In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Crista Vesel, an academic, author and safety communication specialist whose work focuses on how language influences learning and decision-making in safety-critical environments.

Crista explores why safety professionals often rely on familiar approaches even though they fail to produce meaningful learning. She explains how language used around incidents can steer inquiry in particular directions, narrowing what is explored and what gets left out.

Drawing on her pioneering work on learning reviews, Crista explains how certain language patterns can unintentionally shut down inquiry, reinforce blame and limit understanding. She contrasts this with approaches that support open and collaborative dialogue to give organizations deeper understanding of workplace safety.

This conversation offers EHS professionals practical insight into using language more deliberately, strengthening insights after events and creating cultures where workers share and organisations learn.

The Masters of Engineering program where Crista teaches: Graduate | Advanced Safety Engineering and Management

Her (open access) thesis on agentive language: Language Bias in Accident Investigation

Crista and Ivan’s book: Human & Organization Potential

Find out more about their work: Dynamic Inquiry | All change starts with a question

Kenneth Gergen’s book recommended by Crista: An Invitation to Social Construction

Crista Vesel on LinkedIn: Crista Vesel, MSc | LinkedIn

Ivan Pupulidy on LinkedIn: Ivan Pupulidy, PhD | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Simon Goncharenko, a respected thought leader and author on a mission to make safety management theory more accessible. 

He examines why many organizations continue to rely on specific philosophies, frameworks and metrics to manage safety, even as serious injuries and fatalities remain stubbornly high. He questions what established measures, such as TRIR, tell us and where they can distract attention from more meaningful risk.

Known for challenging narrow thinking in safety management, Simon revisits key concepts, including behavior-based safety and safety culture, highlighting the crucial gaps between theory and practice. 

Throughout the interview, Simon returns to a central theme: safety is not a single-solution challenge. He encourages EHS professionals to broaden their approach, push boundaries and resist over-reliance on specific ideas. Safety is a journey, not a destination.

Simon’s safety management books:

Save Lives: Pushing Boundaries in Human Factors

Operationalizing Twenty-First Century Safety

Find out more about Simon’s work: Save Lives Global – Safety Consulting

Dr. Simon Goncharenko on LinkedIn: Dr. Simon G. | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Diane Chadwick-Jones, a former BP safety leader and long-time researcher whose work has shaped how organizations think about safety incentives.

Diane explains why linking pay and bonuses to injury rates often creates unintended consequences, including suppressed reporting and reduced learning. Drawing on years of internal and external research, she shows how incentives can reinforce belief systems that feel right but undermine safety in practice.

She shares how BP and other high-hazard organizations have moved away from injury-based bonuses, what replaced them and why peer recognition, transparency and supportive leadership matter more than annual rewards.

This conversation offers EHS professionals practical insight into influencing senior leaders, changing belief systems over time and building conditions where people feel safe to speak up about problems before they escalate.

Diane’s published research on safety incentives: Rewarding safety performance: Improving safety or maintaining beliefs?

Find out more about Diane’s work: Diane Chadwick-Jones / Safety Leadership / Human Performance

Energy Institute videos Diane recommends:

The modern view of incident causation

Human performance - what does it mean?

Walk through a task to prevent incidents

Safety leadership in the field

Diane Chadwick-Jones on LinkedIn: Diane Chadwick-Jones | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Leslie Rex Stockel, Associate Professor of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology at Oklahoma State University and a long-time leader in safety education.

Drawing on decades of experience and teaching, Leslie reflects on how safety ideas evolved from Taylor and Heinrich to behavior-based safety and human performance. And assesses the impact of approaches like safety third.

She questions whether leaders are patient enough to give new approaches a chance and warns against the profession’s tendency to chase silver bullets rather than focusing on sustained incremental improvement.

Leslie explores the growing imbalance between cultural and technical safety, warning that strong people skills cannot compensate for weak technical foundations.

Throughout the conversation, she offers candid, practical advice for EHS professionals to assess their own gaps, strengthen both sides of their practice and focus on what truly keeps people safe at work.

Find out more about Leslie’s work: Leslie Stockel | About | Oklahoma State University

OSHA’s website: Home | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

ASSP website: ASSP - American Society of Safety Professionals

Leslie Rex Stockel on LinkedIn: Leslie Rex Stockel, PhD, CSP, SMP, FASSP | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Martijn Flinterman, a sociologist, researcher and author, specializing in how organizations deal with safety. Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, Martijn challenges many assumptions that underpin traditional safety management.

He explores why focusing primarily on accidents can obscure crucial safety insights, and why categories such as “safe” and “unsafe” often create blind spots. Martijn explains how systems manage risk through distinctions, narratives and routines, and how these can unintentionally suppress reflection, dissent and learning.

The conversation also covers interesting ideas including harmony bias, constructive distrust and humble confidence. Martijn argues that too much trust can become negligent, silence can itself be a risk, and safety professionals must learn to act decisively while acknowledging that their understanding is always partial.

This wide-ranging discussion offers EHS professionals a sociological lens to better understand complexity, challenge comfortable assumptions and create space for critical reflection in safety systems.

