steel core lanyards are more psychological I think then really effective. I saw a demonstration where they hit a tight steel core lanyard with a 066 and it cut through no problem. It might offer some protection from a bad nick comming a part. When I was first learning I was told only one thing I had to remember, not to cut my lanyard, and 30+ years later I always know where that ropes at before I make a cut. That being said, when I was first learning SRT i cut my climbing line with a silky hand saw. If I hadn't had a second tie in i may of died. Almost stopped climbing because of it. Was my own fault i was cutting around the tree and couldn't see what I was cutting. The line was some how zig zagged around the back of the tree. It don't take much to cut a single line under tension.
A lot of times production is put before safety, this causes guys to take short cuts, this is especially true on big crews with several climbers, each trying to out do the others.
With the industry in the shape its in climbers are being pushed to be faster to make up for less profit. You have to watch out for your self. Lots of people put profit before safety.
I love this business, but it seems to be going backwards instead of forward, safety wise as well as money wise.