Richard Bate, president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
On 21 October 1966, 144 people lost their lives when a colliery spoil tip collapsed above the village of Aberfan. Among them were 116 children, many of whom had just begun their school day at Pantglas Junior School.
Sixty years later, our first duty is to remember them, their families and a community changed forever. But remembrance must also involve reflection. Aberfan confronts every generation of leaders with a difficult question: when health and safety concerns and warning signs are visible, are we genuinely prepared to listen and act?
Aberfan was not a tragedy that came without warning; the danger developed over time, and concerns about spoil tips above the village had been raised before the disaster. However, people did not properly assess, communicate or act on the risks.
This distinction matters: calling an event an accident can imply it could not have been anticipated or prevented. Aberfan demonstrates why leaders must look beyond that language and ask what decisions, assumptions and failures allowed a hazard to become a disaster. Aberfan was not an unavoidable accident.
Aberfan also reminds us that the art of listening is not passive; it is not enough to provide a reporting process or tell people they can raise concerns. The test of an organisation’s culture is whether the right people hear those concerns, examine them seriously and act on them. Organisations can easily claim their culture encourages employees to speak up, but without testing that claim, this can be an empty promise.
Workers, residents and others who live alongside an organisation’s activities often understand and experience risks that are less visible to a boardroom. Leaders should therefore treat challenge as valuable intelligence, not an obstacle to operational delivery. That requires psychological safety, clear escalation routes and protection for those who speak up. It also requires leaders willing to hear what they may not want to hear. An organisation cannot claim to listen if raising a concern changes nothing.
The disaster also exposed the need to ensure that occupational safety and health is not confined to direct employees or a physical workplace. The consequences of organisational decisions can extend far beyond employees and contractors. They can reach family homes, schools and entire communities.
Modern risk management must therefore consider all stakeholders who may be affected by an organisation’s activities. Community impact cannot be an afterthought considered only once a project or operation is under way. It must be addressed through planning, design, consultation and continuing oversight.
Regulation, professional practice and our understanding of organisational risk have advanced considerably over the past 60 years. Those developments matter, but regulation alone cannot create a safe organisation.
Safety considerations
Systems are only effective when people have the competence, resources and authority to use them properly. Leaders determine whether risks are discussed openly, whether their organisations can afford to address them and whether difficult decisions are made before harm occurs. They also determine whether safety considerations carry genuine weight when they conflict with cost, schedule or operational pressure.
Accountability must therefore be visible in everyday decisions, not considered only after something has gone wrong.
On this anniversary, every leader should pause and consider what risks their organisation may have learned to live with. They should examine whether previously raised concerns remain unresolved, whether people can challenge decisions without fear and whether warning signs reach those with the authority to act.
They should also ask who sits outside their usual field of vision. Whose home, family or community could be affected if controls fail? And are those people being listened to before decisions are made?
These are not comfortable questions, but responsible leadership depends on asking them before an incident supplies the answers.
Avoidable harm
Sixty years after Aberfan, we remember the 144 people who lost their lives and the countless others whose lives were permanently changed.
No words can undo what happened. But remembrance should strengthen our determination to prevent avoidable harm. The most meaningful tribute leaders can offer is to listen when concerns are raised, challenge accepted risks and act while there is still time to make a difference.
Aberfan’s lessons came at an unbearable human cost. We must never let these memories fade from our decisions.
As a four-year-old in a reception class in a small north Wales mining town, I remember the day of the disaster clearly. I cannot forget; I will not forget – I will honour those who lost their lives with an unrelenting commitment to my profession.
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