Interesting, since I was born in Finland and still have contacts and family over there.

One such a contact said that they have to follow strict guidelines as a sub-contractor when working for a company, or any employer.

If they don’t, the system allows for a “ticket” on the spot, which usually means a fine. I suggested that he’d close of the whole area

he would be performing his work, until finished. That way anyone coming into “his” work area would have to follow his “strict” but

hopefully “reasonable” safety guidelines/rules. That would of course lead to other issues …

Regards

Jouko

I don\’t oppose zero ideology and discourse because it is some cynical exercise but rather the discourse of perfectionism and absolutes in any arena is dangerous, dehumanising, anti-learning and in denial of human reality.

To speak in perfectionist language is so strange and \’primes\’ people psychological for a whole range of by-products and trajectories that are hidden but teleological in the methodology of the zero disposition. Goals are justifications and the astounding naivity of the psychology of goals is testament to the way the safety industry is bogged down in simplistic binary oppositional thinking.

We don\’t think or speak like this in any other arena of life just in the poor old safety industry. Just imagine if we parented under the discourse and rubrik of zero?

Words change your brain, that is why we don\’t use certain words in our daily discourse, offensive words are offensive for a reason and the dismissal of words as just semantics is just dumb avoidance.

The psychology of semiotics and semiology were very important to the Nazi\’s and Macdonalds why does this industry think not? If you set and talk about perfectionist targets and visions it affects you and the way you operate just as if you immerse your self in any culture it will also affect you. We are social beings and shaped by social arrangements.

I look at the absurdities of the safety industry today, so well articulated by Dekker in his recent book, and no wonder the safety industry is so absurdly fixated with meaningless activity. The fruits of zero are plain to see.

But I do give a \”hear hear\” to the call for \”…additional articles based on the discussion of trust, morals, values and organisational subcultures.\” And for mine, I think there is much to be said for keepin\’ it simple.

The \”c-suite\” audience (the heavy hitter Executive group in a company) will always look for simple, succinct management targets, quite naturally. And I think zero harm resonates with the c-suite because of its (ostensible) simplicity. But we know how it can be an attitudinal bed of coals: cross it ya gunna get burnt eventually.

Your reference Kevin to the \”family of zero visions\” had me thinkin\’ about what zero targets the c-suite could be considering. And I think zero safety cynicism could be a pearler.

Zero harm and all that stuff falls over as a genuinely useful target because it has so many elements the c-suite have relatively little direct control over. By contrast, promoting a sense of confidence in management commitment to practical safety improvement is all about what the c-suite directly influences: \”walking the talk\”, demonstrating openness and honesty, generally producing a sense of confidence that management is trying its best to make work safer.

It\’s pretty obvious that sort of target infers there will be a host of practical things that must be done to achieve zero safety cynicism. But, unlike zero harm, it\’s not a ticking bomb. Have a zero harm target and every injury, no matter minor will trigger the natural inclination to be cynical about the target, irrespective of even a very serious intent to get to zero harm. Have a zero safety cynicism target and failures (which will happen) and the failure can be measured against the bigger picture perceptions of how fair dinkum the c-suite is. Of course, if management consistently fails to deliver on promises and use \”smoke and mirrors\” to disguise disinterest in genuine safety improvements, the zero safety cynicism target is no more that a few words on safety policy. And everyone is soooo over that sort of thing.