I wonder what the world would look like if we changed health and safety law:
From Duty of Care to Duty to Care
There is a common saying behind closed doors “we have to think about what’s best for the business” I have never heard a person say this line without a slight apologetic uneasiness. Although, I have heard it more times than I can count. Most often this means an amount of psychosocial harm infliction to one person is acceptable to maintain the momentum towards the perceived business objective.
Imagine if this narrative changed. Care would be a verb instead of a noun, a doing word, “Duty to Care” becomes an action, it is my duty to care about the people I have power and influence over. I have a duty to care about people at the sharp end, I have a duty to care about sustainable job demands and meaningful resources, I have a duty to care about myself and my work life balance and wellbeing, I have duty to care for, and develop the strengths of people around me, I have the duty to care about the impact my words and actions have on people, I have a duty to say hello in the morning, I have a duty to truly listen and listen deeply, I have a duty to be thankful for the small things people do for me, I have a duty to be good to people.
A duty of care is measured and balanced by what is reasonably practicable, governed by efficiency thoroughness trade-offs and other workarounds with a tendency to produce minimum practice, cold, just-scraping-the-line-of-compliance mindsets.
A duty to care is more intentional, ethically mindful, authentic, nurturing, creative, productive, organisationally rewarding, individually fulfilling and above all, safe.
Conrad Wansbrough
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