5. Favor the precautionary principle.
In medicine, it’s called “First, do no harm.” The burden of proof that an action is either beneficial or even safe (does no harm) rests with the entity taking that action.
Despite this maxim, harm occurs daily in health care. No human organization can assure that its actions will never cause harm, ever. All it can do is exercise great diligence to beware of unintended consequences.
A socially responsible organization abides by the precautionary principle. An irresponsible one acts first and hopes nothing bad happens, or simply assumes that nothing will go wrong.