In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Deborah Barrett, an Ethics, Compliance & Operations Executive who holds a Master's Degree of Science in Business Ethics and Compliance.Deborah uses her extensive experience working in corporate settings to help EHS professionals avoid getting lost in complex enterprises. It can be easy to become just another number in large organizations, especially if you are a new starter or remote working is widespread.She shares extensive practical guidance on how to increase the visibility of safety across your organization. Securing executive support, strategic networking, committee participation, and effective presentations are just some of her recommendation she explores.Deborah encourages HSE professionals to focus on promoting the benefits of safety and finding natural allies within your company to help achieve your objectives. Not only will this raise the profile of safety management - it will also enhance your career development.Deborah Barrett on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-barrett-9552888/Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Susanne Bahn, co-founder of Tap into Safety - a safety training consultancy. Susanne’s PhD specialized in Health and Safety Management, and she worked as a safety consultant for 15 years.Dr. Bahn combines her practical experience and academic knowledge to explore a key activity for EHS professionals - safety training. Her mission is to make training more palpable for the end-user while helping organizations deliver more efficient, effective and compliant safety information.Susanne wants HSE professionals to move away from “death by PowerPoint” and adopt flexible approaches to safety training based on the specific scenario, the audience’s needs, and available technology opportunities.She provides practical advice on how to choose appropriate learning approaches for specific safety training situations and emphasizes the importance of micro-learning, consistency, simplicity and regularity.Dr. Bahn discusses the multiple benefits (and common pitfalls) of online learning and explains why using the right language and tone of voice is crucial to ensure your messages are delivered effectively to lay the foundations for a strong safety culture.You can find out more about Susanne’s work and her company, Tap into Safety by visting:https://tapintosafety.com.au/about-us/Dr. Susanne Bahn on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-susanne-bahn-13383318The podcasts - Safety on Tap and Safeopedia - recommended by Susanne:https://www.safetyontap.com/episodes/https://feeds.captivate.fm/safetywithpurposepodcast/Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Bridget Leathley, a freelance health and safety adviser, writer, instructional designer, trainer and auditor. She's also a Chartered Fellow with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and an Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society.Bridget highlights the importance of well-written and clearly communicated safety procedures - and how they represent “quick wins” for HSE professionals.Major safety initiatives are often unrealistic for EHS professionals due to budget restraints. However,  simply assessing and improving your safety procedures can significantly improve your organization’s safety performance.Bridget offers many practical tips (with real-life examples) on how you can write better procedures, including: starting with the safety objectives, involving co-workers, using simple language, avoiding ambiguity, and including imagery.She shares guidance on how often EHS professionals should revisit procedures and considers the role of multi-media in current and future safety management.Bridget is passionate about getting organizations to adopt technology to keep people safe and healthy - but explains that the needs of the audience and the task should always drive how safety procedures are presented to co-workers.You can find out more about Bridget’s work and her company, The Safer Choice by visting:https://thesaferchoice.co.uk/Bridget Leathley on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgetleathleyThe book recommended by Bridget:A Guide To Task Analysis by Barry KirwanSafety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

In this engaging discussion, Mary Stine, an EHS director and storytelling expert, illuminates how narratives can enhance workplace safety. She delves into the neuroscience of storytelling, emphasizing its power to foster emotional connections and engagement. Mary shares vital storytelling techniques tailored for safety professionals, underlining self-awareness and authenticity. Listeners learn how to adapt narratives based on audience feedback, utilize storytelling to build trust, and enhance communication within teams, ultimately promoting a culture of safety and accountability.

