Leverage Learning Events to Transform Safety Practices

Paul Dickson, CIH CTSP, Vice President of Corporate Safety

Maintaining safety is absolutely essential in the vegetation management industry, where work is often hazardous. At Kendall, we leverage learning events as an operational tool to understand how work is truly accomplished and how we can effectively improve safety. This worker-centric method fosters engagement, promotes proactive problem-solving, and builds a culture of continuous learning and shared responsibility.

Moving Beyond Root Cause Analyses

Traditional incident investigations rely on root cause analysis, a method designed for mechanical linear systems but often falls short in complex, interdependent work environments. This approach typically:

• Focuses on hindsight bias, using the known outcome to prove theories after the fact
• Results in conclusions that emphasize what workers should have done, could have done, or failed to do instead of understanding their decisions
• Seeks a singular root cause when failures are rarely linear or isolated

Root cause analyses often miss the complex connections behind safety incidents. Instead, we need a method that looks at the bigger picture and includes the people doing the work to develop solutions.

What is a Learning Event?

A learning event brings together frontline workers to discuss how tasks are actually performed in the field. The primary objectives are to reveal system complexities, empower team members to provide insights and feedback, and examine factors that influence daily work processes. Equipped with this information, you can then implement proactive learning instead of relying on training only after an incident occurs.

Rather than treating human errors as the end of an investigation, learning events view them as a symptom of deeper systemic issues. The goal is to go beyond simply identifying mistakes and understand why actions made sense at the time. By holding open discussions, the focus shifts from being punitive and assigning blame to one that fosters learning and continuous improvement.

A successful learning event involves a diverse team and a structured yet open-ended discussion. Key elements include:

• Participants: Workers, a facilitator, a scribe, a supervisor and a sponsor
• Location: A neutral and comfortable space that encourages honest dialogue
• Process: Facilitators ask open-ended questions to explore real work processes, discussions are recorded for clarity and inclusivity, and a break allows for reflection before brainstorming solutions

One key aspect of learning events is defining and categorizing different elements of a system:

• The Good: Effective components that should be maintained
• The Bad: Variables that create difficulty and hinder efficiency
• The Ugly: Unmitigated exposure to risks and hazards that require urgent attention

Turning Learning into Action

The outcome of a learning event is a structured report that summarizes findings, identifies key problem areas, and ranks corrective action recommendations. It also includes a plan for tracking and implementing these actions, with management review to ensure follow-through.

By leveraging learning events, organizations move beyond traditional safety investigations to a more dynamic, worker-informed approach. This method enhances communication, promotes collaboration, and drives meaningful improvements in workplace safety practices. When employees feel heard and empowered, they become active partners in creating safer work environments, ultimately reducing risks and enhancing overall operational efficiency.