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

Safety Risk .net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • 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
  • PSYCH. OF SAFETY & RISK
    • What is Psychological 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
  • Robert Long
    • 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!
  • Slogans
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
    • When Slogans Don’t Work
    • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
    • 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 2022
    • 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
  • Safety Culture
    • Safety Culture Silences
  • Psychological Safety
You are here: Home / Robert Long / The Shaping of SPoR Intelligence, Skills and Competence in Risk

The Shaping of SPoR Intelligence, Skills and Competence in Risk

June 18, 2021 by Dr Rob Long 2 Comments

The Shaping of SPoR Intelligence, Skills and Competence in Risk

imageThe next free module in SPoR will be run in September, you can register your interest here: https://safetyrisk.net/free-online-module-introduction-to-the-social-psychology-of-risk/

You can’t access knowledge you don’t have and neither can you enact skills you don’t have. Even the enactment of skills without understanding is possible but without understanding such acts lacks ownership and any capability to adapt and move in learning.

The purpose of education is to experience new knowledge, understanding and skills making all three accessible, enactable, adjustable and doable.

Education is not training and learning is not rote repetition. In training it is possible to enact something without understanding/knowledge, the focus is on the skill behaviour and competence. In this way, a monkey can be trained or parrot can be trained to do things that seem human, but lack understanding and embodied relevance. This is not intended as a ethical judgement on non-human life rather to make the point that human personhood is not animalhood, particularly when it comes to linguistics and embodied knowing.

Embodied knowing is the key to Education (https://safetyrisk.net/the-disembodied-human-and-persons-in-safety/ ). Brain cognition is very limited learning. Unless learning and education is holistic, it has very little chance of making much difference. Unfortunately, most of what passes for training in safety is little more than cognitivism. Education and learning is lost when brain-centrism is the foundation.

Every time we conduct the Introduction to the Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) (https://safetyrisk.net/free-online-module-introduction-to-the-social-psychology-of-risk/) not one participant knows how to observe, listen and converse/exchange about risk. Many with more than 30 years experience in safety simply don’t know how to ask open questions, listen or what to observe. None have any clue about semiotic signals, linguistic cues or psychological indicators of risk. Whilst many know how to ‘tell’ others about hazards noone knows what to observe, how to listen for or how to recognise vital psychological indicators in a conversation. This has been a consistent finding with thousands of safety people who come to do SPoR. Similarly, when we conduct a SPoR HSE iCue Audit most fail due to lack of knowledge in fundamentals in human engagement, listening, relational knowledge, observation and learning. None have a single clue about ethics or what ideology drives what they do.

One of the most encouraging things about those who sign up to SPoR education is that they are ready to learn. They at least acknowledge what they don’t know and come thirsty to extend their knowledge, skills and understanding. There is no help in the AIHS BoK or the WHS Curriculum with any of this vital development in skills, knowledge and understanding. What a strange thing that safety people have to step outside of safety orthodoxy to learn how to be a help to others in tackling risk. The whole introductory module focuses on the embodiment of skills in engagement. People are so surprised at what they can do just after a few weeks and it changes the whole way they approach safety.

Whenever we conduct the Introductory Module in SPoR without exception everyone states ‘why have I not been shown this before’, ‘why do I not know this’. By the conclusion of the 8 session module everyone realizes what they need to know and how much more practice is required to become competent in safety. It then takes at least a few years until such skills can be enacted intuitively and smoothly on a day to day basis. It can be done and the evidence that it works is overwhelming (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/it-works-a-new-approach-to-risk-and-safety/).

The next free module in SPoR will be run in September, you can register your interest here: https://safetyrisk.net/free-online-module-introduction-to-the-social-psychology-of-risk/


Here are just a few testimonies from past participants.

I used to follow your publications and posts (safetyrisk.net) and they express in a didactic way what in caused me discomfort in the Safety área … But i could not express it in words.

My background is in engineering but I have always enjoyed reading and when we read… More we make correlations of the most varied themes (holistic view) and “more humble we become… Socratic paradox… I know that I know nothing”

And the problem, in my opinion, in the safety industry are the “certainties” as well as the understanding that legal obligations are written on a sacred stone.

Thank you very much for having had the opportunity to attend the introductory SPoR course.