Learn more about Martijn’s work: Unter Soziologen / Among Sociologists

Martijn’s book featured in this interview: Managing Safety in Complexity

Luhmann’s most accessible writing: Introduction to systems theory : Luhmann, Niklas, 1927-1998

Martijn also recommends the sociologist Stefan Kuhl: Stefan Kühl – Uklitag

Martijn Flinterman on LinkedIn: Martijn Flinterman | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Ben Goodheart, a human-centred safety consultant and podcast host who advocates a design thinking mindset to improve safety outcomes.

Ben introduces EHS professionals to the concept of design thinking and its practical application in workplace safety. He explores the importance of workers’ experiences, small-scale experiments and incremental change - and how these alternative approaches can positively impact your organization.

He shares cool real-world examples of how design thinking has driven greater safety success and provides actionable guidance to replicate this in your workplace.

You’ll also discover what Ben wants you to focus on instead of technical knowledge, how “safety improv” can help and why it’s good to be comfortable with uncertainty.

Learn more about Ben’s work: Magpie Human Systems

Listen to Ben’s safety podcast: Punk Rock Safety

The Empathy Map Ben suggested: Empathy Map - XPLANE

Ben recommends this website: IDEO - A Global Design & Innovation Company

Ben Goodheart on LinkedIn: Ben Goodheart, Ph.D. | LinkedIn

Contact Ben: [email protected]

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Aaron Potash, an experienced EHS Design Program leader with a background in emergency response and diving instruction.

Drawing parallels from these two high-pressure, unpredictable environments, Aaron explores why rule-heavy approaches often fail to support real-world decision-making.

He explains how practice, repetition and exposure to realistic scenarios - rather than regulations - are key to helping people develop resilience and reliable judgement.

This wide-ranging interview provides practical tools rooted in trust, curiosity and open communication to help EHS professionals support workers in making safer decisions.

Find out more about Aaron’s work: Original Oaktown Divers

Books recommended by Aaron:
There are no accidents by Jesse Singer

Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schein

Aaron Potash on LinkedIn: Aaron Potash, CSP | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Donna Carter, a psychology-informed transformational safety consultant with extensive experience of suicide prevention in remote workplace situations.

Drawing on compelling stories from her frontline work, Donna discusses the complex challenges of suicide prevention and how EHS professionals can support workers in this extremely sensitive area.

She explores the key roles of trust, education and community and warns us that leadership decisions and messages can influence workers’ mental wellbeing in ways organisations may not anticipate.

Donna’s wisdom offers safety professionals crucial guidance on what genuine care requires in practice and how humanising safety can make a meaningful difference for people who may be struggling.

This powerful conversation raises difficult but necessary questions and encourages you to look beyond physical risks to protect lives.

Find out more about Donna’s work: Home | The Person Factor

Get in touch with Donna via email: [email protected]

Recommended suicide prevention resources:
 
24/7 Support for Anxiety, Depression and Suicide Prevention. - Beyond Blue

Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health | Science. Compassion. Action.

Donna Carter on LinkedIn: Donna Carter | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Ashley Gill, an experienced safety consultant whose passion for developing the next generation of EHS professionals led her to teaching.

Through her work educating the next generation of EHS professionals, experienced practitioners and engineers, Ashley has firsthand knowledge of the habits, assumptions and gaps that shape how students understand safety. She shares stories from the classroom and explores the importance of teaching safety principles to professionals in adjacent roles.

Ashley explores how OHS education has evolved over recent years and how it can improve even further. She recognizes that certain elements including non-physical psychosocial risks, soft skills and wider culture enhancement should be key areas of focus going forward.

Dr. Gill’s unique perspective offers EHS professionals practical guidance to raise safety standards in the real world - and not just in theory.

Find out more about Ashley’s consultancy work: ERM - Environmental Resources Management

Learn more about WISE: Women in the Safety Profession Member Community | ASSP

Ashley highly recommends the work of Sydney Decker: Sidney Dekker: Safety Differently

Dr. Ashley Gill on LinkedIn: Ashley Gill, DBA, CSP | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Jake Mazulewicz, a former firefighter, EMT and paratrooper, who is now a Human Reliability consultant and author. Jake translates ideas from Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) and High Reliability Organizations (HRO) into clear, practical actions EHS professionals can use on the job.

He explains why incidents rarely have a single root cause and shows you how to learn from accidents without blame, strengthen team performance, and build resilience so mistakes don’t disable operations. Jake shares many helpful safety enhancement ideas including balancing control-based and learning-based approaches, active vs latent errors, and separating the error from its consequence.

Jake also tackles myths about psychological safety, outlines different review types, and highlights classic defenses - which have been keeping workers safe for decades. This interview is packed with actionable steps you can implement immediately.

Jake’s company: JMA Human Reliability Strategies

Jake’s book: Seven Practical Steps: How to Build Reliability, Safety, and Trust in Technical Teams

Jake Mazulewicz on LinkedIn: Jake Mazulewicz, Ph.D. | LinkedIn

Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]