Human Performance and Latent Causes

Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) has earned well-deserved attention in recent years. It correctly shifts focus from blaming people to improving the systems in which they work. These are meaningful advances. Yet many organizations that have adopted HOP principles are still experiencing the same types of incidents. The reason is usually that something important is still missing.

At Failsafe Network, we’ve been in the trenches for over four decades, helping organizations learn from the things that go wrong. What we’ve seen over all those years is that most traditional RCA training doesn’t fall short because people aren’t trying hard enough—it fails because the approach itself has some pretty fundamental flaws. Let's walk through why that happens and how our Latent Cause An...

Case study of catastrophic hydrotreater explosion.

In this episode of Human Performance and Latent Causes, Robert E. Statham, President of Failsafe Network, takes a deep dive into a real crushing injury and partial finger amputation that occurred during a routine jam clearance on a high-speed wrapper conveyor in a food packaging plant.

Latent Cause Analysis (LCA) is an evidence-based method for investigating incidents that goes beyond fixing immediate problems to uncover deeper systemic, human, and cultural causes. LCA strengthens leadership at all levels and transforms organizational culture toward continuous improvement, better decisions, and fewer repeated failures.

Traditional Root Cause Analysis (RCA) often falls short because it stops at surface-level issues—like equipment failure or individual error—and tends to become a blame-focused, checkbox exercise. As a result, organizations see the same problems repeat. Latent Cause Analysis (LCA) is a more powerful alternative because it examines the underlying systems and human factors that create the conditions...

The role people play in things that go wrong and the more important role people play in learning, improving, and growing in day to day business.

The problem with blame and how to effectively deal with it in the midst of an investigation .

Failsafe 40+ years of experience using Root Cause Analysis and developing the more effective Latent Cause Analysis.

Discover the future of root cause analysis. Rob Statham shares the past, present, and future of root cause analysis (even with AI's influence). Latent Cause Analysis is not just another form of RCA; it's the next generation.

Failure is often painted as a dead end. But it’s really a fork in the road. When you treat failure as a learning opportunity, you unlock potential. This mindset shift changes everything.

This episode explores how embracing failure can drive personal and organizational growth. Failure isn’t an endpoint—it’s a new beginning that offers opportunities for learning and improvement. Rather than fearing setbacks, adopting a mindset that sees failure as a necessary teacher is key.

Blame for errors is unhelpful. Focusing on understanding instead of blame helps organizations create a learning culture. This motivates employees to share experiences and insights, which leads to improved safety practices and better operations.

Learn how to manage human error. Human error is unavoidable. We understand that everyone, no matter their skills or experience, makes mistakes. What matters most is accepting human fallibility instead of chasing perfection and having an effective process to learn from errors.

Review the 5 Principles of Human Performance (HOP) for organizational learning and improvement. Discover the most effective process ever developed to implement HOP principles within an organization while enhancing communication and productivity.

Rob Statham discusses with author Laurin Mooney her new book 'High Reliability in Action.' The conversation explores her motivation for creating a practical guide to High Reliability. They examine the challenges caused by increasing complexity. People regularly face unexpected and unclear events, but we often concentrate on tasks we already know to achieve our goals. Yet, much occurs outside of ou...

Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector, trainer, and author Dick Swanson shares his biggest takeaways from an illustrious career learning from things that go wrong and preventing future events.

You are tasked with gathering evidence from people about a significant event that happened at work. Where do you start? How do you begin? What to do and what NOT TO DO. Rob Statham shares a simple, effective approach to interviewing people.

Your phone rings, and your manager asks you to lead an investigation into a major event that just happened at work. Your adrenaline kicks in, and your mind starts racing. Where do you begin? Rob Statham explains how to respond to that call in a way that sets you up for success.

Bob Nelms reflects on his career, learning from the things that go wrong, during his CHOLearning Hall of Fame induction.

Rob Statham shares a field experience that demonstrates Latency in action.

Latency is a very small part of an organization's culture that contributes to things going wrong. Culture influences people and is usually beneficial. Unfortunately, the 'bad' aspects of culture also influence people and are difficult to effectively identify and address.

Rob and Lesa discuss their highlights from CHOLearning's 31st Annual Learning Conference.

Three Barriers to Organizational Learning: People, People, and People. We are naturally wired with tendencies that usually help, but sometimes contribute to our problems. We are, for the most part, great problem solvers, but when we use blame as a tool to solve issues, we contribute to the small part of our culture (Latency) that causes problems. The goal is to help organizations continuously impr...

Learn how to identify and understand the causes of an event in a way EVERYONE learns from it. Rob Statham discusses the level of understanding required to effect lasting change, i.e. lasting improvement.