The Ripple Effect of Unsafe Work

The air in the room changed the moment Lorraine Martin began to speak. Her voice was steady, her words deliberate. But it wasn’t just what she said, it was how she started.

She told a story.
March 25th, 1911.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
146 lives lost. Most of them young, immigrant women.

That phrase hung in the air like a quiet instruction.

The Ripple Effect of Tragedy

Lorraine challenged us to consider the echoes of workplace incidents, not just in the headlines or the annual reports, but in the lives permanently altered. She spoke of the “ripple effect of tragedy,” a concept shared with her by a member of the U.S. Air Force.

From families who fall into poverty after losing a parent, to workers whose injuries spiral into substance use or long-term unemployment, Lorraine painted a picture of safety not as a procedure, but as a protector of futures.

We’ve Been Measuring the Wrong Things

This was the crux of Lorraine’s call to action.
We need to stop obsessing over TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate) as our primary safety metric.

She cited the Deepwater Horizon disaster, an oil rig that had received a safety award just two years prior. On the very day of the explosion that killed 11 workers, managers were onboard celebrating “seven years without a lost time incident.”

She likened this moment to the film Moneyball, where baseball was reimagined through a new lens of data.

Psychological Safety: The Missing Link

One of the most powerful shifts in the keynote came when Lorraine connected psychological safety to physical safety.

The data backs her up. NSC research found that workers who feel discouraged from reporting are 2.4 times more likely to experience an injury.

This wasn’t just about inclusion or culture, it was about survival.
And it underscored a hard truth: if we want to prevent fatalities, we have to build trust.

From Rules to Values

In one of her most human metaphors, Lorraine compared safety leadership to parenting.

Rules, she said, address a specific action. But values? They infuse every action.

For organisations, this means safety can’t be a checklist or an audit. It must be a value embedded into decision-making, risk management, and everyday behaviour.

Energy is What Kills

The shift to Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention was framed around a deceptively simple insight:

High-risk activities, working at heights, operating machinery, exposure to moving vehicles or high voltages, are where we must focus.

SIF isn’t about replacing current safety protocols; it’s about expanding how we think. It’s about using leading indicators, like near misses and high-hazard identifications, to predict what could happen, and acting before it does.

Safety Is Good Business

When it comes to convincing leadership to invest in prevention before incidents occur, Lorraine was unequivocal:

Yes, safety reduces costs and avoids fines. But she pushed us to broaden the case:

• Safety builds resilience.

• It improves adaptability.

• It boosts employee engagement and trust.

• It strengthens reputation with customers and stakeholders.

A Mission, Not a Metric

In closing, Lorraine invited us to redefine who we are as safety professionals.

She reminded us that this is our time, just like it was after the Triangle fire, to spark the next safety movement.

My Reflection

What Lorraine offered wasn’t just a keynote. It was a reset.
A challenge to move past the illusion of safety.
To listen more carefully.
To speak more bravely.
To lead more humanely.

She ended by inviting each of us to take “the next leap”, whether that’s introducing SIF in our workplace, building more psychologically safe environments, or simply sharing our journey so others can learn.

I left that room not just thinking about the people we’ve lost, but the lives we’ve yet to protect.

Let’s take that leap. Together.

See Mark in Action!