Human and organizational performance

A new way of thinking about safety

Human and organization performance is a scientific, practical approach to understanding why people do what they do and how workplaces can reduce the risk of serious injuries and fatalities.

Rather than focusing on who is at fault when something goes wrong, human and organizational performance looks at how work is designed, organized and supported.

It helps workers and employers learn from everyday work, not just incidents, to build stronger, more resilient systems that prevent harm.

Why human and organizational performance matters

Every day, workers adapt to get the job done. These adaptations are often necessary to meet real-world conditions, such as changing environments, equipment issues or competing demands.

When incidents happen, it’s usually because system weaknesses, not individual mistakes, create the conditions for failure.

By applying human and organizational performance principles, organizations can:

  • Understand why errors occur and how systems influence behaviour.
  • Move beyond blame and focus on learning and improvement.
  • Strengthen leadership, communication and trust.
  • Create safer, more reliable operations.

The five human and organizational performance principles

Human and organizational performance is guided by five key principles:

1. People make mistakes.

Error is normal. Even skilled and experienced workers can make mistakes.

2. Blame fixes nothing.

Focusing on who to blame stops learning. Look instead at the context and systems that set people up to succeed or fail.

3. Context drives behaviour.

Workers’ decisions make sense in the moment given their goals, pressures and available information.

4. Learning is vital.

The best organizations learn from both success and failure. Understanding how work is actually done helps improve safety.

5. Response matters.

How leaders respond to failure shapes whether workers feel safe to speak up and share what really happens.

Bridging human performance and prevention

Human and organizational performance is a foundation of WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s serious incident and fatality prevention model.

It supports a learning approach to safety – one that emphasizes system improvement and prevention rather than punishment.

By integrating human and organizational performance with tools like the energy wheel, severity and control matrix, and the hierarchy of controls, employers can better identify high-energy hazards, evaluate controls and create conditions where workers can perform safely and effectively.

Start your journey

Improving safety through human and organizational performance begins with curiosity and trust. Talk with workers about how work really happens. Encourage open dialogue. When something goes wrong, ask “what went wrong in the system?” not “who is to blame?”

To learn more about how human and organizational performance fits within WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s serious incident and fatality prevention model, visit the DO phase.