The Reason Safety Has Gone So Crazy

The Reason Safety Has Gone So Crazy – With Must Watch Video

This recent article of ours Fall Harness–The Latest Dumb Safety Photo To Go Viral  has gone viral itself and it leads very well into this article.

One of  main reasons that safety has become so silly and out of control basically comes down to the “F” word – irrational and disproportionate FEAR!!

This stuff is driven by the regulator (we’ve seen the ads and heard the threats) and the myth is perpetuated by Safety – how often do we hear “We need to cover our @rse” or “I’m not losing my house or going to jail”. This fear of prosecution is totally disproportionate to the reality – we have a much greater risk of being prosecuted for a driving offence!!!. Unfortunately it is the official role of some in Safety to do nothing but try to find people being non-compliant – I have a friend who’s job it is to do exactly that with sub-contractors and he has an informal quota – how does this distrust encourage people to “speak up” or co-operate or “stop the job” or see safety as anything to do with real care for people?

A lot of what we do in the name of preventing prosecution, in fact, increases the likelihood we will be prosecuted – much of this quickly and very poorly produced paperwork (plans, permits,  inductions, work methods and incident investigations) will actually be very effectively used AGAINST you in court and increase your risk of prosecution!!

Learning is only facilitated by trust, relationships and engagement – fear is anti-learning and anti-relationship! Have a think about teaching a kid how to ride a bike – do we use fun, learning and support or fear to get the most favourable outcome??

This is a must watch video by experts on this subject and presents a great reality check. It is one of 22 videos in the series accompanying the new book:“Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk”

20. FEAR from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

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