Gustavo Saralegui

Specialist Engineer in Health and Safety in Duratex

Sau Paulo

Brazil

What I learned from the Introductory Social Psychology of Risk class is a lot what you cover in many of your blog posts related to the toxicity and cult-like beliefs held by those in the safety and risk industry in the achievement of zero and focus on numerics (equating low injury counts as success or a measure of safety performance); the denial of human fallibility, the unconscious, and no comprehension of the a-rational; the obsession of safety and health professionals crusaders with the small stuff (how everything has to be measured/quantified) and reported upwards to show someone how good safety is; it’s all about unsafe acts and changing one’s behavior; blame and control culture (trajectory->) resulting in simplistic thinking “anything that goes wrong needs a root cause and corrective action because we can fix everything”. The zoom sessions, the homework, videos and discussions really open your senses to a whole new way of thinking about safety and risk. If you really want to mature in risk and safety, the safety and risk industry needs to understand that we are social beings and connecting with people (Socialitie) is what’s sorely needed, e.g. the importance of language/dialogue, semiotics and how social arrangements affect decision making and judgements, having better conversations with people, building better relationships through listening, being a helping profession, focus on LEARNING and UNLEARNING, understanding why?, questioning why? (discernment), understanding and recognizing cognitive biases in people and organizations, focus on the things you can’t measure (trust, getting know each other, happiness); a lot of new words; and understanding how to “tackle” complex wicked problems. I now have a better (realizing only a fraction of Social Psychology of Risk) understanding of the concepts covered in the numerous books you’ve written on (risk, fallibility, leading , effective conversations) and recommended (not safety and health books) social psychology books to learn more, the videos you offer for free viewing and blog posts. I plan use what I’ve learned to improve the role we play in the organization and convince others (who really want to learn) to take you up on your free introductory course so others can understand what it takes to get to the next level of maturity in safety, health and risk culture improvement, that is taking a leap of faith.  THANKS for giving us this opportunity!

Lee Anderson, CIH CSP

Staff Industrial Hygienist

New York

Wow, what a learning experience! In these short but intense on-line sessions I have learnt about many concepts and tools that I feel will help me to be a wiser professional. Some sessions have clarified what I had partially known before and had trouble properly applying. One example of this relates to the concept of ‘Drift to Failure’. I have in the past used this concept to explain how an organization’s risk management effectiveness decreased over time but my understanding of why this occurred was not complete. Now with the concepts that all humans are fallible, that we are always in a state of some failure, and that individuals are constantly emerging, I feel I better understand how an organization of people can learn from each other to fulfill their goals. Also, impactful for me was the clarification that people are always in a state of tension trying to balance their experiential dialectics. They act with faith and hope clearly not knowing what the current uncertainties may bring. In the incident analysis method I use, the principles described in Robert Long’s Telos model combined with the idea of dialectic tension are hugely valuable in understanding an individual’s perceptions, beliefs, and psychological preconditions when they are deciding how to do or not do something. Thank you so much Robert!

John Sherban, P.Eng., FS Eng (TÜV Rheinland)

Systemic Risk Management Inc.

  • 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)

  • Understanding Psychological Terminology - August 7, 2022
  • Risk Boldly - August 7, 2022
  • Poetics of the Self - August 7, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety – What Culture Isn’t - August 7, 2022
  • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it! - August 6, 2022
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 Training, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: education, iCue, SPoR

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rob long says

    June 18, 2021 at 9:20 AM

    Thanks Brian and now due to good fortune I am able to offer this valuable work for free, similarly books and videos. Interestingly, many don’t want to know yet are assured that SPoR is wrong and anti-safety. Their loss.

    Reply
  2. Brian says

    June 18, 2021 at 7:59 AM

    Hi Rob, as you know I debated the benefits of SPoR for a couple of years but after joining your introduction to SPoR in Belgium things started making a bit of sense and the each time I attended another module the puzzle started coming together. SPoR has changed my outlook and has assisted in our focus changing in our company. I wish I had stared the journey years ago. It Works. Kind Regards, Brian

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Brian Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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 7,464 other subscribers

