Only by viewing the health care continuum as a system can truly meaningful improvements be made. A systems approach that emphasizes prevention, not punishment, can create patient safety success stories. Other high-risk businesses such as airlines and nuclear power plants have used this approach to accomplish safety goals. To make the prevention effort effective, we use methods of gathering and analyzing data from the field that allow the formation of the most accurate picture possible. People on the front line are usually in the best position to identify issues and solutions, so both root cause analysis teams and heath care failure modes and effects analysis teams formulate solutions, test, and implement strategies, and measure outcomes in order to improve patient safety. Findings from the teams are shared with other facilities in the system. This is really at the core of what we mean “by building a culture of safety.” It is portrayed as the engine that propels the system toward the goal of maximum safety. This kind of cultural change does not happen overnight. It can only happen as a result of effort on everyone’s part to take a different approach to the way we look at things. We must constantly ask whether we can do things in a better, more efficient, and safer manner. We must never let “good enough” be good enough. We must be relentless in our pursuit of finding ways to improve our safety systems. We do not believe that people come to work to do a bad job or to make an error, but given the right set of circumstances any of us can make a mistake. We must force ourselves to look past the easy answer–that it was someone’s fault – to answer the tougher question of why the error occurred. There is seldom a single reason. Through understanding the real underlying causes of errors, we can better position ourselves to prevent future occurrences. Although the saying goes, “Experience is the best teacher,” it is one of the most expensive teachers as well. One of the best ways to reduce the expense is to take advantage of lessons present in close calls, where things almost go awry, but no harm is done. Establishing a culture of safety where people are able to report both adverse events and close calls without fear of punishment is the key to creating patient safety.