How is the risk in your organization doing? When is the last time you checked in on it?
Risk is always present in our lives and in our work, yet most of the time we neglect our relationship with it and assume it’s doing fine on its own. But risk isn’t static and it’s never the same as we left it.
We often look for new risks or things that are out of compliance and then find a solution to “fix” it. Done. Closed. Never to worry about again.
But what does a closed action item actually mean for the risk? Most of our controls and corrective measures are really just a hypothesis: “if we make this change, the work will be safer.” But do we ever test them or validate their effectiveness at reducing risk after implementation? Is the control really effective? Can employees actually use it? Practically? With real scenarios and constraints in the field? Does it slow them down? What ripple effects have been created since we made a change?
What does it say if our organization creates something new in the name of safety and then never asks how it’s working?
“How?” might just be the missing metric. Asking “how is the risk doing now?” not only helps us test the hypothesis, it keeps our relationship with the real risk of the work front-and-center. Re-observing the work after the control is implemented allows us to see how the “fix” is holding up under the pressure of real work and how the work has changed or adapted as a result. Asking “how?” forces us to observe the underlying risk and the systems we’ve created that our employees rely on for their safety. Asking “how the risk is doing?” changes the way that we, and our employees, show a sustained interest in safety instead of just simple enforcement.
I’ve been working through this with fall protection at a water treatment plant. New fall protection systems were installed to address exposure. On paper, the risk was addressed. Action item closed.
But over the past 12+ months, I’ve continued checking in.
How is the risk doing now?
In some cases, the systems worked as intended. In others, the way the work is actually performed left room for continued risk: tie-off points weren’t always in the right place for how tasks unfold, movement was more restricted than expected, and employees adapted in ways we didn’t fully anticipate. Nothing unusual, just real work meeting a designed solution.
That doesn’t mean the fix failed. It means the hypothesis is still being tested.
If you’re interested in my approach to checking on risk, I use a Task Risk Register, and you can find more information about it in my book and the free resources on my website.
No matter the method you use, it’s time to check on your risk because I think that maybe the most underutilized safety question isn’t “where?” the risk is. It’s “how?” the risk is doing today.
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