You’ve never experienced workplace safety like this before…  

The keynote speech “Heroes of Occupational Safety” humorously conveys the reasons behind typical habits and thought patterns that, despite knowing better, repeatedly prevent us from consistently behaving safely. Alongside risk perception, the focus is on addressing and reporting unsafe behavior and near-misses.  

The allure of risk 

Why do we regularly risk our lives just to save two minutes? Why do we need safety training when it’s obvious that risks should be avoided? Clearly, risky behavior seems cool and more fun — it’s in our nature and has even driven us forward evolutionarily. Without laziness and impatience, without the desire for adventure, risk, and quick success, we probably would never have invented the wheel!

But: Is our image of the courageous hero still up to date? This cabaret-style, easily understandable, and interactive talk addresses how to deal with unsafe behavior and emphasizes reporting near-misses. Using analogies from everyday work life, well-known theater and film, and fairy tales — which illustrate our deep desire for action, excitement, and heroism — it builds bridges to insights that are hard to ignore. 

Strengthening safety culture through fiction 

The tongue-in-cheek and provocative transfer of workplace examples into the realm of fiction reveals partly unconscious norms and values and encourages a shared culture of reporting and looking out for one another.