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

Post #9 – Human Organizational Performance and Eliminating Serious Incidents and Fatalities (SIF) In high-risk industries like marine or land-based construction, we’ve made impressive strides in reducing minor injuries over the past few decades. However, serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) often remain stubbornly resistant to traditional safety strategies.  While we may celebrate fewer recordables or first-aid cases, we can’t ignore the fact that people are still losing their lives or suffering life-altering harm. Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) offers a better way forward—one that reframes how we understand risk, error, and control in complex work environments. What is a SIF? A Serious Injury or Fatality (SIF) is any workplace event that results in, or could reasonably result in, a life-altering injury or loss of life . These include fatalities, amputations, spinal injuries, permanent disability, or any event where the outcome could easily have been fatal or catastro...

  What is a Task-Based System? Task-based systems are structured work processes that break down a job into defined steps, roles, tools, and sequences to safely and efficiently complete a specific task. These systems are commonly documented in procedures, SOPs, job hazard analyses (JHAs), or work packages. While task-based systems provide valuable structure, they must be flexible enough to adapt to real-world conditions—weather, changing crew composition, unexpected equipment issues—which is where HOP principles come into play. In land-based and marine construction, the majority of our daily work is structured around task-based. These systems are designed for repeatability, safety, and quality. Yet, even with detailed SOPs, job safety analyses (JSA), and trained personnel, we still have near misses, incidents, and deviations from the plan. This is where Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) provides valuable insights. The Nature of Task-Based Systems Task-based systems are ofte...