It’s footy season in Australia and time for tackling (sorry the pun) the unpredictability and risk of harm in sport. Of course, if you want to kill the fun, entertainment and enjoyment of footy, why not ask Safe Work Australia over to share the time in from of the TV with a few beers? This from … [Read more...] about Don’t Play Footy, You Might Experience Harm
Zero Harm
Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do?
Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do? I was sent a rather sickening poster this today, another one of those pithy senseless aphorisms that now populate Linkedin. The poster read: ‘The person who choses safety is a person of conviction, character and caring’. This … [Read more...] about Why Have Some Freedom in Safety When a Dose of Fear and Guilt Will Do?
A Comparison of Safety Paradigms
A paradigm is a distinct set of concept and thinking that result in distinct practices. In recent times it has occurred to coroners at inquests, auditors and government that poor safety culture has a central role in normalising unsafe practice. Inspectors and auditors are now ever mindful that … [Read more...] about A Comparison of Safety Paradigms
The Problem With Zero
It’s a fascination how zero poses huge problems for mathematicians but causes no problems for safety (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRRolKTlF6Q). It’s fascinating how zero can mean many things for linguists (In football zero is ‘Nil’, in a telephone number its Oh, in decimals its ‘naught’ … [Read more...] about The Problem With Zero
The Repression of Uncertainty
The Repression of Uncertainty The belief is that the solution to every safety problem must be a rational systems process, hence the ever growing overload of paperwork in the workspace driving new cultural problems of ‘tick and flick’, overconfidence and ‘dumb down’ thinking. The most common words … [Read more...] about The Repression of Uncertainty
Making the Wicked Simplistic, The Safety Way
There is no better way to demonstrate complete delusion from reality than to invoke the magic language of zero (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/zero-the-great-safety-delusion/). Anyone who knows anything about the homelessness problem knows that it is a ‘wicked problem’ … [Read more...] about Making the Wicked Simplistic, The Safety Way
The Ethics of Safety
A very popular article by Dr Rob Long from the recent past: The Ethics of Safety Quote: The key to the effectiveness of an ethic in safety is the humanization of others and the building of relationships. It is strange that the vice of intolerance is advocated in the workplace but we would never … [Read more...] about The Ethics of Safety
The Foundations of Safety
The Foundations of Safety One of the introductory subjects for beginning teachers is the ‘Foundations of Education’, this is a study of the nature of people, learning development and maturation. When I observe beginner training in safety the ‘foundations of safety’ seem to be: regulations, systems … [Read more...] about The Foundations of Safety
Hiding Harm in the Name of Safety
One of the best ways to hide harm is to campaign (propaganda) as the premier safety organisation in the world. The best way to do this is, to make up things like zero harm and the Bradley Curve to mask what is really going on. In safety where critical thinking is discouraged, marketing rules, … [Read more...] about Hiding Harm in the Name of Safety
Never Question the Zero Vision of Zero
The road toll is now at its highest for 15 years (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-23/road-death-toll-rises-to-15-year-high/105448142?) and what discourse has been common over that time in all state departments of road safety? Zero! Of course, zero is just a number, right? It’s just an … [Read more...] about Never Question the Zero Vision of Zero