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elusive safety

English translation: the illusion of security

16:16 Dec 23, 2022
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Management
English term or phrase: elusive safety
Almost all large organizations create a bureaucratic system for the sake of elusive safety. In reality, bureaucracy paralyzes the organization and frustrates employees
Abraham Irannezhad
Iran
Selected answer:the illusion of security
Explanation:
I hope Frank and Darius don't mind my piggybacking on their ideas :-)

I don't think 'elusive' makes much sense, whereas 'illusory' fits the context perfectly.

And I think 'security' is more likely than 'safety'. It's not about preventing accidents. 'The illusion of security' means that bureaucracy makes them feel they've protected themselves against anything that can go wrong with the business.

Of course you can never be certain what a writer was trying (unsuccessfully) to say, but I think this is a likely interpretation.
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +7the illusion of security
philgoddard
3 +2evasive safety/hard to attain safety
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
4 -1chasing the elusive goal of a "safe to use" organisational structure
Daryo
3 -1In theory, bureaucracy is supposed to guarantee effectiveness, fairness, and order in the workplace,
Darius Saczuk


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
In theory, bureaucracy is supposed to guarantee effectiveness, fairness, and order in the workplace,


Explanation:
while in practice it leads to the decline of sound work and company growth

Darius Saczuk
United States
Local time: 08:51
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Christopher Schröder: Nothing to do with elusive
1 hr
neutral  philgoddard: I think it could be something along these lines, though "effectiveness, fairness, and order" is possibly overtranslation.
4 hrs
  -> I agree that "a sense of security" is implied here. It has little to do with workplace safety.
neutral  AllegroTrans: overtranslation
4 days
  -> Yeah.
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46 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
evasive safety/hard to attain safety


Explanation:
It is elusive because it is unattainable, like an ideal or perfection. It manages to evade/elude the best intentions and plans.

They then weaponize this insecurity to enact untold violence, always in the name of producing an impossible and elusive “safety.
https://inquest.org/reclaiming-safety/
cccccccccccccccccccc
Paper-based systems limit a company’s ability to create a safe environment.
The elusive safety culture.

Companies try to create a safe work environment with the tools they have available. A popular option has been to implement incentive programs to help promote a safer environment. However, these initiatives didn’t get the desired results. Instead of reducing accidents, employees chose not to report all the accidents that did happen.

https://www.sitedocs.com/case-digital-safety-management/

Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
United States
Local time: 08:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PolishPolish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Clauwolf
8 mins
  -> Thank you, Clauwolf.
agree  Christopher Schröder: Unattainable, but not evasive
29 mins
  -> Thank you, Ice Cream. We are on the same wavelength.
neutral  philgoddard: I don't think this is about safety as in preventing accidents. The next sentence suggests it means something else.
3 hrs
  -> Thank you, philgoddard. There may be more context, but the general idea is that safety can be stifled by bureaucracy, hence its attainment can be a Sisyphean task..
neutral  Daryo: "manages to evade/elude the best intentions and plans" yes, but the "safety" in this ST has much wider meaning than "safety at work".// There is no need to "extrapolate" anything, all is needed is to take into account the logic of "Running a business 101"
18 hrs
  -> Thank you, Daryo, but I cannot extrapolate this far beyond the available text. We do the best with what we have.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
the illusion of security


Explanation:
I hope Frank and Darius don't mind my piggybacking on their ideas :-)

I don't think 'elusive' makes much sense, whereas 'illusory' fits the context perfectly.

And I think 'security' is more likely than 'safety'. It's not about preventing accidents. 'The illusion of security' means that bureaucracy makes them feel they've protected themselves against anything that can go wrong with the business.

Of course you can never be certain what a writer was trying (unsuccessfully) to say, but I think this is a likely interpretation.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: Yes, I think this looks more likely as the meaning and like English! This seems to be written by Germans?//Yes, this is direct quote from Oliver Bäte, German business executive & CEO of Allianz. None of the other reviewers use this.
2 hrs
  -> Good detective work! Thanks.
agree  Tony M: Yes, 'elusive' here IMHO conveys 'intangible', 'unattainable' — something they want to have, but don't know how to actually achieve it, save by adding more and mor 'procedures'
9 hrs
disagree  Daryo: "the illusion of security" is like imagining that some outdated alarm system is going to stop anyone else than some hopeless amateur burglar // the WHOLE SENTENCE is about s.t. entirely else, not about "security" nor about "illusions".
13 hrs
  -> Merry Christmas to you too.
agree  Christopher Schröder: This would’ve been a more elegant way of putting it
18 hrs
agree  AllegroTrans
18 hrs
agree  Neil Ashby
3 days 13 hrs
agree  Anastasia Kalantzi
5 days
agree  Darius Saczuk
6 days
agree  Filipe Castro: Makes perfect sense.
14 days
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
for the sake of elusive safety
chasing the elusive goal of a "safe to use" organisational structure


Explanation:
a "safe to use" organisational structure in the sense of "will keep the organization running smoothly"

OR

with the difficult to achieve aim of creating a reliable/efficient organisational structure


Both "safety" and "elusive" have been used with a very "elastic" interpretation of what they're supposed the mean. What could be the real intended meaning is not obvious at first.

OTOH, if you look at what is "the opposite" described in the next sentence:

"bureaucracy paralyzes the organization and frustrates employees"

the intended meaning gets "defined by its opposite"

First: anytime there a mention of "bureaucracy" that is a reference to some kind of "organisational structure", complete with all sort of rules and procedures. Most of the time there is some negative connotation with "bureaucracy", as when some "organisational structure" becomes too rigid (or there is an intention to present it as such), then it starts getting called "a bureaucracy".

--- paralyzes the organization = the opposite of an "organisational structure" that contributes to the efficient functioning the organisation.

--- frustrates employees = the opposite of an "organisational structure" that helps employees to be more efficient.

IOW

--- "safety" in this ST hasn't got much to do with either "safety at work" or "security" of any kind.

It's about having a "safe organisational structure" - one that you can "safely" rely upon to "keep the wheels turning"

--- As for "elusive", it has nothing to do with "illusion of safety/security", as a superficial first reading would suggest.

"elusive" in this ST simply means "difficult to achieve", like "goal posts that keep moving". No matter how much improve your "organisational structure", there is always something missing.

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Neil Ashby: Your interpretation implies that the "organisational structure" would be unsafe or dangerous to use, but the source doesn't say anything like that. And as always, it imaginatively incorporates a lot of information that simply isn't in the original.
3 days 6 hrs
  -> What looks to you like "imagination" is what is called "knowing the subject matter from experience", but I won't go into details. Do you need an explicit long story to get "mais passons ..."?
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