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Rob Long on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Wynand on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on Culture Silences in Safety – What Culture Isn’t
  • Rob Long on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Rob Long on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Brent Charlton on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Richard Brookes on How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Rob Long on The Rhizome as a Learning Model for Risk
  • Ooker on The Rhizome as a Learning Model for Risk
  • Rob Long on Safety Doesn’t Need Military Language
  • Manjit Handa on Safety Doesn’t Need Military Language
  • Rob Long on Why Safety is Attracted to Behaviourism
  • Ricardo Montero on Why Safety is Attracted to Behaviourism
  • Admin on Culture Silences in Safety – Ritual
  • Anonymous on Culture Silences in Safety – Ritual
  • Rob Long on Cultural Silences in Safety – Power and Politics
  • Admin on Cultural Silences in Safety – Power and Politics
  • Rob Long on Doing Away With Health and Safety–Language and People
  • Rob Long on Why Safety is Attracted to Behaviourism

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

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

  • BEST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2022
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Road Safety Slogans 2022
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS, CHECKISTS, REGISTERS, TEMPLATES and APPS
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
  • Free Risk Assessment Template in Excel Format
  • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES

Recent Posts

  • Understanding Psychological Terminology
  • Risk Boldly
  • Poetics of the Self
  • Culture Silences in Safety – What Culture Isn’t
  • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • When Only More Guilt Will Do
  • How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • Keep Counting Every Time You Don’t Achieve Your Goal, That’s Professional
  • Safety and Non-Neuroscience
  • Paperwork and Usability in Tackling Risk
  • Safety as a Masculinist Activity
  • You Don’t Want a Compliance Culture
  • The Soul of Mental Health
  • Identity and Safety
  • Psychosocial Controls and Measures for Who?
  • Linguistics and Safety
  • Not a Profession’s Bootlace
  • Cultural Silences in Safety – Power and Politics
  • History and Safety
  • What is Psychosocial Safety
  • A Guide to Psychosocial Safety Skills
  • Doing Away With Health and Safety–Language and People
  • The New Enemy of Safety – The Unconscious
  • Tape Down Those Leads
  • More Safety Code to Disguise Behaviourism
  • Why Safety is Attracted to Behaviourism
  • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
  • Understanding Safety as an Archetype
  • The Purpose of Safety
  • Learning Styles Matter
  • Due Diligence and Holistic Ergonomics Workshops
  • Having FUN in Safety FUNdamentalism
  • 80% of Safety Practitioners Are Idiots
  • Risk Homeostasis Theory–Why Safety Initiatives Go Wrong
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Semiotics
  • Flooding is Dangerous, and I don’t Mean the Water….
  • Cultural Silences in Safety – Aesthetics
  • Impacts of Cognitive Dissonance in the Workplace
  • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
  • Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk
  • Due Diligence Videos – 10000 downloads
  • Release the Safety Monster and Wreck a Good TV Show
  • Paper Safe
  • Safety Starts with Us
  • Investigations and Heuristics
  • Barry’s Latest Safety Innovation Discovery
  • The Human Race…
  • The ASSP Getting Complacency Completely Wrong
  • What in the (Risk & Safety) World is Imagination?
  • Understanding Safety Myths

FEATURED POSTS

Making Sense of Semiotics and Safety

The Social Psychology of Risk Handbook, i-thou

The Disembodied Human and Persons in Safety

Hoodwinked by Heinrich

Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do?

The Primacy of Play in Learning

I am a Spreadsheet King

Starting Points, Worldviews and Risk

Envisioning Risk in Canada

The Moment of Decision in Safety

By What Method?

The Paradox of Positivism for Safety

How do we mourn?

An Engineering Dreamworld

Ten Risk and Safety Program Essentials

The Futility of the Centralised Safety Management System?

Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk

Talking Risk Video–Anti-Fragility

The Repression of Uncertainty

3 Things I learned about Safety from Buddhism

Humanising Safety Free Virtual Conference

Complacency and The Wayward Mind

Heretical, Unorthodox and Sacrilegious Safety

We Are Such Experts….

Risky Conversations, The Law, Social Psychology and Risk

Learning Wisdom from the Collective Unconscious

The Sound of Safety

How was your break?

ACTOR + ACTION + TIME = EVENT

How to Leave the Safety Industry

Post Graduate Safety Potato Heads

Emotions are not the Adversary

Subjecting and Objecting About Risk

Safety as a Patriarchal Activity

Understanding Safety as an Archetype

Mental Health, Risk and Safety – Part 2

Safety as a Worldview

Bounded Rationality–How Can Too Much Safety Be Bad For You?

Developing Our Inner Introversion

Safety Myopia

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 7,464 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 at Work?