The Human Side of Safety - • Rethinking how we work, learn, and lead.

  Week 2: ✍️ Post #1 – “What is HOP? (And Why It Matters in Construction Safety)” What Is HOP? (And Why It Matters in Construction Safety) If you’ve worked in construction for any length of time, you’ve probably heard phrases like “They should have known better” or “It was just human error.” We’ve all been there. But what if we stopped focusing on who messed up and started asking what made the mistake possible in the first place ? That’s the heart of Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) —a different way of thinking about work, error, and safety. So, What Is HOP? HOP is a framework built on the idea that people are fallible, and systems should be designed with that in mind. It’s about learning from everyday work, understanding why things go wrong, and improving the conditions that shape decisions and behavior. It doesn’t throw out the rules or ditch accountability. Instead, it adds context, learning, and curiosity to the way we respond when things don’t go a...

  Welcome to The Human Side of Safety Hi there—and thanks for stopping by. My name is Ed Klein, and I’m the Heath, Safety, Security, and Environmental Director for a marine construction company. I’ve spent nearly 40 years in the industry , including the past 32 years dedicated to safety , and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: People are not a problem to control—they’re the solution to understand. Over the years, I’ve seen how traditional safety methods, while well-intentioned, often fall short when it comes to addressing the real-world complexity of how work gets done. That’s what led me to Human and Organizational Performance, or HOP . HOP has completely reshaped how I think about safety—not as a set of rules or checklists, but as a system that should adapt to the people doing the work, not the other way around. It’s not about catching errors, it’s about understanding why they happen —and using that insight to build better systems, stronger teams, and more res...