There is no such thing as a non-philosophy. Every method, enactment and moral decision in safety is guided by underlying beliefs, values and ideas of being.
One of the most profound silences and fears demonstrated in safety culture is the fear of ‘big words’ it doesn’t know and ideas outside of its comfort zone. In this disposition that values ignorance and simplistic naivety, Safety remains an industry with its head in the sand and makes Philosophy and Ethics off-limits.
As we look back at the history of safety, it emerged out of Engineering and the mechanics of Materialism and continues to do so. The dominance of STEM disciplines in safety is overwhelming. This makes Safety profoundly Mechanistic in what it does and blind to the nature of persons.
Safety has always and continues to be, focused on Technicism. Even when safety talks about socio-technical methods (eg. FRAM) is make no mention of social reality. This is evident in traditional safety obsessions with performance (HOP) and methods like FRAM but, also in Behaviourist and Scientist/Positivist obsession with objects, counting, measurement and systems. Even when Safety uses language like ‘revolutionary’ or being on ‘the edge’, it’s the same old faces and same old philosophy. Most of this is marketing and spin to sell slogans but none of it is supported by practical methods or any change in philosophy or ethic. Indeed, there is never any discussion about ethics at all.
One of the most dominant philosophies in safety is Utilitarianism. This is a philosophy that understands life through the lens of utility. In this philosophy persons become ‘objects’ and ‘factors’ in systems. We see this in Human Factors methods. This is coupled at times with some elements of Pragmatism ie. the judgement of success according to undisclosed beliefs about what constitutes success (eg. lower injury rates, control, order and attributed measures).
When it comes to ethics the dominant philosophy is Deontology, or a commitment to duty. In Deontology, it is deemed that humans can be neutral and objective and that right and wrong are known intuitively according to Natural Law. This is also known as Kantian Ethics, after the works of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
The other thing we see in the safety world is the dominance of Reductionism and the power of white, male, Western, masculinist narrative. Reductionism is preoccupied with breaking things down to component parts so that the whole can be controlled. Safety does this by its fixation of controls, linear causality and nonsense like Heinrich’s pyramid.
BTW, I share nothing in common with any of these philosophies which I why some people interpret my philosophy as being anti-safety. Indeed, the best way to really care about safety is to question many of these philosophies accepted as normal or orthodox by the industry.
What is most concerning about the philosophies of safety is what the industry is silent on, the many philosophies that are out there that simply get no mention. There is never discussion about Feminism, Post-Structuralism, Existentialism, Eclecticism, Phenomenology, Critical Theory, Metaphysics or any philosophies that accommodate Eastern thinking. How on earth could Safety ever accept life as a mystery, messy, uncontrollable and fluid? Yet how strange, this ignorance about these philosophies means that safety has now become extraordinarily religious in all it does.
What remain from the selectivity of common philosophies to safety (that support linear order, the myths of control, Scientism and Positivism) is a complete fear of anything that cannot be controlled.
If you want to step outside of the fears of safety about philosophy you could start here:
- https://bigthink.com/thinking/10-schools-of-philosophy-and-why-you-should-know-them/
- https://medium.com/@eliashstone/the-essential-guide-to-the-7-major-schools-of-philosophy-b5e33ddff3a9
- https://assets.openstax.org/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/Introduction_to_Philosophy-WEB_cszrKYp.pdf
- https://openlibrary-repo.ecampusontario.ca/jspui/bitstream/123456789/475/2/Intro-to-Phil-full-text.pdf
- https://www.openculture.com/2018/05/the-map-of-philosophy.html
- https://dailynous.com/2016/06/28/a-taxonomic-map-of-philosophy/
or, if you like you can sign up for the free workshops with Prof. Long on Philosophy and Safety in a four part series in May (https://safetyrisk.net/philosophy-for-risk-and-safety-free-workshops/).
Even if you are a beginner, you will find this series helpful and be given opportunity to look at practical alternatives to the common philosophies accepted in safety. You can join as easy as an email to admin@spor.com.au
Prof. Robert Long
Latest posts by Prof. Robert Long (see all)
- Moral Unease and Safety – A Podcast With Desai Link - April 18, 2026
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- The Dialectic of Weick – Free Workshops - April 16, 2026
- What Does Weick Believe About Flux – Free Workshops - April 16, 2026
- A Puzzle, Ambiguity and Mysticism – Free Weick Workshops - April 16, 2026
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