16-Safety is Not a Bolt-On: The Systemic Dance of Construction Procurement

In the chaotic ballet of complex systems, safety is the choreography. Richard I. Cook’s How Complex Systems Fail drops a bombshell: “Safety is a characteristic of systems and not of their components.” You can’t pin it on a hard hat, a guru, or a shiny new gadget; it’s an emergent property, woven into the system’s fabric. In construction procurement, this means safety isn’t a checklist or a widget but a living, breathing thing. Let’s unpack why safety is a system-wide dance, and how to keep it from tripping over its own feet.

Safety: The Whole Lot

Cook makes the point that: “Safety does not reside in a person, device or department.” It’s not the QS’s eagle eye, the contractor’s top-notch kit, or the safety officer’s clipboard, but rather it’s how they all come together. Safety emerges from the interplay (think resources, roles, rhythms) and it is “always dynamic,” shifting with every tweak, tech, or turnover.

If risks are not actively monitored and managed then the probability of failure in any part of the system is a complete unknown. Let hazards fester unwatched, say, a stretched supply chain or a rushed inspection, and you’re rolling dice in the dark. Safety is not a static perk; it’s a pulse to track.

Complexity’s Crew

Here we have a paradox of sorts: the more complex the system, the more system designers and monitors are needed. The procurement of a simple shed might hum with a lean team, but a skyscraper or heritage retrofit? That’s a cast of hundreds; designers to knit the plan, monitors to spot the snags. As systems sprawl—more tech, tighter deadlines, trickier sites—safety’s dance gets wilder. Save on the choreographers, and the steps falter. 

In R v Balfour Beatty [2006] (tied to the Hatfield rail crash) a derailment killed four, pinned on a cracked rail, but the real story was systemic. Maintenance lagged, oversight thinned, and procurement prioritised speed over scrutiny. Safety in the system didn’t live in the rail or the crew; it died in the system’s gaps. More monitors might have caught the drift—complexity demands a crowd.

Keeping the Rhythm

So, how do we keep safety in step?

For clients, don’t treat safety as a plug-in. Fund a system that breathes it, not just a bolted-on “safety package.” Monitor risks like a hawk; an unseen hazard is a loaded gun. 

For consultants, design with the system’s pulse. Your specification may be slick, but if it clashes with a lean budget or rushed build, safety frays. Bake in oversight so shifts don’t blindside you.