Originally Posted by
DC9_10
Safety is the number one priority after all
I know it has become a trope but I wish people would stop saying that. The priority for a company is to fulfill its business objectives, generally aligned with making money. Otherwise it will cease to function.
They are constrained in pursuing that by H&S legislation. A balance is therefore sought between (1) achieving the business objectives and (2) accepting the risk i.e. the lack of total safety. Here's the formal definition:
A safe system of work is a procedure to eliminate the risk involved in an operation. If elimination is not possible, then, at least, to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
If safety was truly the priority then no work would occur if the risk couldn't be completely eliminated.