The simple truth is that safety is not simple. It is complex, and many processes we use to improve it attempt to simplify it or to address only one aspect of it. While we work on that one aspect, the others work against us. We address worker behavior but ignore the many other factors that influence behavior, from personal issues to organizational issues to the work environment itself.
We tend to blame the worker rather than fix the problem. We devise ways to improve safety culture but ignore many of the factors that influence it and wonder why we get ambushed so many times along the way. We try to instill characteristics in our safety culture but often ignore the capabilities the culture needs to continuously improve. In short, we often get the cart before the horse and try to make improvements in safety that we simply are not ready to make or sustain.
