It is human nature to seek single factors for success or failure in order to make sense of it. The end-result of this tendency can be commendation or condemnation. Current safety management thinking and theories of system failures and accident causation suggest that multiple factors account for system failures and accidents.

Successful incident intervention should be viewed as the avoidance of many separate causes of failure. Informed safety management holds that if we can understand the causes or factors involved in failure(s), then we can manage safety (i.e., develop controls) for the hazards within the workplace, in consideration of one's organizational culture.

This module is intended to identify critical factors and indicators in evaluating dynamic fire conditions within a structure. Any risk assessment can only be as good as the information gathered, which includes a great number of factors to inform that assessment. Rarely do we have knowledge of the scope of these many factors.

Ultimately, the goal of fire literacy is to address gaps in knowledge and operational practice while informing organizational culture in order to prevent future injuries or possible death.