• 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 RESOURCES
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • 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
  • PSYCHOLOGY OF SAFETY & RISK
    • 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
  • Covid-19
    • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
    • Covid-19 Returning to Work Inductions, Transitioning, Safety Start Up and Re Entry Plans
    • Covid-19 Work from Home Safety Checklists and Risk Assessments
    • The Hierarchy of Control and Covid-19
    • Why Safety Loves Covid-19
    • Covid-19, Cricket and Lessons in Safety
    • The Covid-19 Lesson
    • Safety has this Covid-19 thing sorted
    • The Heart of Wisdom at Covid Time
    • How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?
    • The Semiotics of COVID-19 and the Social Amplification of Risk
    • Working From Home Health and Safety Tips – Covid-19
    • Covid-19 and the Hierarchy of Control
  • Dr Rob Long 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!
  • Quotes & Slogans
    • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
    • When Slogans Don’t Work
    • 77 OF THE MOST CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
    • 500 BEST and WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2021
    • 167 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
    • 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
You are here: Home / Communication and Consultation / The Sound of Safety

The Sound of Safety

November 6, 2014 by Dr Rob Long 5 Comments


The Sound of Safety

Depositphotos_28830119_xsWhen people in safety see the word ‘sound’ they tend to think of noise hazards and hearing protection. Whilst these are important there are many other ways of thinking about ‘noise’ and ‘sound’ that are not associated with physical hazards and are much more dangerous. An discussion of the social psychology of sound may be helpful.

In 1964 Simon and Garfunkel released ‘Sounds of Silence’, a song that would become an anthem somewhat like Dylan’s ‘The Times They’re a Changin’. The song declares that people are often silent about important things and noisy about petty things.

The art of leading and discerning in risk is most often observed in knowing when to be silent and what to be silent about. Norretranders calls this an awareness of ‘exformation’ and ‘information’. Whilst safety tends to think that safety is about telling, the real key to leading in safety is by listening. Effective leading and listening must know what to listen for and what to observe when to ask and when to be silent. If safety is to become more than just policing PPE, paperwork and regulation, it must learn the message of ‘The Sounds of Silence’.

In order to learn, one has to know when to be silent and listen. In order to lead one has to know when to follow. One of the first skills of effective leading is strategic silence.

I met this week with three executives of a very large company who wanted to think strategically about culture change. All had ‘come up through the ranks’ in engineering but I was surprised when the GM decided to lecture me on his definition on culture. He was convinced that he knew about culture, he had it well defined (the sum of all behaviours in the organization) and told me it was an immovable definition. Once he had his say I asked a few questions about his definition showing that it omitted much of what culture was about. Soon he realized he knew very little about culture and admitted he had no experience or background in social sciences. I began to wonder I why had been asked to the meeting. It’s amazing how many people in safety think they know about culture and can measure culture yet have no expertise in the matter. There are plenty of indexes, books and surveys about on safety culture that neither define culture or consider culture as sophisticated and complex. The last 5 books I purchased on safety culture on leadership were on neither, all defined safety leadership as the management of systems and regulation.

In the same year as ‘Sounds of Silence’ Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons released ‘Silence is Golden’, later to become a ‘hit’ by The Tremeloes. The song is about ‘seeing’ (perception) and snake oil. One line goes: ‘talk is cheap, people follow like sheep’. One of the critical skills of leading in communication is understanding the nature of framing and priming. When one understands how communication runs at several levels (in the conscious and unconscious) then one knows that ‘talk matters’.

Those who are not discerning about the fundamental messages of safety think words are ‘just semantics’. This is why the lovers of zero don’t get it, there is no leadership in binary opposition. There is no leadership unless one understands the power of semiotics. It is astounding that the Queensland Government could brand a leadership program with the language of ‘Zero’. Combining the language of leading with the language of absolutes is a contradiction, demonstrating that the advocates of this Program have little knowledge of the damage of speaking in absolutes and how poor a model absolutes set for the language of leading. The language of absolutes ‘primes’ ‘leaders’ not to listen, puts the focus on perfection, creates a binary understanding of ‘targets’, set satisfaction on lower order goals, contradicts all models of learning and shifts attention to numerics. There can be no leadership come from the discourse of zero (see: Binary Discipline and the Easy Road of Consequence).