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Bettina Palazzo, a business ethics expert who is the founder of the consultancy: Palazzo Ethics Advisory.Bettina applies her extensive academic and practical knowledge of ethics to workplace safety.She helps EHS professionals unpick the psychological dynamics that lead to unethical behavior and explains why workplace safety decision-making is not always black and white.Her inclusive approach to safety management contains great advice on communicating with co-workers, including starting with the “why”, focusing on individual needs, using jargon-free narrative, and avoiding parent mode.Bettina also highlights the importance of ensuring your leaders role model good safety practice and create speak-up safety cultures.To find out more about Bettina’s consultancy, visit:https://bettinapalazzo.com/Bettina Palazzo on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-palazzoThe Leadership Embodiment book recommended by Bettina:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Embodiment-Stand-Change-Think/dp/1492946699Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mark Alston, a risk management and safety expert who is the founder of Investigations Differently consultancy.Mark helps HSE professionals understand why safety investigations can be too narrowly focused and only result in blame rather than benefits.Fortunately, he shares helpful advice on how you can implement better investigations in your workplace. Mark encourages EHS professionals to move away from a top-down approach and instead harness co-workers as part of the solution to deliver systemic risk reduction.He argues that safety investigations are great opportunities to enable organizations to learn critical information from their people about how work is actually completed. Furthermore, Marks shows you how this can be used positively to improve overall safety performance.To find out more about Mark’s consultancy, visit:https://investigationsdifferently.com.au/Mark Alston on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/alstonmark/The three books recommended by Mark:Pre-accident investigations by Todd Conklinhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Pre-Accident-Investigations-Todd-Conklin/dp/1409447820The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error' by Sidney Dekker:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Guide-Understanding-Human-Error/dp/1472439058Paper Safe by Greg Smith:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paper-Safe-triumph-bureaucracy-management-ebook/dp/B07HVRZY8CSafety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

Chris Clearfield, co-author of “Meltdown: Why our systems fail and what we can do about it”, discusses how understanding system complexity and coupling can prevent accidents. He emphasizes the importance of improving system feedback and shares practical advice on implementing HSE change and creating inclusive safety cultures. The podcast also explores strategies to reduce risk and improve system design, as well as techniques like premortem and collaborative learning for preventing failure.

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Eliza Lynch, an HSE manager in the construction industry and frequent guest on safety podcasts, who has strong opinions and uses strong language.Eliza’s early career in EHS was very Traditional Safety oriented - sometimes referred to as Safety-1 or Command and Control Safety. However, more recently she’s directly experienced New View Safety, also known as Safety-2 or Safety Differently.Regardless of terminology, it’s common for members of the HSE community to align themselves with one of these two orientations.However, Eliza’s analysis and observations have coninced her it’s too simplistic to claim one safety approach is more effective than the other. She explains why HSE professionals needed fresh ideas while asserting that abandoning traditional approaches to safety would be counter-productive.Eliza strongly believes New View Safety builds on Traditional Safety but definitely doesn’t replace it. Instead, EHS professionals just need to focus on the most appropriate ways to improve safety outcomes and set people up for success.Elisa Lynch on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisalynch/The online community for HSE professionals Eliza attributes for accelerating her safety learning and passion:https://www.projectmollitiam.com/Eliza also highly recommends Paper Safe by Greg Smith:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paper-Safe-triumph-bureaucracy-management-ebook/dp/B07HVRZY8CSafety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com

Andrea Baker, a human and organizational performance (HOP) expert, explores the paradigm shift needed in HSE. She explains the emergence of safety and the importance of prevention and mitigation. Andrea discusses why humans make mistakes and how to influence co-workers in adopting new safety procedures. She emphasizes learning about safety error reduction and highlights the challenges and rewards of implementing HOP principles. Andrea encourages viewing safety as a discipline and provides resources for further understanding.

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr Martha Grajdek, an industrial organizational (IO) psychologist, researcher, executive coach, speaker and author who’s been advising on stress management and leadership for over two decades.Combining science with a holistic approach, Martha explains what IO psychology is and how it can help HSE professionals improve health and safety in the workplace.She is an expert in work-related stress and shares her knowledge in identifying and managing this issue. Martha recognizes that stress is particularly significant for EHS professionals. It can seriously compromise their safety management initiatives, and HSE professionals have very stressful roles.Therefore, Dr Grajdek provides helpful guidance throughout her interview on the steps you can take to manage stress across your organization and within yourself - with a key focus on self-care.Martha has used her expertise and experience to create a course in stress management:https://mgbs-global-llc.mykajabi.com/storeTo find out more about Dr Grajdek’s work, visit her website:https://drmarthagrajdek.com/Martha Grajdek on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-grajdek-phd-mba-9234137/Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.com If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com