• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Health, Safety and Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • BIGGEST COLLECTION of WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
      • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
      • Safety Acronyms
      • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
      • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
      • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
      • Safety Slogans List
      • Road Safety Slogans 2023
      • How to write your own safety slogans
      • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
      • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
      • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
      • Safety Slogans for Work
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL POSTS
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no Hierarchy of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • THEMES
    • Psychosocial Safety
    • Resiliencing
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Robert Long / The Mythic Symbology of Safety

The Mythic Symbology of Safety

January 13, 2023 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Originally posted on April 12, 2018 @ 12:56 PM

The Mythic Symbology of Safety

imageOne of the strange contradictions in the world of safety is between the positivist materialist paradigm that dominates the WHS curriculum/texts and the mythic symbology that dominates safety discourse about the activity of enacting safe-work. How strange that one should use language and images associated with the mythology of Greek heroes in understanding the task of acting safely. No wonder the industry is confused about its own identity.

One of the main reasons that managers and safety people cannot ‘attend’ to psychological harm is that the safety sector in curriculum and training is simply not educated to be sensitive to it. The WHS curriculum is consumed up to 75% with measurement and counting, where would it get the skills to learn to be sensitive about psychological harm? Indeed, the STEM-only paradigm that dominates WHS curriculum cannot even ask good questions about psychological harm because it has no grounding in a transdisciplinary approach to curriculum. Neither is STEM trained or skilled in curriculum itself, again this would rely on a transdisciplinary approach to knowledge in the disciplines of Education and Learning. Therefore, it is no surprise that safety is imbued with images of super-heroes and Greek myth rather than images that invoke empathy and compassion.

In my latest book: Fallibility and Risk, Living With Uncertainty (now with more than 2000 downloads – https://www.humandymensions.com/product/fallibility-risk-living-uncertainty/) I spend considerable space discussing the nature of mythology and symbology in the risk industry (p. 26-35). How strange that an industry consumed with measurement and counting should drift into Greek mythology to explain itself. Moreso, it is because of the risk and safety industry is so mis-educated that it is unable to understand its own drift into religious mythology in seeking self-identity. Myth is defined by Ricoeur as:

‘Myth will here be taken to mean what the history of religions now finds in it: not a false explanation
by means of images and fables, but a traditional narration which relates to events that happened at the beginning of time and which has the purpose of providing grounds for the ritual actions of men of today and, in a general manner, establishing all the forms of action and thought by which man understands himself in the world.’

As I state in my book:

‘Myth connects the empirically real with the mystical and sacred in the form of signs and symbols and
thus portrays how the world is with how people would like it to be. We see such an appropriation of this understanding of myth in popular culture and movies. Many of the blockbusters in the last 10 years have been focused on transcendence, the sacred and mythological explanations of the world.’

It is through myth and symbology that we mediate our understandings of life. When we deny what is fallible with the language of infallibility (zero) in safety discourse then no wonder Dekker describes bridging the gap between engineering and psychology as ‘ontological alchemy’ (http://sidneydekker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/10.1007_s10111-015-0321-7.pdf). The more safety endeavours to measure the immeasurable, the more it can only drift into religious mythology in its discourse. No wonder the DuPont Bradley Curve describes the human propensity to err in the discourse of original sin (https://safetyrisk.net/nonsense-curves-and-pyramids/). How else could one atone for total human depravity and get to zero without infallibility.

Without a transdisciplinary education safety doesn’t even know how religious it is. This was demonstrated so vividly at the World Safety Congress 2017 (https://safetyrisk.net/no-evidence-for-the-religion-of-zero/). As I state in the Fallibility and Risk (p. 34):

‘Disciplines that are materialist-pragmatist in orientation like STEM don’t have a hermeneutic or language to consider such metaphysical questions nor is it something STEM practices or has the language to explore. This is why when the risk industry worldview seeks answers to these metaphysical questions it ends up talking about matters of faith, transhumanism and the symbolism of zero. Ah, we will be perfect one day.’

On page 42 of Fallibility and Risk I list more than 20 different examples of how safety expresses safety-work through the hero myth. The semiotics of each of these mythical heroes are wrapped in Greek mythological graphics and symbols. All are hyperlinked in the book. You can learn more about Greek mythology here: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/heroes/.

When fallibility and mortality are the enemy, only a hero will do.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Dr Rob Long

Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Dr Rob Long

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

  • Lies, Shortcuts and Lessons from Armstrong - December 4, 2023
  • Real Risk, An New Icon for SafetyRisk and Competition - December 4, 2023
  • Understanding Human ‘Being’ The Foundation for Understanding Human Error - December 4, 2023
  • The Behaviourist Human and Human Being - December 2, 2023
  • There is no Fast and Slow Thinking, Nor Quick Learning - November 28, 2023
Dr Rob Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Robert Long, Safety Myths, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: hero myth, safety hero, STEM

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them belowCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,520 other subscribers.

