I’m yet to read a text or hear a discussion in safety that tackles the essentials of culture in any discussion on ‘safety culture’.

It seems that the filter for any discussion about ‘safety culture’ is an obsession with safety not expertise in culture. If safety is the adjective that describes the kind of culture under discussion, then some idea on the essentials of culture might be handy. Undertaking studies and work in so called ‘safety science’, engineering, science or safety, is not a source for understanding the basics of culture.

If you read the literature in safety on culture or listen to the many podcasts by so called ‘safety experts’ on culture, the key is to observe the silences (https://safetyrisk.net/safety-culture-silences/). Here are a few questions to consider:

What is it that Safety never talks about when culture is the topic? What is the discourse and Discourse? What are the taboos? What are the silences? Is the approach Transdisciplinary? Is Cultural Theory, Critical Theory, Anthropology, Semiotics, Sociology, Ethnography, Linguistic Anthropology, Linguistics, Human Geography, Religious Studies, Arts, Aesthetics, Ethnology, Historiography, Politics, Ethics, Education Studies etc considered? What are the common characteristics of safety thinking, semiotics, beliefs and mythology? What does the archetype of Safety say about ‘being’ in safety? Are the Phenomenological and Existentialist views of culture considered? What understanding of ethics and power is central to ‘safety culture’? Is culture considered propositional? Are First Nations understandings of culture considered? Are Eastern philosophies of culture considered? Are religious studies considered a part of cultural studies? What cultural studies school of thought (https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/frankfurtschoolbritishculturalstudies.pdf) drives the view of culture? The questions to consider are substantial.

If you are going to march into the ‘wicked problem’ of culture (https://medium.com/@PhilipLeslie/culture-as-a-wicked-problem-677042c7996e), have any of these questions been considered? Or, is culture in the too hard basket. Just ask a chemical engineer about safety culture and they will tell you ‘don’t talk about it’. Is such a characteristic as this kind of anti-intellectualism an indicator of safety culture? And don’t try criticising Safety about its expertise in culture, you will get some emotional diatribe about years served, qualifications, podcasts, books and sessions of safety training done, as if this is a pathway to expertise in culture.

I have worked in a number of cultures over my career, in the last 50 years – school culture, youth culture, church culture, not-for-profit culture, public service culture and construction culture. Each has its own unique culture, characteristics and identifiers. Let’s take one of these as an example, youth culture.

Youth culture has been studied and analysed for years (https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/youth-culture; https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/35409). Those in youth culture don’t debate its existence as is done in safety. Youth culture has been accepted as a culture and sub-culture over many years. The approach to youth culture is Transdisciplinary and doesn’t confuse working in youth services as evidence of expertise in youth culture.

In 1995, I established a school for high-risk young people and then later served as Manager of Youth for the ACT Government, directly responsible to the Minister of Youth. They recently celebrated the 25^th anniversary of my founding of the Galilee School. I then lectured in Youth Studies and Social Work at ACU National, setting up the first Master’s Degree in a combination of educators, youth workers and social workers in the one degree. This intentionally brought together three cultures in conflict so that each could learn from each other. It was a very successful program. I then undertook several Youth sector reviews for various bodies including doing a risk assessment for World Youth Day.

The youth sector understands youth culture. The safety sector does not scratch the surface in understanding itself. The difference is approach to education, learning and understanding what culture is. Safety has a long way to go before it understands what culture is.

If you want to do a simple comparison between either sector just do an image search on google. You will see a stark difference. One is all about people, the other is about objects.

Indeed, if you want to learn about safety culture, perhaps dump the focus on safety and framing culture through safety. Perhaps, look at other sectors and how they approach the wicked problem of culture and learn from them. That is, if learning is a characteristic of safety culture.