Human life is a wonderous thing – every human life should be led in abundance. Sadly, into every life some rain does fall. Loss events cut short many human lives. Some who were involved in loss events continue on with guilt and pain, their life diminished by the loss event. More often, smaller loss events in our daily work lives limit our potential to produce – three hours of word processing lost by poor file management, a day’s production contaminated with bacteria and sent to waste, poor situational awareness trips a gas turbine, or a lapse in scheduling leads to a missed presentation and a lost client. Hopefully no one lost their job. Sometimes people do.

Answer: Yes, and for those of us who have worked and documented evidence of excellence for organizations with the title "World-Class," it means much more. The term has evolved over time, similar to the term "high reliability organization" (HRO). Initially, high reliability organization (HRO) was simply a name given by researchers to describe the performance level of nuclear power, aviation, and firefighting organization, each founded on a solution to improve safety by understanding human error and organizational culture.

Safety science is central to high reliability organizations (HRO). It is the interdisciplinary study of accidents and accident prevention, drawing on fields such as engineering, physical sciences, epidemiology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience. This comprehensive approach ensures that every aspect of potential failure is considered.

After 30 years of efforts, we are still missing the secret ingredient.

“There’s a new program coming, and it has to do with safety. I think it’s perfect for you, and you’re really going to like this stuff.” Those words from a hospital executive in 2013 marked the beginning of a journey that would transform not only my career but also my perspective on healthcare systems.