If your notion of safety is an absence of incidents then it follows that you will focus on hazards, near-misses, and accidents. Each is an opportunity for improvement – you can analyze the root cause, make sure you understand the likelihood of recurrence and manage risk by amending procedures and ensuring appropriate training. This notion of safety might be described as ‘traditional’. It assumes that the situations workers will face can be anticipated and that the right course of action can be determined in advance, informed by assessment of past events. In some cases that might be true. But we …