Occupational security: A holistic values-based framework for supporting occupations and safety

Abstract

ABSTRACT In an ongoing era of global-scale, cascading, and intersecting crises, including climate change impacts, ongoing armed conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic, security is becoming increasingly challenging. The escalating dangers and restrictions arising from these events, adversely affecting life itself and related occupations, has resulted in insecurity disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. This often contributes to outcomes that directly relate to security, such as poverty and homelessness. In this conceptual work, we present occupational security as a holistic means to understand and address safety concerns for individuals and populations adversely affected by crises, that have both local and global impacts. Besides global crises, long-term, ongoing, and interrelated security risks from racism, poverty, lack of shelter, and colonisation are also in the purview of occupational security. This concept extends the notion of occupation by including non-humans. Using a values-based framework, occupational security challenges neoliberalism and neoliberal notions of security, which are individualist in nature; and instead, provides a collectivist approach. The values proposed for this framework incorporate sustainability, justice, peace, compassion, authenticity, and accuracy to ensure occupational security and safety for all. We propose that the framework of occupational security has the potential to enhance occupational science scholarship, as well as facilitate collaborative engagement with wider disciplines concerned with issues of security.