To Protect Regardless: Designing Safety for Human Error

Originally published in July 2020. Sharing now to re-ground in the systems thinking that has shaped my approach to proactive risk leadership.

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Why Designing Safety for Human Error is the Future of EHS

Here’s the deal: people make mistakes.

It’s not just common — it’s universal. I make them. You make them. Everyone does. That’s how we grow.

Alexander Pope said, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

To that I’d add:

“To protect regardless, moral.”

💡 What Happens When We Assume Perfection?

As Safety Professionals, we have to design systems with one guarantee in mind: the workforce is human.

And that means:

• People will get distracted

• People will be tired

• People will forget

• People will mess up

Designing a system that relies on flawless behavior is a setup — not a solution.

Take ergonomic lifting:

“Bend at the knees! Nose over toes!”

One moment of distraction, and all that training goes out the window. That’s not laziness. That’s being human.

🧠 Systems Must Absorb Mistakes

Sometimes I hear people say:

“If they were just paying attention, they wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

Really? How many times were you distracted today? How many times did you start a task, zone out, or get pulled in two directions?

If we’re honest, the answer is probably five times since you started reading this.

That’s why my favorite safety philosopher, Dr. Todd Conklin, says we need systems resilient enough to withstand human error.

It is our responsibility to design safety for human error.

That’s the goal: not perfection — protection regardless.

🙅🏽 Why I Push Back on BBS

Behavior-Based Safety (BBS), even with the best intentions, often leads to a toxic conclusion:

“Can’t fix stupid.”

That mindset is dangerous. It shames, isolates, and ignores context.

Yes, mistakes can and should be coached. Feedback matters.

But if an investigation ends with “worker didn’t follow protocol” — without asking why — we’ve failed.

🔍 Ask Better Questions

• Were they trained?

• Were they stressed?

• Was the layout safe?

• Were the tools right?

• Was the task rushed?

Did we ask about their humanity before we judged their behavior?

🧭 Final Thought

We have one job: protect people.

Not perfect people.

Real people.

Distracted, flawed, brilliant, messy, growing people.

If we don’t design for that — we’re not doing safety. We’re doing theater.

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🪞 2025 Reflection (Revised)

At the time I wrote this, I had recently returned from the 2018 ASSP Professional Development Conference — and for the first time, I found language for things I had always believed.

This wasn’t the beginning of a new philosophy. It was the moment I realized there was an entire field of thought that validated what I had already been living: that safety must be designed to honor humanity, not demand perfection.