View: The \"gambler’s mentality\" in work safety is unacceptable

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Source: China Work Safety Network. Abstract: Over the course of just over a month, three serious and severe production safety accidents occurred in coal mines, resulting in heavy casualties. These incidents serve as a very sobering lesson with extremely negative consequences. There are various factors that contribute to such accidents, but one thing is undeniable: the \"gambler’s mentality\" of business owners when it comes to safe production practices. ... Over the course of just over a month, three serious production safety accidents occurred in coal mines, resulting in heavy casualties. These incidents serve as a profound lesson with extremely negative consequences. There are various reasons for accidents, but one thing is undeniable: the \"gambler’s mentality\" among business owners when it comes to safe production. By doing so, it might be possible that no accidents will occur; by reducing investments in safety measures, accidents may not happen at all, and in fact, there could even be significant profits earned. (EHS.CN) The \"gambler’s mentality\" represents a distorted or extreme form of speculative thinking in economic activities. In economic activities, **psychology and speculation are not the same thing, but what they have in common is the desire to obtain the greatest possible returns with the least possible investment. **Once psychology and speculative mentality transform into a gambler’s mindset, they immediately turn into their opposite, becoming something extremely harmful to individuals and society. 　　If the \"gambler’s mentality\" can play a certain role in promoting economic development, then it is entirely harmful and of no benefit at all when it comes to work safety, as work safety is related to the safety of people’s lives and property. Once safety and production work is influenced by a gambler’s mentality, or when too many people with such a mentality are involved, it can immediately deviate from its proper course. For example, the three accidents that have occurred recently were all caused by the failure of enterprises to fulfill their primary responsibilities for safe production and by insufficient investment in safety measures. Once a company or its management develops a \"gambler’s mentality\" when it comes to safety, they will regard money as their lifeblood, become addicted to gambling, and be unwilling to invest in safety measures or fulfill the company’s responsibilities regarding safe production. If an accident occurs, they think it’s just bad luck; if no accidents happen, they make a fortune. So, taking a huge risk, they produced frantically regardless of the objective conditions. As a result, the company was lost, they themselves ended up in prison, and the workers’ lives were put at risk. 　　For both individuals and society, the \"gambler’s mentality\" in work safety poses serious threats; it hinders the development of a harmonious society, endangers people’s lives and property, and damages the reputation of local areas. Thoroughly eliminating the \"gambler’s mentality\" in work safety has become our top priority. As supervisors of work safety, we must act as directed by Director Yang Huaning: all members of the safety supervision and inspection system must be able to withstand tests and challenges, demonstrate determination, mobilize urgently, go to the front lines, and hold their positions. In accordance with the requirements of \"four no’s and two direct approaches,\" we must conduct thorough inspections and enforce strict controls. Whenever we detect in enterprises a \"gambler’s mentality\" of ignoring safety and engaging in reckless production, we must shut them down or suspend operations without hesitation; otherwise, it would be an extreme lack of responsibility toward the people’s property and toward work safety efforts. 　　Furthermore, I advise those coal companies that produce coal in a frenzied pursuit of low prices to abandon any gambling mentality, to carry out their operations responsibly and abide by the law honestly. They should give up any reliance on luck, strictly fulfill their corporate responsibilities, and follow all relevant regulations regarding safe production. They must not prioritize profit over safety or ignore the law in order to get more coal; they shouldn’t let money cloud their judgment, nor should they continue mining illegally despite the risks to workers’ lives. They must not seek profits at the cost of bloodshed, and certainly shouldn’t realize the error of their ways only after ending up in prison.