Which safety management approach is primarily used after an incident to understand what happened?

Which safety management approach is primarily used after an incident to understand what happened?

• A. Reactive
• B. Proactive
• C. Predictive
• D. Preventive

Answer: (A)

Understanding what happened after an incident relies on investigating the event, gathering evidence, and identifying root causes and contributing factors. This is the reactive approach: you respond to an incident to learn from it and put corrective actions in place to prevent recurrence. The other approaches focus on prevention or prediction before events occur—attempting to avert hazards, forecast future risks, or stop incidents before they happen. Thus, when the goal is to understand the incident itself and derive lessons for safety improvements, reactive is the appropriate approach.

Understanding what happened after an incident relies on investigating the event, gathering evidence, and identifying root causes and contributing factors. This is the reactive approach: you respond to an incident to learn from it and put corrective actions in place to prevent recurrence. The other approaches focus on prevention or prediction before events occur—attempting to avert hazards, forecast future risks, or stop incidents before they happen. Thus, when the goal is to understand the incident itself and derive lessons for safety improvements, reactive is the appropriate approach.