This part of Annex Q is titled, “Human Performance Warning Flags.” When these flags appear, it's time for the organization to take action to address the root cause. That doesn't mean assign blame, it means looking at the cause of that flag and then the cause of that cause, etc., until you get to the bottom of things. Usually, there is a chain of events, reactions, and responses — not just one bad actor.

The four flags are:

1. Program or process. You want the emphasis to be on personal ownership and accountability for managing risk, rather than on risk management processes. You also want your risk management processes to be efficient to use and follow.
2. Organizational performance. Among the five flags listed here, one is that activities with high risk are not assigned clear owners. Remember, you want the emphasis to be on personal ownership and accountability.
3. Supervisory performance. Among the five flags listed here, managers don't understand how risk is perceived and managed at the worker level. Managers can use active listen skills to gain this understanding. They also must be sufficiently aware of current conditions and attitudes, something they cannot do if physically and mentally separate from the job site (item 2 in the list).
4. Worker performance. Among the seven items listed here, one is that risk is not communicated effectively up the chain of command within the company. Workers can be trained specifically on how to provide feedback to management; they must be guaranteed “safe harbor” when the topic is related to risk.