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

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real 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
      • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST 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 Sacred Bra Tree

The Sacred Bra Tree

August 7, 2022 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Originally posted on January 13, 2018 @ 1:04 PM

The Sacred Bra Tree

“When we begin to understand the significance of Bra Trees and roadside memorials then we might learn something about culture and why zero is such a dangerous sacrament”

It’s not likely that you have ever seen a ‘Bra Tree’, a rare species of Australian eucalyptus in the Murray/Mallee about 40 kms west of Mildura near Euston, Victoria. The Bra Tree has been made a sacred tree because it is a memorial. Whilst hanging bras in a tree might not make sense, it certainly makes sense to all those who knew the person who died. What we learn from the Bra Tree is a great deal about the human quest for the sacred and transcendence. In light of the mystery of life, suffering, harm and death we all in some way create ways of remembering those we love. When words seem empty and insufficient at the passing of a loved one, a semiotic (symbol) can say much more.

bra tree

When we understand the power of symbols and icons (https://safetyrisk.net/the-iconography-of-safety/ ), then we begin to understand the unconscious power these symbols have on the human psyche. Those who think words, text, language, icons and symbols have little unconscious significance need to see what happens when they try to take away a semiotic of significance. Deface something at a church or temple, suggest not using a risk matrix or injury pyramid, suggest not counting trifr or, dare I say it, suggest dropping the sacred symbol of zero from an organizational risk policy. You will soon find out how sacred the object, symbol or process is.

When something is made sacred it then becomes a sacrament. The risk matrix, pyramids, curves, bow ties, swiss cheese and dominoes and a host of other objects and processes have all taken on sacramental significance in the safetyosphere. This is despite the fact that few of these sacraments actually assist in tackling risk. Most risk semiotics create comfort, theatre and cosmetics but offer very little rational method for tackling risk. Certainly none of these can be used to demonstrate that risk in an organization is being effectively managed: https://vimeo.com/162493843

4. DUE DILIGENCE from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

We learn from a study of semiotics that a sign simply points in a direction and it only says one thing. Whereas a symbol/myth says much more than itself and can speak many meanings in different ways to different people. An understanding of semiotics and the unconscious is critical to understanding people, motivation, perception and the process of sacralisation. Memorial semiotics tell us so much about what a person believes about: humans, life, transcendence, faith, hope and living. Some people keep an object that was special to the person as a memorial, some may have a special photo, a piece of jewelry or others make some thing or place a memorial. We can learn much about the power of objects-made-sacred when we try to take that thing away or when it is lost.

We see other memorials on the side of the road to loved ones passed away through road accidents. This one below is on the side of the road between Goulburn and Sydney and is elaborate in the many objects it has left as a semiotic of significance to the person who has died. The memorial includes: photos, flowers, poems, dragons, angels, a bronze plaque, crosses, bottles, a cap and toys, all with symbolic significance to the person who died.

clip_image004

Fallible humans make things ‘sacred’ in the midst of a world that seems so profane. When humans run out of words, rational explanations, text and systems that don’t help, they turn to semiotics to say what can’t be said. Eliad in The Sacred and Profane, The Nature of Religion (1957, p. 12) states: ‘By manifesting the sacred, any object becomes something else, yet it continues to remain itself, for it continues to participate in its surrounding cosmic milieu’.

The greater the ideology and semiotics of zero takes hold in the safetyosphere as sanctioned by the World Congress on Safety 2017 and other peak bodies, the more it is made a sacrament.

https://safetyrisk.net/zero-vision-as-propaganda/

https://safetyrisk.net/no-evidence-for-the-religion-of-zero/

Unfortunately, one cannot remain ‘agnostic’ about the semiotic of zero. In the light of all we know about the power of semiotics one can’t say on the one hand that knowledge is important and then on the other state that one doesn’t know about the danger of zero: https://vimeo.com/230093823 There is nothing more nonsensical, unethical (https://safetyrisk.net/how-can-the-ideology-of-zero-be-ethical/) and demotivating than speaking absolutes to fallible humans.

The making of sacraments is about the semiotics of transcendence, seeking the absolute in frustration with fallibility. This is the religious process. One can’t understand culture or define culture without an understanding of religious semiology, except that it gets no mention in the SIA BoK on culture. Good olde Safety stuck in defining culture as ‘what we do around here’ and ‘if it can’t be measured it can’t be managed’ nonsense. Safety needs a good dose of reading Yelle (2013) Semiotics of Religion in order to understand just how religious it has become under the rubric of zero. Unfortunately, immersed in so much STEM-only knowledge that is not likely.

When we begin to understand the significance of Bra Trees and roadside memorials then we might learn something about culture and why zero is such a dangerous sacrament.

