I really hope that nobody seriously thinks that a lack of safety devices makes things safer, I would hope that everyone understood that my point about car brake lights and steering wheel spikes was intended to show the idiocy of such an approach.

Of course safety devices, processes, and equipment have been of enormous benefit and no-one in their right mind would argue against them.

Risk compensation theory underlines the need for more safety, not less. If people naturally tend to take on more risk because they feel safe, then we need to mitigate that riskier behaviour, not encourage it.

We are witnessing this in the current pandemic, with cases rising because people are thinking it won't happen to them.

BTW, interesting factoid about safety. Before I retired, I worked as a consultant to EDF Energy, who run the nuclear power staton fleet. Needless to say, they take safety EXTREMELY seriously, even us office staff were expected to scrupulously observe safety procedures, even things like hanging a jacket on the back of a chair were banned, and holding onto handrails when going up or down stairs was mandatory. Our safety office would publish and circulate reports of any safety-related incident and we were expected to discuss it, and everyone had the power to call out and stop anyactivity if they observed a breach of safety rules.

Anyway, one thing we were always warned about was losing focus. Apparently a common cause of accident was an operative finishing a job, turning round, and tripping over their toolbox. The thinking was that they lost concentration once the job was complete. Something to bear in mind for us home mechanocs - you can't relax until all the tools are put away and the worksite is fully cleared down.