The secret to leading in safety and the ‘noise’ of ‘zero’ is not to speak it. There are many words we chose not to say, many words we know are unhelpful, just add ‘zero’ to that list. If you want to lead, you don’t need to speak in absolutes. There is no motivation in absolutes or perfectionism.

On a final note it might be good to think about the word ‘safety’ itself. I think sometimes the word ‘safety’ get’s so abused and overstated that it becomes the ‘killjoy’ word. Unless of course you are a ‘zero harm advisor’ and you have totally killed off the word, rendering it useless. Unfortunately, the word ‘safety’ gets used all the time to justify organizational and political compliance when it has nothing to do with safety. People just throw the ‘safety’ tag into the mix and somehow the sheep will be compliant. How about going on a conversation walk sometime, to learn how people manage their work and risk and try not to use the word ‘safety’. See if you can do it.

  • 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)

  • Culture Silences in Safety – Linguistics - May 26, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Embodiment - May 26, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Holism - May 23, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety The Collective Unconscious - May 21, 2022
  • Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts - May 20, 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 this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Communication and Consultation, Robert Long, Semiotics, Social Psychology of Risk Tagged With: listening, Noise, Safety, sound

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Visit Count – Started Jan 2015

  • 24,030,290 Visitors

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 7,427 other subscribers

NEW! Free Download

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

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Matt Thorne on SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
  • Matt Thorne on SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
  • Rob Long on Culture Silences in Safety – Embodiment
  • Rob Long on SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
  • Brian Darlington on SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
  • Wynand on Culture Silences in Safety – Embodiment
  • Lynn Getzinger on Free Online Safety Training Courses
  • Rob Long on How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
  • Ndilimeke Shiwayu on How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
  • Mark Wayne Arboso on 500 BEST and WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2021

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Recent Posts

  • SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Linguistics
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Embodiment
  • Culture Silences in Safety – Holism
  • Culture Silences in Safety The Collective Unconscious
  • Culture Silences in Safety Artefacts
  • Culture Silences in Safety Symbolism
  • Culture Silences in Safety Mythology
  • The Safety Trifecta and Nothing Changes
  • Sleep Dysfunction, Dreaming and Safety

What is Psychological Safety at Work?

