In recent weeks, we have had two striking examples of why a “safety culture” is critical in reducing the dangerous risks posed by business operations.

One, the death of 29 workers in an explosion at Massey Energy Company’s Upper Big Branch Mine, illustrates the catastrophic impact when such a culture is missing. The second, the halting of air transport due to the ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano, shows the power of a robust safety culture in learning from past incidents to avoid catastrophic events in the future.

The contrast is, if you will pardon the phrase, no accident. Underground mining is hidden from public view and, although coal as an energy source affects hundreds of millions, an accident in a mine does not put fear in households around the world receiving electricity from coal-burning plants. Air transport, of course, is one of the world’s most visible businesses, and a fatal accident is front of mind for the hundreds of millions globally who fly during the course of a year.

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