Safety Theater
From TapRooT® Changing the Way the World Solves Problems by TapRooT®
May 26, 2026 · 32 min · Season 1 · Episode 154
About this episode
This episode discusses the misuse of safety metrics and how they can negatively impact safety culture and performance.
In this episode of the TapRooT® Podcast, we break down the truth about leading indicators, lagging indicators, safety metrics, and “safety theater.” Are your KPIs actually improving safety performance or just encouraging people to game the system? Mark and Tim discuss how organizations misuse safety measures like TRIR, behavior-based safety observations, corrective action closure rates, and leading indicators. They explore how poorly designed metrics can create unintended consequences, hide real risks, and even damage safety culture. If you work in safety management, incident investigation, operational excellence, human performance, process safety, EHS, or root cause analysis, this episode is packed with practical insights on building better safety systems and avoiding metric-driven failures. 🔔 Subscribe for more TapRooT® Podcast episodes on root cause analysis, safety culture, incident investigations, human performance improvement, and operational excellence. Check out our linktree to learn more about TapRooT® RCA and discover us on other social media platforms. ➡️ https://linktr.ee/taprootrca 📚 Want to improve your safety metrics, investigations, and corrective actions…
People in this episode
Hosts: Mark, Tim
Topics covered
- safety metrics
- leading indicators
- lagging indicators
- safety culture
- incident investigation
- operational excellence
Keywords
- safety theater
- KPI
- TRIR
- behavior-based safety
- corrective action
- safety management
- root cause analysis
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TapRooT®
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