January Safety Moment - Risk Tolerance

Ever notice how people don't accidentally take risks?

They decide to.

Most unsafe acts aren’t caused by a lack of knowledge. They happen because someone judged the risk… and decided it was acceptable this time. That’s risk tolerance.

What risk tolerance really looks like

• “I’ve done this a hundred times.”

• “It’ll only take a second.”

• “Nothing’s ever happened before.”

These aren’t careless people — they’re experienced ones. And over time, what once felt risky slowly starts to feel normal.

Why this matters for safety

Risk tolerance:

• Grows quietly

• Increases with experience

• Isn’t fixed — it changes based on time pressure, fatigue, and environment

If your safety system assumes people will always choose the safest option, it’s missing how work actually gets done.

The system problem (not the people problem)

When safety relies only on rules, paperwork, or reminders:

• Risk decisions happen outside the system

• Hazards become invisible

• Near-misses never get captured

Good systems don’t try to eliminate risk-taking — they acknowledge it and design around it.

One simple takeaway

Ask this question on your site this month:

“What risks have become so normal we don’t talk about them anymore?”

That’s usually where the real work starts.