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Comments

  • Admin on The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • Matt Thorne on Understanding Human ‘Being’ The Foundation for Understanding Human Error
  • Rob Long on Practical and Positive Methods to Tackle Risk – Free Workshop
  • Rob Long on The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • Rob Long on The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • rosa antonia carrillo on The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • rosa antonia carrillo on The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • Rob Long on Semiotic Methods to Help Tackle Risk
  • BRENT R CHARLTON on Semiotic Methods to Help Tackle Risk
  • Rob Long on Semiotic Methods to Help Tackle Risk
  • Jason Martell on Semiotic Methods to Help Tackle Risk
  • Rob Long on Critical Sources of Harm Ignored by Safety=Zero
  • simon p cassin on Critical Sources of Harm Ignored by Safety=Zero
  • Matt Thorne on Book Launch – SPoR and Semiotics, Methods to Tackle Risk
  • Rob Long on A Book to Help Get You Started on Cultural Improvement in Risk
  • Matt Thorne on Book Launch – SPoR and Semiotics, Methods to Tackle Risk
  • Peter Saaman on Book Launch – SPoR and Semiotics, Methods to Tackle Risk
  • Rob Long on Book Launch – SPoR and Semiotics, Methods to Tackle Risk
  • Brian on Having Meetings Without ‘Meeting’
  • Shannon Barter on Embracing Risk–Video

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

Don’t be Obsessed with Safety

A Guide to Psychosocial Safety Skills

Mindfulness is NOT Brain-fullness and other Psychosocial Myths

Have You Had a Drink of SafeTea?

If You Can’t Manage Fallibility, You’ll Never Tackle Psychosocial Health

Embodiment, Myth and Psychosocial Risk

7 Golden Rules that are NOT Golden

Why Zero Vision Can Never Tackle Mental Health

If Psychosocial Health Matters, Stop Hot Desking

Effective Strategies in Mental Health at Work

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Footer

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • Christmas Safety Messages, Toolbox Talks, Safety Moments and Slogans
  • Practical and Positive Methods to Tackle Risk – Free Workshop
  • The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • Understanding Human ‘Being’ The Foundation for Understanding Human Error
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Culture is NOT ‘What We Do Around Here!’
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • Christmas Safety Messages, Poems, Tips and Articles

Recent Posts

  • Lies, Shortcuts and Lessons from Armstrong
  • Practical and Positive Methods to Tackle Risk – Free Workshop
  • Real Risk, An New Icon for SafetyRisk and Competition
  • Understanding Human ‘Being’ The Foundation for Understanding Human Error
  • The Behaviourist Human and Human Being
  • There is no Fast and Slow Thinking, Nor Quick Learning
  • Fragility, Resilience and AntiFragility in Risk
  • The Sponsors of Zero Are
  • Why Zero Cannot Understand the Basics of Safety – ALARP and Due Diligence
  • No Room for Ethics in a Zero ‘Mindset’
  • Zero Harm and the Fear of Failure
  • Semiotic Methods to Help Tackle Risk
  • Top 10 Simple Things You Can Do To Dramatically Improve Safety
  • SPoR and Semiotics, A Conversation – Free Download
  • The Traffic in Zero Only Goes One Way
  • Critical Sources of Harm Ignored by Safety=Zero
  • Zero and a Culture of Denial
  • Shaping Change to Zero
  • A Book to Help Get You Started on Cultural Improvement in Risk
  • Risk Intelligence and What to Do About It – A Video
  • Feel Good Safety and Un-Ethical Ego-Centrism
  • Book Launch – SPoR and Semiotics, Methods to Tackle Risk
  • When Zero Doesn’t Work, Don’t Change Anything
  • Having Meetings Without ‘Meeting’
  • Leaders in Safety are NOT Gurus
  • Method and Message Congruence in Risk
  • Guilt and Shame, The By-Products of Safety-Zero
  • Update on Zero Survey, Just believe!
  • Zero is NOT the Only Acceptable Number
  • Don’t be Obsessed with Safety
  • Zero Ideology as Maximum Offense, Zero Benefit
  • Embracing Risk–Video
  • Hey CEO? Does Zero Apply to You?
  • OHS Voices from the Resistance – Rosa Carrillo
  • A Guide to Psychosocial Safety Skills
  • A Guide to Tokenism in Ethics in Safety
  • The Questions You Ask in Safety are Showing?
  • Introduction to SPoR, SEEK and Culture
  • What is Safety? Video
  • Understanding Motivation is Essential to Understanding Risk
  • Semiotic and Poetic Literacy for Safety
  • Speak Up, but Don’t Tackle the Cause
  • KISS Safety in a VUCA World
  • OHS Voices From the Resistance – Book review
  • Wo-Men in Safety
  • SPoR Podcasts Back Up and Running
  • What is Semiotics? – Video
  • Finding Balance in SPoR
  • Zero as Extremist Ideology
  • Understanding Cults and Safety/Zero

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

SPoR Introductory Workshop Series April 2020

Risk Leadership

Deepwater Horizon and The Suppression of Risky Conversations

So, You Want Culture Change

Zero Discourse and Perfectionism

Safety Doesn’t Need Military Language

When the Target Drives the Method

All You Love is Need

Zero Suicide and the Discourse of Denial

The Challenge of Social Sensemaking in Risk

Why Personify Safety?

OMG – Big Words and Safety

THE KING’S CORONATION

What’s the Alternative to Traditional Safety? SPoR.

Don’t Hold the Hand Rail

Blind Faith in Safety

New Video Explains Cognitive Dissonance and Safety

How Workers Really Make Decisions

Embracing Diversity & Critical Thinking to Help us ‘Create’?

Dr Long in Vienna 26-30 June, Last Chance for Registration

Say Something that Makes Sense

Safety for True Believers

The Religion of Safety

Safety Surveying What You Already Know

Happy New Year and the ‘Good Life’ Paradox

Safety as a Worldview

The 10 Behaviours of the Safety Sociopath

Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk

Social Psychology Of Risk Workshops

Managing the Unexpected

How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety

The Mystery and Paradox of Being an Individual in a Social World

The Risk Aversion Delusion

Are You a Safety Fool?

Can There be a Feminist Safety?

Selling Out Safety

WARNING: Not Your Typical Safety Nonsense

Living In Glass Houses

Clarity Enabled

No Help for Mental Health in Zero

More Posts from this Category

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,520 other subscribers.

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY