The religious evangelism of mine safety – a new metaphor

In our recent research collaboration with Deloitte into the state of mine safety (available here) we exposed a metaphor that was prevalent in the industry: that of policing. That is, almost the entire industry is being governed by the dynamics associated with policing behaviour, risk, attitudes and impact.

While attending a seminar today, where we presented the results of our recent study, Sonja and I uncovered another prevalent metaphor: that of religious evangelism. We noticed how almost every presentation or comment was saturated with evangelical religious undertones and metaphors, of which the speakers were largely unaware. They would say things like:

Now, it is a natural human tendency to use metaphors when explaining concepts, but it is another thing using a metaphor because it emerges as a representation of values and drivers behind a pattern of behaving and acting in relation to a problem.

When we surfaced this plainly evident metaphor to the delegates there was a fairly good acceptance of it “being the truth” about the way in which mines, consultants and industry players have been approaching the problem of safety. In fact, the word evangelism cropped up in no less than 6 instances in the remaining conversation – the delegates had adopted and came to refers to themselves as safety evangelists.

I noted a warning though: religious fervour is indeed a way to promote a message, but one needs to be clear on how to claim the converts. Would it be through acrusader-like approach (very synonymous with the current policing metaphor) or would it be through an invitational framework?

And so, the gospel of safety is born.

We’ll be wathcing how this metaphor reveals itself in the industry with bated breath.