Your Most Experienced Workers Might Be Your Biggest Safety Risk

In workplace safety, experience is often equated with reliability. Veteran employees are trusted to know the job, spot hazards, and guide new hires. But what if that assumption is quietly introducing risk into your operations?



It may sound counterintuitive, but your most experienced workers—those with 15, 20, or 30 years on the job—can also pose some of the most overlooked safety risks in your organization.

Here we’re tackling why that is, and how safety leadership can identify and address this hidden threat to your safety culture.

The Myth of “Experienced Means Safer”

Years on the job doesn’t always equal lower risk. In fact, multiple studies have shown that experienced workers are frequently involved in serious safety incidents,

especially in industries like construction, oil and gas, utilities, and manufacturing.

Why? Because safety isn’t just about knowledge. It’s about habit, vigilance, and attitude. And all of those can erode over time.

Veteran workers may:

• Become overconfident in their skills
• Bypass safety protocols they see as unnecessary
• Resist changes in equipment, process, or policy
• Ignore near-misses or minor incidents

This isn’t about bad intentions. It’s about human psychology, and how familiarity can breed complacency.

The Psychology of Complacency

There are three major behavioral risks that safety leaders should watch for in long-tenured employees:

1. Complacency

When someone has done the same task a thousand times without injury, it’s easy to stop seeing the danger. Familiarity dulls perception. “This is how I’ve always done it” becomes a mantra and a warning sign.

2. Overconfidence

Experienced workers often believe they’re “above” certain rules or reminders. They may dismiss toolbox talks, skip PPE checks, or scoff at new safety training. This sense of immunity increases safety risk, especially during routine tasks.

3. Resistance to Change

New procedures, tools, or safety systems can be met with quiet (or vocal) pushback. Veteran workers may undermine these changes not out of malice, but because they’re anchored to what worked in the past.

The Cultural Impact of Veteran Behavior

Safety in the workplace is as much about peer influence as policy. When a seasoned worker takes shortcuts or dismisses new protocols, others notice, especially newer employees.

This behavior can erode the credibility of your safety program and set a dangerous precedent. Your culture becomes reactive rather than proactive. And your risk profile increases without anyone realizing it.

Warning Signs to Watch For

As a safety or risk manager, here are subtle indicators that an experienced worker may be contributing to increased risk:

• Regularly improvises tasks or bypasses safeguards
• Uses language like “I’ve been doing this for 30 years”
• Downplays or fails to report minor injuries or near misses
• Dismisses new safety policies or equipment as unnecessary
• Sets a poor example for newer team members

These may seem minor in isolation, but they’re often red flags for larger cultural issues.

What Safety Leaders Can Do

Here’s how you can address these risks without alienating your most experienced team members:

1. Refresh Training for Mastery

Avoid the “check-the-box” mindset. Instead of delivering generic refresher training, tailor sessions to emphasize how experienced workers can refine and reinforce safe behaviors, especially as environments and tools evolve.

2. Recognize, Then Reset

Acknowledge the value veteran employees bring, but make it clear that no one is exempt from safety standards. Use data to show trends by tenure, and frame change as a mark of professionalism, not a correction.

3. Appoint Safety Mentors, Not Just Influencers

Experienced workers can become your strongest safety advocates, but only if they model the right behaviors. Choose mentors who lead by example and empower them to reinforce culture from the ground up.

4. Track Safety Risk by Experience Level

Use your incident data to break down trends by employee tenure. Are workers with 15+ years seeing a rise in near-misses or hand injuries? Use that insight to tailor interventions where they’re needed most.

5. Reinforce a Culture of Reset

Make safety a daily conversation, not a yearly checklist. Experienced workers should be encouraged to “reset” their habits just like anyone else.

Experience Is Valuable, But Not Infallible

Your most experienced team members are often your most productive, most loyal, and most knowledgeable. But without careful attention, they can also introduce silent safety risks that go unaddressed for years.

The best safety leaders are those who look beyond titles and tenure and focus on behavior. Because in the end, it’s not how long you’ve been doing the job. It’s how you’re doing it today. 

Start Reducing Risk

YellowBird can connect you with experienced safety professionals to audit your current practices, train your team, and identify silent hazards before they become incidents.

From running comprehensive safety audits to filling safety roles, YellowBird is your flexible, on-call partner in building a safer future. Tap into the largest network of safety professionals, available anywhere and anytime you need them.