‘Tackling” safety through a systems thinking approach: building safety culture within sport

In 2023, we described a collective approach to safety in rugby (including league, union and sevens), outlining the different stakeholders along the passive–active injury prevention intervention continuum.1 We highlighted the current ‘passive’ measures in place to reduce concussion risk including tackle law policies, and the importance of promoting ‘active’ measures such as good tackle technique training. To extend this collective approach, the purpose of this editorial is to (1) highlight the importance of collecting and reporting on ‘near misses’ to promote safety culture and (2) describe a systems thinking method to advocate for shared responsibility in injury prevention.