Buadrillard (pronounced bo-dree-ar) warned 50 years ago about the seduction of unreality and hyperreality. His book The System of Objects (1968) resonates with all we know about consumerism today and the false world of AI. It also presents the story of what Safety has become.
Who would have thought that so much noise and talk would exist today about what exists on a screen and in a device, than real life. Baudrillard call this, the attraction of ‘simulacra’. Now in 2025 we are ruled by simulation embedded in a culture of slogans, signs, images, codes and models that are not real.
Today, with little discernment or critical thinking, the unreal has been made true and the artificial has been made real. In this world of images and symbols, engineered to deceive, it seems that the metaverse is made real.
The metaphor of the shadow is an excellent way to understand what is going on. Indeed, whilst we can see our shadow and chase it, we can never be it and it is never us. It disappears as quick as a cloud appears.
Yet it seems in safety, the control of objects is never ending. Even when we raise issues of psychosocial well-being, the focus of safety is on ‘hazards’ not persons. Just look around anywhere in safety and see who discusses the nature of personhood or, an ethic of persons? Look at the images that are anchored to safety and its always objects, not persons.
Safety has made the adoration of objects the purpose of safety.
And so, slogans with no substance are called ‘new’. The shadow of safety is called ‘innovation’. Memes and propaganda have become the shiny trinkets of safety that would rather a catchy slogan than the substance of a principle. This is not more obvious in the lack of any ethical discourse in the industry.
The reality is, the substance of safety is in the engagement of persons and in understanding that all social connection is what safety is about. And where is the skill development in social connection being made in the safety curriculum? Where is a method for the engagement of persons in supposed ‘new views’? Where do we see the centrality of persons as opposed to organisational safety performance, in safety?
There are alternatives and positive methods in reality as opposed to the love of objects as made ‘true’ in traditional safety. You can find out about these methods by writing here: admin@spor.com.au
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.
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