I was sent this the other day, that was posted on Linkedin. So glad I left that cesspit of ignorance 12 years ago. See Figure 1. Safety is Our Life

Figure 1. Safety is Our Life

This is a great example of safety as an extremist cult.

Safety is NOT ‘your life’ and never can be. Similarly, you are NOT safety (https://safetyrisk.net/you-are-not-the-sum-of-safety/).

No-one gets up in the morning, and jumps out of bed thinking SAFETY. And, if you did, you’d have a mental illness. Hyper-safety is a mental health disorder!

We get up in the morning and think, what’s for breaky, get a coffee, have a shower, get dressed and what’s on today? Common safety, lets stop talking nonsense to people! (https://safetyrisk.net/spin-nonsense-language-and-propaganda-in-safety/)

Let’s look at some of these extremist statements found on this Linkedin post:

‘Regardless of business, safety must be first, regardless of cost’. No, it can’t. Safety can never be first (https://safetyrisk.net/safety-first-is-a-joke/). The truth of the matter is, that if safety was made hierarchically first, your business would go broke. Then, you wouldn’t have any need for safety anyway.

The truth is, Safety competes with every aspect of business and we negotiate with all critical elements of business. If safety is unaffordable, it gets relegated down the ladder if indeed there is a hierarchy of elements of business.

The reality is, thinking hierarchically is an immature way of understanding organisations and business. It’s childish thinking and lacks little understanding of how business works.

So, I suggest one look up this business website (https://ten10.nz/about-us/) and try to find anything on safety? It’s pretty difficult. What really dominates the site is a focus on ‘systems, expertise and experience’. The dominant semiotics are about mechanics – vans, cranes etc. The opening anchor page says nothing about safety including the opening discourse by the Director. The business is apparently: ‘part professional pride, part pragmatic operations experience and part simple common sense’. Nothing on safety.

‘Set your standards to the highest metric’. Of course, safety can’t be measured and, any focus on metrics for safety locks everything in to numerics, injury rates and objects. Any coupling of metrics to a notion of safety disables any understanding of what safety is.

‘Dumb companies are the dangerous careless ones, no regard for their people or any people for that matter’. This is just pure Heinrich and in echoes of the 4Ds from HOP, this is the foundation for arrogance and blaming. Attributing dumbness to others is typical safety arrogance. No-one goes around trying to harm people. This is the nonsense of the Bradley Curve (https://safetyrisk.net/no-natural-instinct-to-harm/). How interesting that the company statement of values (that is not about values) doesn’t mention safety as a ‘first priority’. Isn’t it fascinating that the safety policy is stated last of all the policies?

‘Safety is our life, Everyday … we are it’. This is classic safety mythology. What is it about Safety that creates such extremism? If safety is your life, then why take a risk? If safety is your life, why get up out of bed? What is it with this fixation on safety? You are NOT safety, no-one is.

Yet, I was told, this post on Linkedin received support and accolades? Clear evidence that critical thinking, consistency, congruence and sensemaking are not a part of safety discourse. Safety loves this extremist stuff (https://safetyrisk.net/how-to-be-a-safety-extremist/; https://safetyrisk.net/the-rise-of-the-safety-extremist/).

And, it’s all spin, propaganda and the repetition of slogans, that has no connection to reality.

The reality is, that safety is a part of life, NOT the focus or whole of life. The most important message we get from this exemplar of safety extremism is: don’t talk nonsense to people. All this does is turn more people off safety and expose safety as a cult.