Safety Moment - The Vital Relationship Between Risk and Control

PreAccident Investigation Podcast

Welcome to this episode of Pre-Accident Investigation Safety Moment, with your engaging host, Todd Conklin. In this insightful talk, Todd delves into the theory that simply identifying risks isn't enough to ensure safety and efficiency.

He emphasizes the importance of understanding what's risky and critical, acknowledging this as vital data. However, he coins the term "necessary but not sufficient" to explain that knowing what's risky alone is not enough. Instead, Todd stresses the critical need to match risk with control, posing it as a requisite approach for mitigation, barrier, or safeguard implementation.

Todd elucidates how the relationship between risk and control within a system is crucial for maintaining balance. Identifying an imbalance in this relationship translates to a problem that not only impedes the system's reliability but also its efficiency. He further explains the interconnectedness and coexistence of robustness, reliability, and efficiency—basing all on the identification of risk.

Todd criticizes traditional safety methods that solely focus on hazard identification and encourage workers to be careful as inadequate. Instead, he insists on the indispensability of risk identification matched with efficient control as the ideal safety approach.

In this spirited safety moment, Todd imparts profound insights that challenge normative thinking on safety methodologies. He emphasizes the need for both fun and safety at work, advocating for kindness and care among all workers. Whether you’re a health and safety professional or just someone aiming for a safer workspace, this is a must-hear episode.