Two unique characteristics of human beings that helps us in our safety journey are empathy and the ability to think, use logic and learn from others.  For without these traits we would be destined to only learn from our own experiences and therefore be subject to the risks and hazards that have already caused harm to others.

Empathy is a huge factor that allows us to feel and understand the emotional pain that others experience as a result of a safety incident and then use that pain as a warning to others to avoid the same path that caused the incident and therefore the same emotional pain. Using these significant emotional events are important to our learning processes and then combined with our ability to think and use logic we can develop plans, processes and procedures to avoid repeating similar pain.  The twin charcteristics of empathy and logic are key aspects of our safety planning processes and connecting with others to help prevent future similar occurrences.

To be truly effective these significant emotional events and the hazard provention lessons they teach us, must be reinforced on a constant and regular basis.  They cannot simply be “one and done” lesson plans, but part of a regular revisit to reinforce the learnings associated with their lessons.  They need to become part of the culture of an organization and team that are constantly used to buttress the safety message and strengthen an individual’s commitment to behaving safely.