Einstein Was Wrong…

Einstein’s famous quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” may apply in many areas, but when it comes to safety—specifically unsafe behavior—he missed the mark.

In fact, the opposite is true when it comes to safety practices. Continuing unsafe behaviors and expecting?no injury?is what’s truly irrational. Repeating risky actions doesn’t guarantee safety; instead, it increases the likelihood of injury. It’s insane to think that consistently engaging in unsafe practices will always result in the same outcome of no accidents. The reality is that you should expect a different, often worse, result over time.

As an OSHA-authorized instructor, I’m constantly comparing notes with other safety professionals, and we all see the same pattern: how complacency in unsafe behaviors leads to accidents. When was the last time you heard an accident victim say, “I’ve always done it this way, and nothing ever happened”? Yet this false sense of security is pervasive.

I witnessed this firsthand while building movie sets on the Fox Lot. I knew a carpenter who installed skylights and routinely removed the blade guard from his saw to save time. He’d been doing it for years without issue and brushed off my safety concerns. His shortcut worked—until it didn’t. He suffered a serious injury not long after, and I never saw him again.

This story underscores a critical point: continuing unsafe practices while expecting no consequences is irrational and dangerous. The key is addressing unsafe behaviors?before?they become incidents. As trainers, we must foster a culture of prevention and challenge risky habits before they lead to injuries.

Einstein may have been wrong about safety—but we don’t have to be.