This episode pushes back against tick-the-box safety culture and the myth of a single root cause, using ICAM and a real mining incident to show how system pressure, poor resources, and work-as-done shape outcomes. It also explores what happens when leaders reject safety recommendations—and why documenting residual risk matters at the board level.

Show Notes

• Learning From Incidents: Key Indicators of Real ...: https://www.safetywise.com/post/how-to-know-when-you-ve-truly-learned-from-an-incident
• Are We Too Focused on Root Cause and Not Enough ...: https://www.safetywise.com/post/are-we-too-focused-on-root-cause-and-not-enough-on-learning
• When Leaders Reject ICAM Recommendations: https://www.safetywise.com/post/when-leaders-reject-icam-recommendations-what-it-reveals-and-how-to-respond

This episode takes apart the reflex to blame the last person involved in an incident, using real-world examples to show how system design, timing, and hidden hazards shape outcomes. It also explores how so-called no-blame investigations can still silence workers, and why structured analysis beats retraining and paperwork every time.

This episode examines how a deadly train collision exposed executive self-deception, weak change management, and the dangers of treating major system shifts as minor fixes. It also explores why rejected safety recommendations, incompatible goals, and paper-thin compliance can leave directors personally exposed when prevention is sacrificed for budget or production.

Show Notes

• When Leaders Reject ICAM Recommendations - Safety Wise: https://www.safetywise.com/post/when-leaders-reject-icam-recommendations-what-it-reveals-and-how-to-respond
• Identifying and Managing “Incompatible Goals” in ICAM ...: https://www.safetywise.com/post/identifying-and-managing-incompatible-goals-in-icam-investigations
• When ICAM Findings Trigger Management of Change (MOC): https://www.safetywise.com/post/when-icam-findings-trigger-management-of-change-moc

This episode exposes how incident investigations can rush to blame workers while ignoring system failures, poor design, and unsafe operating conditions. It also explores how meaningful learning comes from digging into the full context of work, not ticking boxes with recycled recommendations.

This episode challenges the lazy habit of closing incidents with operator error and explores why real safety comes from understanding latent system failures, not just ticking compliance boxes.

Cam digs into Swiss Cheese thinking, the limits of retraining fixes, and the courage needed to confront inconvenient truths about culture, leadership, and risk.

This episode challenges the привычный habit of blaming human error and offering weak fixes like retraining or posters. It explores how to uncover systemic failures, apply the Hierarchy of Controls, and write SMARTER recommendations that leaders will actually implement.

This episode challenges the habit of writing hyper-specific rules after incidents and instead pushes a systems-thinking approach to safety investigations. It explores tools like ICAM and PEEPO, the hidden organisational factors behind everyday risk, and why real safety depends on leadership courage and better design controls.

This episode challenges the habit of blaming the operator and explores how ICAM and the PEEPO model uncover deeper system failures behind workplace incidents. It also breaks down why safety slogans, zero-harm messaging, and shallow corrective actions can hide risk instead of fixing it.

This episode digs into the danger of the “who did it” trap in incident investigations and shows why human error is a symptom, not the root cause. It also breaks down the PEEPO framework, the limits of easy fixes, and why real safety work demands the courage to challenge organizational pressure and systemic failures.

This episode challenges the habit of treating human error as the end of an investigation and explores how tools like ICAM, PEEPO, and the Swiss Cheese model reveal deeper latent conditions behind incidents.

It also examines why zero-harm slogans, weak training fixes, and production-first incentives can hide risk instead of reducing it, and makes the case for a true fair and just culture.