"Safety First" is "Safety Always."

"Safety First" is treated here as an incomplete slogan: if safety is genuinely a priority, it cannot be occasional, situational, or subordinate to speed and profit. By recasting it as "Safety Always," Hayes emphasizes safety as a continuous discipline—embedded in daily habits, procedures, and organizational culture—rather than a campaign or a temporary admonition after accidents. The line also implies a moral dimension: responsibility for human life and well-being should not be negotiable. In industrial and transportation settings, the aphorism functions as a managerial maxim, urging systems and incentives that make safe practice the default at all times.