PreAccident Investigation Podcast PAPod 591 - Workers Are the Solution: A Conversation with Corey Pitzer
Mar 28, 2026
Corey Pitzer, a safety practitioner focused on fatality prevention and HOP, discusses reframing workers as problem‑solvers. He explores tensions between engineering/energy-based thinking and systemic new‑view approaches. They highlight designing systems that absorb variation, global shifts in safety practice, and real incidents that show why system design matters.
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Early Safety On The Edge Origins
- Todd and Corey recount presenting together at early conferences that seeded Safety on the Edge.
- They recall 2014 Australia events with Sidney Decker and John Adams that helped introduce the New View to practitioners.
Workers Are The Solution
- Workers are not the problem but the solution to safety problems.
- Corey Pitzer frames workers as problem-solvers whose expertise should be tapped to learn how work is actually done.
You Cannot Eliminate Risk
- You cannot eliminate risk completely; you can only make systems safer and prepare for variation.
- Todd Conklin emphasizes designing systems that build capacity to absorb inevitable upsets rather than promising absolute safety.