  • 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)

  • When Safety Delights in ‘I Told You So’! - May 24, 2023
  • Understanding Safety as a Cultural Reproductive Process - May 23, 2023
  • Thinking Outside the Safety Bubble - May 21, 2023
  • Understanding Language Influencing, A Video - May 21, 2023
  • Safetie - May 21, 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, Semiotics, Social Psychology of Risk, Zero Harm Tagged With: sacred, semiotics

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel 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 7,521 other subscribers

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on It is NOT My Responsibility to Keep You Safe
  • Chris. on It is NOT My Responsibility to Keep You Safe
  • Pierre Joubert on Zero Doesn’t Work, Road Fatalities Increase
  • James on We are all equal
  • Rob Long on We are all equal
  • James Parkinson on We are all equal
  • Brent Charlton on What Does Safety Achieve?
  • Admin on We are all equal
  • James Parkinson on We are all equal
  • Rob Long on What Does Safety Achieve?
  • Brent Charlton on We are all equal
  • Brent Charlton on We are all equal
  • Brent Charlton on We are all equal
  • Brent Charlton on What Does Safety Achieve?
  • Simon Cassin on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • Simon Cassin on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • Rob Long on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • Rob Long on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • Rob Long on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • Rob Long on You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

It is NOT My Responsibility to Keep You Safe

The KISS of Death in Safety

Is Your Safety World Too Small?

You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time

When Safety (Zero) is Abusive

Hands Up the Best Safety Fraud!

Communicating Professionally in Risk

How NOT to be Professional in Safety

How NOT to do Anything About Culture in Building and Construction

Celebrating 60 Years of Lifeline

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

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

  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • Ratio Delusions and Heinrich’s Hoax
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
  • When Safety Delights in ‘I Told You So’!
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • Safety Acronyms

Recent Posts

  • When Safety Delights in ‘I Told You So’!
  • My Story is Better than Yours
  • Understanding Safety as a Cultural Reproductive Process
  • The Unconscious and the Soap Dispenser
  • Thinking Outside the Safety Bubble
  • Understanding Language Influencing, A Video
  • Safetie
  • You are NOT the Sum of Safety
  • Update on SPoR in India, Brazil and Europe
  • It is NOT My Responsibility to Keep You Safe
  • Safety at the Margins
  • Research Basics for Safety
  • We Need Communities and They Need Us
  • Researching Within The Safety Echo Chamber
  • Confirmation Bias, Risk and Being Offensive
  • Lemmings for Lemmings in Leadership and Risk
  • Expertise by Regurgitation and Re-Badging
  • Zero Doesn’t Work, Road Fatalities Increase
  • Can There Be Other Valid Worldviews Than Safety?
  • Evaluating Value by the Value of What You Don’t Know
  • Reality vs Theory, The Binary Divide
  • No Paradigm Shift with BBS
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Is Your Safety World Too Small?
  • What Does Safety Achieve?
  • In Praise of Balance in Risk and the Threat of Extremism
  • We are all equal
  • You Can Fool Someone Some of the Time but, You Can Fool Safety All of the Time
  • What in the (Risk & Safety) World is Imagination?
  • iCue Engagement Process
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand
  • For the Monarchists of Safety
  • The Sully Effect
  • All Things Must Pass in Risk
  • Scapegoating and Safety
  • Understanding Habit, Habituation and Change
  • Don’t Mention the War
  • Safety in Design for Who by Who?
  • Beyond ‘What We Do Around Here’
  • Asking the Wrong Questions
  • When Safety (Zero) is Abusive
  • Mandala as a Method for Tackling an Ethic of Risk (a Video)
  • Safety Cosmetics
  • Visualising the EHS Role
  • Towards Dumb
  • Workshops with Dr Long – Vienna, Austria 26-30 June 2023
  • Visual, Verbal and Relational Mapping in Risk Assessment
  • Abduction in Risk and Safety
  • Creating Myths and Rituals in Safety
  • The Safe Christmas Psychosis

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

Safety Isn’t Sexy, and it Shouldn’t Be!

Speaking a New Language in Safety

Mandala as a Method for Tackling an Ethic of Risk (a Video)

Utopian Language and the Quest for Perfection in Safety

Talking Risk Video–Anti-Fragility

Understanding Language Influencing, A Video

Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?

The Conundrum in Discerning Risk

Incommensurability and Discourse in Risk

Safety Aphorisms and Platitudes

Challenges and Opportunities for Learning in a Crisis

Flooding is Dangerous, and I don’t Mean the Water….

Towards Dumb

The Mechanistic Worldview and the Dehumanisation of Risk

Safety as Avoidance

SAFETY IS A MYTH, LONG LIVE SAFETY

The Trajectory of Zero Vision

Confirmity in Conformity

Don’t Dare Speak the ‘f’ Word

Predictably Arational, Safety as a Superstition

The SEEK Investigations Donut

Stand Behind The Yellow Line – Do Engineering Controls Affect Risk?

Hoarding as a Psychosis Against Uncertainty

Shopping for Safety

200,000 SPoR Book Downloads

The Different Levels of Wrongness!

Why People Do As They Do

Unthinkable

Hind-sight, Risk Savvy and the Unexpected

Independent Thinking in an Uncertain World, A Mind of One’s Own

It’s not in the KPI or LTI but the MRI

Suffering – Sometimes There Is No Reason

Paperwork and Usability in Tackling Risk

The Essentialist Pleasure Of Safety

Zero Accident Vision Non-Sense

Sexual Stereotyping Can Be Deadly

Understanding Conscience and Safety

Safety is not Just a Choice

The Domino Delusion in Safety

Subliminal and Subconscious Influence

More Posts from this Category

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 7,521 other subscribers

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY

x
x