Prioritizing Life: Why Safety is Insufficient

After more than four decades of working within, and as a regulatory enforcement officer to, some of the most hazardous industries, aviation, maritime search and rescue, maritime transportation, maritime demolition and construction, shipyards, power generation, submarines, and energy storage, I’ve seen and experienced the Universe of Hazards in its rawest forms. I’ve investigated disasters, navigated complexity, and observed firsthand the tragic consequences of placing the illusion of safety above the necessity of survival. If there’s one undeniable truth, it’s this: survival must always come first. Without it, safety is not just an illusion, it’s an impossibility.

The Universe of Hazards is infinite and indifferent. It is filled with threats we don’t see, don’t know, or can’t yet comprehend. It doesn’t matter if the hazard is buried in complexity, disguised by our assumptions, or hidden by familiarity. Hazards emerge from the unknown, from systems we thought we controlled, and from the gaps in our vigilance.

In every high-risk industry I’ve worked with, I’ve seen the same patterns:

• Hazards undetected until it’s too late.
• Risks ignored because they seemed manageable.
• Systems failing because they were designed for yesterday’s challenges, not today’s complexities.

Safety as it’s traditionally pursued, checking boxes, enforcing compliance, and assuming control, cannot address these realities. Safety, by its nature, is retrospective. It looks back, analyzing what has already happened. But survival is proactive. It anticipates, adapts, and endures. Survival isn’t a condition; it’s a mindset. And in the unpredictable chaos of high-risk environments, it’s the only mindset that saves lives.

Why Survival-First is Non-Negotiable

1. Control is an?Illusion

Having enforced regulations and reviewed the aftermath of disasters, I can say this with confidence: we don’t control hazards, we navigate them. Hazards evolve, systems fail, and humans err. The rigid belief in control blinds us to the reality of complexity.

Survival-First embraces equifinality, the understanding that there are multiple ways to achieve the same outcome. When faced with uncertainty, adaptability is our greatest strength. Whether in aviation maintenance, maritime construction, or energy generation, the ability to improvise under pressure has saved more lives than compliance ever will.

2. Complexity is Unavoidable

The industries I’ve worked in are laboratories of complexity. Submarines, for example, are marvels of engineering, but every system onboard interacts with others in ways we can’t always predict. One minor failure can cascade into catastrophe.

Survival-First recognizes that complexity isn’t something to be controlled but something to be lived with. It prioritizes coexistence over control, fostering continuous learning, sense-making, and adaptability. In complex systems, survival isn’t about eliminating hazards; it’s about building the capacity to endure and recover when hazards emerge.

3. Systemic Vulnerabilities are Always?Present

Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) often occur because of vulnerabilities hidden within systems, vulnerabilities that are only exposed when conditions align. I’ve seen these patterns across industries: a single missed inspection, a communication breakdown, or an unnoticed design flaw triggering a chain reaction.

Survival-First strategies proactively address these systemic vulnerabilities. By focusing on performance-based training, dynamic hazard identification, and predictive analytics, we build resilience into our systems. This resilience ensures that when failures occur, as they inevitably will?, the consequences are mitigated, not catastrophic.

4. The Focus Must Be on Consequences, Not Likelihood

One lesson learned repeatedly in my career is that focusing on the likelihood of an event is dangerous. Hazards that seem improbable are often ignored, even when their consequences could be devastating.

Survival-First shifts the focus to consequences. In power generation demolition projects, for instance, we prioritized the risk of falling debris over the statistical improbability of a specific collapse scenario. By preparing for the worst, we prevented lives from being lost. Survival-First ensures that attention is directed toward high-consequence hazards, not diluted across trivial risks.

5. A Resilient Workforce is a Safer Workforce

Over decades, I’ve witnessed the transformational power of resilience. When workers are empowered with adaptability, psychological safety, and self-efficacy, they become the most reliable defense against hazards. Regulations and systems are important, but they will never replace the human capacity to recognize, respond to, and recover from threats in real time.

Survival-First fosters this resilience. It builds a workforce that doesn’t just comply but thrives, one that understands the context of their work, anticipates challenges, and works together to endure and adapt.

The Survival-First Framework

Adaptation Over Assumption

In my years as a compliance officer, I’ve seen countless organizations fail because they assumed that compliance was sufficient and their systems would hold. Assumptions are dangerous. Survival-First trains workers and systems to adapt dynamically, recognizing that what works today may not work tomorrow.

Resilience Over?Control

High-risk environments demand systems that can absorb shocks and recover. Resilience isn’t about eliminating failure; it’s about ensuring failure doesn’t lead to catastrophe. Survival-First integrates redundancies, robust contingency planning, and a culture of proactive improvement.

Proactivity Over Passivity

Survival-First is about acting before the hazard strikes. It uses predictive tools, real-world training, and continuous feedback to identify and address vulnerabilities. This proactive approach doesn’t just prevent incidents; it builds the confidence and capacity to handle them when they occur.

Safety Follows Where Survival?Leads

After four decades in high-risk industries, I can say this with certainty: safety, when pursued without prioritizing survival, is a fragile construct. It collapses under the weight of complexity, uncertainty, and human error.

Survival-First, however, is durable. It is grounded in reality, acknowledging the limits of control and the inevitability of failure. It doesn’t seek to eliminate hazards but to prepare for, endure, and recover from them.

This isn’t just a mindset, it’s a necessity. Prioritizing life or Survival-First is how we reconcile the infinite complexities of the Universe of Hazards. It’s how we protect lives, prevent SIF events, and ensure that safety is not a fleeting state but an enduring outcome.

In every high-risk environment I’ve worked in, the lesson has been the same: Survival is the foundation of safety. By prioritizing life and survival, we create the conditions necessary for safety to emerge, thrive, and endure. Safety isn’t the goal, survival is. Safety follows. It always has, and it always will.