Footer

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 7,427 other subscribers

AUTHORS

  • Alan Quilley
    • Heinrich–Industrial Accident Prevention
    • The Problem With ZERO Goals and Results
  • Bernard Corden
    • After the goldrush
    • The Internationale
  • Bill Sims
    • Employee Engagement: Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry?
    • Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
  • Craig Clancy
    • Task Based vs Activity Based Safe Work Method Statements
    • Safety And Tender Submissions
  • Daniel Kirk
    • It’s easy being wise after the event.
    • A Positive Safety Story
  • Dave Whitefield
    • Safety is about…
    • Safety and Compliance
  • Dennis Millard
    • Are You Risk Intelligent?
    • Honey they get me! They get me at work!
  • Drewie
    • Downturn Doin’ Your Head In? Let’s Chat….
    • How was your break?
  • Gabrielle Carlton
    • All Care and No Care!
    • You Are Not Alone!
  • George Robotham
    • How to Give an Unforgettable Safety Presentation
    • How To Write a Safety Report
  • Goran Prvulovic
    • Safety Manager – an Ultimate Scapegoat
    • HSE Performance – Back to Basics
  • James Ellis
    • Psychological Core Stability for Wellbeing in Workers Comp
    • In search of plan B in workers’ recovery
  • James Parkinson
    • To laugh or not to laugh
    • People and Safety
  • John Toomey
    • In it for The Long Haul – Making the most of the FIFO Lifestyle
    • Who is Responsible for This?
  • Karl Cameron
    • Abby Normal Safety
    • The Right Thing
  • Ken Roberts
    • Safety Legislation Is Our Biggest Accident?
    • HSE Trip Down Memory Lane
  • Mark Perrett
    • Psychology of Persuasion: Top 5 influencing skills for getting what you want
  • Mark Taylor
    • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
    • Enculturing Safety
  • Max Geyer
    • WHS Legislation is NOT about Safety it’s about Culture
    • Due Diligence Is Not Just Ticking Boxes!
  • Matt Thorne
    • Safety Culture–Hudson’s Model
    • Culture – Edgar Schein
  • Peter Ribbe
    • Is there “Common Sense” in safety?
    • Who wants to be a safety professional?
  • Phil LaDuke
    • Professional Conferences Are A Sleazy Con
    • Hey Idiots, You’re Worried About the Wrong Things
  • Admin
    • SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RISK – INTRODUCTION WORKSHOP
    • Study Reveals an Unexpected Side Effect of Traffic Safety Messages
  • Dr Rob Long
    • Culture Silences in Safety – Linguistics
    • Culture Silences in Safety – Embodiment
  • Rob Sams
    • The Learning (and unlearning) that Revealed my Vocation
    • I’m just not that into safety anymore
  • Barry Spud
    • Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS
    • Bad Safety Photos
  • Sheri Suckling
    • How Can I Get the Boss to Listen?
  • Simon Cassin
    • Safety values, ideas, behaviours and clothes
  • Safety Nerd
    • The Block isn’t portraying safety as it should be
    • Toolbox Talk Show–PPE
  • Wynand Serfontein
    • Why The Problem With Learning Is Unlearning
    • I DON’T KNOW
  • Zoe Koskinas
    • Why is fallibility so challenging in the workplace?

Most commented on

Forecasting Safety

The Banned Objects Index – A New Development in Safety Culture

The Unconscious and the Soap Dispenser

Dumbs for Safety

The Real Barriers to Safety

Safety as Faith Healing

Who Said We Don’t Need Systems?

Why Safety Controls Don’t Always Work

How to use signs, symbols and text effectively in communicating about risk

Safety Should NOT Be About Safety

FEATURED POSTS

New Video Series on Safety

Hoodwinked by Heinrich

Anchoring Safety to Objects

The Seduction to Simplify Safety

Safety Leadership Training

WHS Research Symposium 2019

How Do Workers Make Decisions?

Be Alert, Safety Needs More Lerts

Transdisciplinarity and Worldviews in Risk

Amping it Up in Safety

Risk and Safety Matrices and the Psychology of Colour

Sergeant Safety

Humanising Workplace Health and Safety Management

The Worm at the Core

Innocence and Justice in Safety

Bad Moon Rising

TRIFR Safety Zombies

A Critique of Pure Reason

Can There be a Feminist Safety?

Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety

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 7,427 other subscribers

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

 

How To Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

 

 

How to Make your own Covid-19 Face Mask

 

Covid-19 Returning To Work Safety, Transitioning, Start Up And Re Entry Plans

 

How’s the Hot Desking Going Covid?

imageOne of the benefits of the Covid-19 epidemic is a total rethink about how we live and work (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-28/coronavirus-could-reshape-how-australians-work-forever/12097124 ).

Expertise by Regurgitation and Re-Badging

One of the fascinating things about the Coronavirus pandemic is watching Safety morph into epidemiology expertise. I would like a dollar for every flyer, presentation, podcast, powerpoint, checklist template, toolbox talk and poster set that had jumped into my inbox… Read the rest

The Stress of Stasis

One of the challenging things about the Coronavirus crisis is stasis. For those without work and confined to home, for those in self-isolation, it’s like life is frozen in time. ‘Stay at home’ is the mantra. The trouble is, in… Read the rest

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.