By Nippin Anand Here's the second in a series of podcasts about safety with Greg Smith. Some you you may have seen the last video (https://safetyrisk.net/two-new-videos-from-novellus/ ) in this series where we discussed how far the industry has onboarded his wisdom about papersafety. The … [Read more...] about What is Safety? Video
SAFETY MYTHS
The Meaning of Myth in Risk
Yesterday was our second day on exploring mythology, risk and safety. As we got to know what myth was more as a genre we were more sensitised to how myth works both in society but more importantly to be more sensitised to how myth is employed in safety. This was amplified by a semiotic … [Read more...] about The Meaning of Myth in Risk
Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
It was great to see some new and old faces as we commenced our workshops on Mythology and Embodiment in risk. Craig did some great groundwork on Concept Mapping myth and the Linguistics of myth as well as work on models and the myth of the Scientific Method. I started out by exploring … [Read more...] about Myth Making and Why it Matters to Safety
The Power of Safety Myths
This week we are running two workshops in Canberra on Mythology and Embodiment. These are two critical issues that people in safety ought to know about. Why? Because so many activities of safety are attributed as effective when they are not and so many beliefs that are held are simply myth. You can … [Read more...] about The Power of Safety Myths
Tackling the Challenge of Heuristics in Safety
The recognition of heuristics as the foundation for all human decision making is critical to skill development and implementation of SPoR (https://safetyrisk.net/spor-and-disposing-of-bad-myths/) in the workplace. One of the silly myths of behaviourism in safety is the complete ignorance of … [Read more...] about Tackling the Challenge of Heuristics in Safety
There is no Hierarchy of Controls
Whilst some models are helpful they are never accurate. Models are symbols/myths that convey a semiotic purpose but in themselves ought not to be considered absolute. This is why we find metaphors and symbols helpful, neither are scientific or accurate but serve as a guide that is interpreted. Such … [Read more...] about There is no Hierarchy of Controls
The Bogus Bow-Tie Myth
Continuing our series on Safety Myths – see them all here There’s no doubt about it, Safety loves the linear in-out binary box. This is not just manifest in the swindle swiss-cheese but in many other safety myth models eg. The Bow-Tie that perpetuate the mythologies of certainty, control, order, … [Read more...] about The Bogus Bow-Tie Myth
The Brain as Computer Myth
It is so attractive to develop simple binary models of human ‘being’ that are mythical/symbolic but NOT real. Eg. Human thinking is not fast and/or slow (https://safetyrisk.net/the-myth-of-fast-and-slow/). The implications of myth implies that people act on it. We witness this in any form of … [Read more...] about The Brain as Computer Myth
The Search for Meaning in Safety Models
There is a huge chasm between three things: the intent and design (assumed philosophy) of a model, the semiotic diffusion of the model and what humans make of the model. Models and symbols are not neutral nor objective. All models are semiotics and as such seek to explain the inexplicable. This is … [Read more...] about The Search for Meaning in Safety Models
Myth and Symbols in Safety
A myth is not a fairy tale or fiction but a false belief made true by ‘anchoring' to a symbol. Myths/symbols are not historically or scientifically true but are made true by the mythical proposition of the symbol. We saw this in the last blog about posture. Despite dozens of safety text books that … [Read more...] about Myth and Symbols in Safety
