Energy-Based Safety: A Scientific Approach to Preventing Serious Injuries and Fatalities

by Matthew R. Hallowell

For the past two decades, workplace safety has improved in reducing minor injuries, yet the rate of serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) has remained unchanged. Research has revealed that the hazards causing minor injuries are not the same as those leading to fatalities, making traditional safety approaches insufficient. Energy-Based A Scientific Approach to Preventing Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) presents a science-backed strategy for SIF prevention, built on four core principles that emphasize the role of hazardous energy, the power of effective controls, and the critical influence of workers in shaping safety outcomes.

This book is a useful resource for those committed to saving lives and delivering change in workplace safety through new ways of injury prevention. Divided into two parts, it firstly explores the research behind EBS and investigates each principle with evidence, case studies, and practical insights from real-world implementation. The second part focuses on incorporating EBS into existing safety practices, from design and work planning to incident learning and performance measurement.

Through reading this book, readers will gain practicable tools and methods to enhance safety programs, making SIF prevention effective and sustainable in their workplace Written for safety professionals, Energy-Based A Scientific Approach to Preventing Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) is an enlightening read for industry leaders in occupational health and safety and practitioners responsible for workplace safety and occupational risk.

Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2025

Reviews

[Emanuele Gemelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read several papers of the author and I generally agree with his approach on safety. The problem with the EBS, more than it’s an evolution of the energy wheel (by the way, why biological hazards are not included?), so nothing super original, is that the threshold for the energy to create a SIF is somewhat not really consistent with other assumptions made elsewhere (I see a huge discrepancy with the very widely used drops calculator, for instance). So I need to do my own research, before I totally buy into this. The decision tree to define the potential is actually very interesting and fully aligned with the new way of safety. The TBT part is nothing out of the ordinary, but it still has some interesting angles that are worth exploring. The main challenge with this new way of dealing with hazards is that we have not reached the tipping point yet, and the resistance about this type of innovation is still rather high. One could imagine the faces of people when you try to argue for a different take on the hierarchy of controls. Still worth the try

[Joshua Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read for Safety Professionals

This book is a total game changer for the construction safety world. It takes the messy and sometimes confusing world of SIF prevention and turns it into an objective roadmap that actually makes sense on a job site.

We have all been there where safety feels like a gut feeling, but this framework moves us away from that noise and focuses on high energy hazards. By focusing on high energy, we can stop guessing and start identifying the stuff that actually kills people. Whether you are catching things early in the Design phase or out on a Safety Walk checking for direct controls, this gives you a way to make sure your people are protected by the presence of safeguards.

This isn't just another flavor of the month program. It is the quarter turn our industry needs to stop just counting injuries and start measuring the presence of the controls that save lives.