In 1976, James Ham introduced us to the concept of the internal responsibility system (IRS) from his inquiry into fatalities in the mining industry. Since then, many organizations have successfully applied the IRS within their management systems. Others, however, are still struggling with its principles.

My mother recently passed away. In my sorrow, I couldn’t help but reflect on the many things my mom taught me. Many of those important life lessons were about safety. Not in the industrial sense, but those lessons on safety for the good of me as an individual. There is no possible way that my dear mother could have known when she was teaching me these “safety lessons” how much of an impact she would have on me and on my future career.