It doesn’t seem to matter, if it’s a mine collapse Safety is all of a sudden, a mining expert. If it’s a firestorm Safety is suddenly a fire expert. And, when a ship hits a bridge, Safety is a seafarer, first engineer, Captain and messiah of all. No wonder Safety believes it ‘saves lives’.

I know a bit about tragedies and disasters having served on the ECOG at Beaconsfield, planning for World Youth Day and as a Manager of an Evacuation Centre during the Canberra bushfires. I have have also worked as clergy and know of many personal tragedies and have provided pastoral care in all these situations. I say this only to preface the following comments.

What I do know about disasters and tragedies is that the last thing anyone needs is; people full of arrogance, hubris, sociopathy, narcissism, heroics and a messiah complex in times of crisis. The last thing anyone needs in tragedy is telling! The last language of any relevance in suffering and loss is: ‘safety saves’. Clearly because the crisis demonstrates that it hasn’t!

Three cheers for the safety saviours!

I remember helping admin sort the mail each day during the Beaconsfield Tragedy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaconsfield_Mine_collapse) and receiving each day letters from ‘safety thought leaders’ and ‘experts’ all stating things such as ‘I am the only one qualified with the expertise to help manage safety’ … ‘fly me down’ and I can save you. We received dozens of such letters and some with prominent names in safety I will not name. After reading and having a laugh they all went in the bin. The last thing any tragedy needs is a know-it-all ‘safety thought leader’ who ‘saves lives’.

Three cheers for the safety saviours!

Why is it that Safety cultivates such arrogance? Surely it is because of an impoverished curriculum that has no foundation in ethics, personhood, communication, critical thinking skills and helping skills needed in time of loss. How bizarre, this industry of zero harm that has no capability to tackle the nature of tragedy, death, loss and care.

BTW, I find the language of ‘thought leader’ so vile and have never heard anyone using that title with a useful thought.

Recently, I have been involved with an organisation experiencing a major crisis.  What do you say when you ‘meet’ people in the middle of a crisis and loss? Nothing! – Listen, reflect, care, listen and empathise. – You know, all the things not in the safety curriculum.

But don’t let that stop Safety in continuing the telling, advising, fixing, controlling and preaching the safety gospel to the unsaved. Don’t let a crisis opportunity stop Safety from telling all what it doesn’t know and drawing attention to its ignorance.

Three cheers for the safety saviours!