safety puts conditionality on culture is no longer talks about Culture but rather the adjective that qualifies thinking about culture. We see this with the work of Reason who applied 5 adjectives to define a culture of safety. These are: ‘reporting’, ‘informed’, ‘learning’, ‘just’ and … [Read more...] about No Good Reason to Follow Reason
The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult
Whenever we hear the slogan of ‘zero harm’, we know that it is selective. There is never any discussion in the zero-harm cult about ‘moral harm’ or ‘psychological harm’. Out of sight out of Mind. Whenever Safety focuses on the silly idea that the presence of injury represents safety … [Read more...] about The Moral Harm of the Zero Cult
Toxic Positivity in Safety Doesn’t Help Anyone
Image Source There is much to be said for having a positive attitude to things but there is no great value in being naïve or maintaining a delusion. It’s all about striking a balance and this is what we do in SPoR. The purpose of criticism and deconstruction in SPoR is to improve something and … [Read more...] about Toxic Positivity in Safety Doesn’t Help Anyone
