That's what I used to think. I changed my mind in 1989 when I began using behavior-based risk identification. Take another look at risk using a behavior-based perspective. Pointing fingers Managers and workers tend to jump to conclusions about why an injury or accident occurred before an investigation determines the primary cause. When managers hear about an accident, they assume someone did something stupid.
Workers have reflexive responses to accidents too.
They tend to blame conditions or management systems. But initially they're only assumptions. In most cases, there's a chain of causes leading to an injury. We need to identify the root cause to figure out when we are at the greatest risk for injury. If it's inattention, we need to find out why an employee would not be paying attention.