Five must-reads that show that no, it very much does not.

• Cracked.com – “5 Horrifying Implications of the Star Trek Universe” (2013): Even casual viewers of Star Trek know that when the action starts, stuff on the bridge is gonna blow up. That’s just how it is. The way Cracked puts it is “bridge duty is only slightly safer than toaster bathing.” Did humanity lose the technology for fuses and circuit breakers in WWIII, and other species never invented them? Nope. Starfleet just doesn’t care. Funny and full of the magazine’s signature hyperbole, this article tops the list of must-reads.
• Bluefield Safety Blog – “Red Shirts: Reducing Occupancy to Reduce Risk” (2017): A professional process safety engineer uses Star Trek to discuss real safety principles. I’m already sold. The blog explains the concept of “redshirts” – those unlucky Starfleet security officers who always seemed to die – as a lesson in occupational risk. The author notes that at in some companies workers seem to be treated with a similar lack of safety concern as those unlucky fictional crew members who die just to show the situation is serious. The piece draws on Star Trek’s redshirt phenomenon to argue for designs and procedures that keep personnel out of dangerous areas unless absolutely necessary. For example, if a starship (or a chemical plant) can be operated remotely or with minimal crew on-site, fewer people will be “present to become victims” should the worst happen. This is an engaging work that uses a TV show’s habit of killing off people to illustrate modern safety culture concepts and push stronger safety habits.
• Fanfiction – Where’s the Department of Labor When You Need Them? By Ublijudok (2024): A modern-day OSHA inspector finds himself (somehow) in the Star Trek Universe. Rather than finding a safe and bright future, things seem somewhat “sketch.” From the protagonist’s inner monologue: “It was the future! Surely they wouldn’t send me into a death trap! Right? Huh… those railings over there look awful short.” It’s a quick and fun read about imposing 21^st century safety regulations in a fictional outer space where “no one can hear you (whine) about noncompliance with safety regulations.”
• Tropes Wiki – “No OSHA Compliance” (Tropedia): This fan-curated list collects examples from across sci-fi that show how safety standards are strikingly absent in the genre. with Star Trek prominently featured. The entry notes that in The Wrath of Khan – where Spock enters a radiation-filled reactor compartment with no protective suit and no way to be rescued – Spock’s death scene is a classic “no OSHA compliance” scenario (for all you non-Trekkies, that’s a play on Star Trek’s Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario, and why are you reading this anyway? Go watch some Star Trek). It also points out Starfleet’s habit of leaving critical areas unshielded or unguarded. While in the 2009 Star Trek film they did at least put a “Caution: Do not enter transporter while transport is in progress” sign in the transporter room, a token effort at safety, they still failed to install a basic door or barrier to prevent accidents. From missing railings on platforms to easily-ruptured warp core coolant pipes, Tropedia lists out the many ways Starfleet would horrify a real modern safety inspector.
• Women at Warp Podcast Episode 201 – “Labor Standards in Star Trek” (2022): A transcript of a discussion by the Trek podcast Women at Warp examining the lack of explicit labor rights, safety oversight, and HR in the Federation. They ask, tongue-in-cheek, why we never see a Starfleet equivalent of OSHA or a Human Resources department on the shows. The hosts dive into examples like dangerous holodeck malfunctions, the exploitation of miners and colonists, and Starfleet’s sometimes lax approach to mental health. Wondering what “Space OSHA” might look like, they debate how many calamities could have been avoided with better (or any) safety protocols. For instance, they point out many Next Generation plots would never occur if Space OSHA shut down the notoriously accident-prone holodecks or required redundant safety systems. It’s a semi-serious critique that uses real-world modern workplace standards to analyze Star Trek’s hazard-filled work environment.

So, yeah, it’s a TV show. Safety isn’t exciting and isn’t going to have people glued to their sets, so TV shows just aren’t interested in the concept. What this articles in this list demonstrate, though, is that we can think about and apply safety to every aspect of our lives, even a silly thing like a fictional bridge console that blows up every time someone sneezes. We know that just isn’t right.

But also, I mean, c’mon. Like Ensign Buckley notes in Where’s the Department of Labor, a lack of seat belts in shuttlecraft “is a gross safety violation that should have been rectified a long time ago.”

–Douglas Stephens