The Golems of Occupational Hygiene
This idea is taken directly from McElreath’s “Statistical Rethinking” textbook.
The diligent, but ignorant Golem of Prague and its creator Rabbi Loew
The Legend of the Golem
The Golem of Prague was a powerful creature made of clay. Its job, given to it by its creator, was to protect the Jewish people in the 16th-century ghettos. The Golem was described like a well-behaved child: obedient, dutiful, but ignorant of what it was doing. One version of the folktale explains that when the ghettos were under attack, the Golem defended its people without thought. But when the assault was over, it began fighting the people it was intended to protect. It would do exactly it was instructed to do, even if this wasn’t what was intended.
Golems in Occupational Hygiene
Golems aren’t just a folktale; they exist in occupational hygiene. A simple example is sampling for the wrong contaminant. The sampling methodology might use the latest technology, the lab analysis might be super precise, and the results a true representation of the exposure for that contaminant. However, using this information is at best unhelpful; at worst, it is damaging by misleading everyone into a false sense of control. The techniques are just doing their job. There is literally nothing wrong with them. They don’t know that the contaminant wasn’t worth sampling for. They can’t tell you that something else could be putting workers in serious danger.
The Golems of occupational hygiene can be even more terrifying than the original in Prague. For those Jewish people, it was immediately obvious that their Golem had gone rogue, and they could take action. For us hygienists, there’s often nothing to tell us we are wrong. Certainly, the Golem itself won’t tell you. In the worst-case scenario, we may only find out when people start presenting with diseases. Because of this, OH Golems can be hard to identify by their very nature. Plug numbers into IHStat, and it will give you an answer, even if the inputs are made-up. It doesn’t know. It’s just doing its job. I suspect every piece of equipment, tool, process, and idea in every step of the practice of OH has its own set of Golems.
Working with Golems
Unfortunately, I don’t really know what to do with this information. I undoubtedly fall victim to misusing and misunderstanding concepts without realising all the time. There’s a few things I thought of when reflecting on this idea. As trite as they are, maybe they can help you:
Remember the “why” - keep front of mind the purpose of occupational hygiene at a macro level, and also the what you are trying to achieve with whatever specific task your working on. Absurdities of what you are doing may just reveal themselves when you consider why you are doing it.
It’s okay to be critical - even universal and fundamental concepts can be questioned. They may end up being correct, but you shouldn’t have to accept things on face value. Many OH ideas were originally proposed in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s. How many of us remember or have gone back to understand the original intention and circumstances of that time?
Understanding the Golems is basically the same as mastery - it takes time. While that is ok, it is also important to be continually looking for opportunities to learn more and improve.
Remember that Golems aren’t bad. They just need you to use them responsibly.