Sidney Dekker | The Rebranding Safety Show

Overview

At the EHS Congress in Berlin, Professor Sidney Dekker delivered a simple but important message. If you want safety to improve, you must stop focusing only on “safety” and start focusing on work.

Real change does not come from thicker folders or longer policies. It comes from understanding what people actually do each day. When you shift your attention to real work instead of paperwork, you begin to close the gap between good intentions and real outcomes.

Who Is Sidney Dekker?

Sidney Dekker was born in Amsterdam and now works in Brisbane, Australia. Over his life, he has lived and worked in seven countries across four continents. He has also been an airline pilot, which gave him direct experience in high-risk environments.

Living in different cultures shaped how he thinks. When you learn new languages, you learn new ways of seeing the world. Different cultures understand responsibility, risk and teamwork in different ways.

That experience helped him build a broad view of safety that draws from psychology, sociology, engineering and ethics. For him, safety does not sit in one neat box. It connects to everything people do at work.

Healthy Debate Versus Tribal Thinking

In the safety world, you often see strong debates. People argue about different models and approaches. Sometimes this pushes the field forward. New ideas always challenge old ones. Meanwhile, innovation breaks away from what was accepted before.

However, there is a difference between healthy debate and tribal thinking. Debate questions ideas and tests evidence. Tribal thinking picks sides and stops listening. When conversations become about winning rather than learning, progress slows down.

It is normal for new ideas to feel uncomfortable. They will not fit neatly inside old systems. However, you can question ideas without attacking the people behind them. That balance is essential if the profession is to grow.

Start With Work, Not Safety

One of the strongest messages from the conversation was this: do not start with the word “safety”.

When you walk into a workplace and lead with rules, policies or compliance, people often switch off. They may nod politely, but you will not learn much about what truly happens.

Instead, begin by talking about work. Ask what makes a good day. Ask what makes the job difficult. Ask what gets in the way of doing things properly. Ask why the job is done in a certain way and not another.

When you focus on work, people open up. They care deeply about doing a good job, supporting their team and getting home safely. Safety is already part of that. It does not need to be introduced as a separate subject. It lives inside the way work is organised and carried out.

The Gap Between What Is Imagined and What Is Done

There is always a difference between what leaders believe happens and what happens on site. Plans, procedures and policies describe work as it is imagined. Reality shows work as it is done.

You cannot remove this gap completely. No organisation can. Nevertheless, you can choose to understand it.

When the gap is ignored, organisations often build systems that look impressive on paper but do not match real conditions. This creates what many people call “tick-box” safety. The paperwork suggests control, yet the real risks remain.

When you explore the gap with curiosity instead of judgment, you discover why people adapt. You learn what pressures they face and what trade-offs they make. That is where meaningful improvement begins.

At Risk Fluent, shortening this gap is central to the mission. The aim is not to produce more documents, but to help organisations understand how work really happens.

The Illusion of Tick-Box Safety

Many small businesses face pressure to produce documents quickly. They are told they need a policy or a safety file to win a contract. Sometimes they admit openly that they only want something to “tick the boxes”.

Paperwork can help organise thinking, but it does not stop accidents on its own. A thick folder will not protect anyone if the reality on site does not match what the document says.

Yet the system often rewards paperwork. Large contractors demand evidence. Clients ask for policies before work even begins. In this environment, safety can slowly shift from helping people work well to managing legal risk.

This creates clutter. Clutter feels like action, but it often hides the real issues. The more forms and checklists you add, the harder it becomes to see what truly matters.

Trust Is Built on Respect

If you want honest conversations about how work is done, you must earn trust. Trust does not come from authority or job titles. It grows when you listen carefully and show respect for people’s experience.

Spending time on site makes a difference. Watching the job being done, asking thoughtful questions and acknowledging the skill involved all help build credibility. You do not need to be an expert in every technical detail. You do need to show that you care about understanding.

When people feel respected, they will tell you what really happens. That is when you start to see safety as it is lived, not as it is written.

The Tension Between Business and Ethics

There is a real challenge for safety professionals and consultants. You want to do the right thing and provide meaningful support. At the same time, you must run a business and compete in a market where some providers offer cheap, basic paperwork.

It can be tempting to lower standards to win contracts. However, professional ethics matter. When you choose to engage properly, spend time understanding the organisation and build practical systems, you may lose some quick wins. However, you build long-term value and stronger relationships.

Not every client will be ready for that approach. Some will only want the cheapest option. Deciding who you work with is part of shaping the kind of professional you want to be.

A Practical Way Forward

If you want to apply these ideas, begin by changing your conversations. Spend time observing real work without rushing to correct it. Remove unnecessary documents that no one uses. Replace long presentations with honest discussions about what makes the job hard and what would make it easier.

Small shifts in how you engage can create large shifts in understanding. When you treat workers as experts in their own jobs, you gain insights that no policy can provide.

Final Thoughts

Safety does not improve because you adopt new labels or repeat new phrases. It improves when you understand people and the pressures they face.

Healthy debate will continue, and new ideas will emerge. That is a good thing. But in the end, the question is simple: are you helping people do their work well?

If you focus on that, safety follows.

At Risk Fluent, the aim is clear. Move beyond tick-box thinking and build safety that works in the real world, not only on paper.

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