Safety Labs by Safety Products Global

In this episode, Mary Conquest talks with François Barton, CEO of the Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum in New Zealand - someone who knows exactly how to speak ‘executive’ and how leaders view workplace safety.Effective safety management is very challenging when it simply doesn’t have the budget required to implement meaningful change.François thinks that HSE managers can build stronger executive support by aligning safety initiatives with the bigger business picture. He encourages you to get familiar with organizational complexity and direction of travel and focus communication on context rather than content.Sound judgment is preferable to a ‘passion for safety’ as François shares examples of how linking safety to the organization's objectives secured executive buy-in and created significant improvements.This uplifting interview gives EHS professionals practical strategies to influence decision-makers and secure much-needed support for effective safety management.Learn more about François’ work: Business Leaders Health & Safety Forum Recommended reading: Health and Safety Governance: A Good Practice GuideFrançois Barton on LinkedIn: Francois Barton | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Gill Kernick, a consultant in high-hazard industries and author of Catastrophe and Systemic Change - a book she wishes she never had to write.It analyzes the Grenfell Tower fire, where Gill had previously lived. On the 14th of June 2017, she watched it burn. Seven of her former close neighbors died, in addition to 65 other people. She promised to make their lives count, so dedicates her work to ensuring that we learn better.Gill challenges EHS professionals to move beyond compliance and technical fixes toward embracing complexity, diversity and fostering genuine organizational learning.Her deeply considered insights offer a powerful call to action for meaningful systemic change that can prevent future accidents and transform how the safety profession impacts organizations and society.Gill’s book: Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters - LPP - The London Publishing Partnership(Published on 18th June 2026, but is available for early ordering in the UK - and a small donation will be made to the Grenfell Foundation)Her blog about Grenfell.Grenfell Inquiry Reports: Publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report - GOV.UKDetails on the Archives of all evidence: Records of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry - The National ArchivesPost Normal Science:Menagerie of Postnormal Potentialities | Post Normal TimesKnowledge, power, and participation in the post-normal age - ScienceDirectCynefin Framework: About - Cynefin Framework - The Cynefin CoJose Torero (Link to a blog I wrote on this): ‘The real failure of Grenfell – complexity, ambiguity and competency.’ Prof. Torero Transcript – The Grenfell EnquirerThe play 'Grenfell in the Words of Survivors': Grenfell: in the words of survivors | National TheatreLinkedIn profile: Gill Kernick | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Daniel Hummerdal, a psychologist who focuses on the role of humans in safety and organizational improvement.Drawing on insights from his new book, ‘An Invitation to Safety Conversations’, Daniel uncovers how dialogue closes the distance between leaders and workers, creating cultures where truth flows, partnerships develop, and safety performance improves.The interview offers fresh perspectives on safety leadership and the role of a safety professional, moving away from checklists, control and compliance towards curiosity, compassion and courage.Daniel shares his six types of conversations that uncover hidden risks, make sense of everyday work complexities, and help workplace safety become a collaborative effort.This episode invites EHS professionals to reconsider what safety work means and how they can learn and keep workers safe through more humanistic leadership.Learn more about Daniel’s book: An Invitiation to Safety ConversationsDaniel also recommends: Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. ScheinDaniel on LinkedIn: Daniel Hummerdal | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Trevor Farr, a safety manager who only joined the profession 5 years ago - so brings a fresh perspective to the Safety Labs podcast.Trevor advocates a blended approach to safety management, combining human understanding with rules and regulations.Leaning on HOP principles, Trevor challenges traditional accident investigation methods, emphasizing their limitations and the need for a broader, more inclusive inquiry process. He encourages safety practitioners to move beyond blame to foster genuine care and authentic relationships within organizations.Throughout the conversation, Trevor reflects on the evolving nature of safety management, sharing guidance on navigating complex systems by embracing curiosity, collaboration, and a learning-based approach that values multiple perspectives, especially from frontline workers.This episode helps EHS professionals discover a more humanistic path to keeping workers safe.The LinkedIn post featured in the show: LaGuardia Fire Truck Plane Collision: Human Performance AnalysisBook recommended by Trevor: Next Generation Safety Leadership: From Compliance to Care: Lloyd, CliveTrevor Farr on LinkedIn: Trevor Farr, MEng, 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mark Gobert, a seasoned retail safety expert with nearly 30 years of experience managing safety programs at major companies like Macy’s and Williams Sonoma.Mark reflects on how safety has evolved over his career and the specific challenges he faced in retail.He shares his innovative approach to translating the cost of injuries into business metrics that helped leadership appreciate the true costs and benefits of effective workplace safety.Throughout the conversation, Mark emphasizes the importance of listening to frontline workers, whose insights are crucial to effective safety solutions, and offers EHS professionals practical guidance on building credibility throughout your organization.Mark’s insights may come from his distinguished career in retail, but they offer universal wisdom for safety managers across all sectors.Mark Gobert on LinkedIn: Mark Gobert | 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mike Fears, who describes himself as a recovering academic and has more than 20 years of experience in occupational health and safety across multiple industries.This is a fascinating deep dive into New View Safety: its principles, how it developed, its originality and, most importantly, whether it improves safety outcomes.Mike evaluates the core tenets of this approach to help us uncover the validity of maxims such as ‘error is normal’, ‘blame fixes nothing’ and ‘workers should decide how work is done’. His research findings help us separate unrealistic assertions from useful applications. But context and nuance are always key!This episode gives safety professionals a balanced and measured perspective on New View Safety, encouraging thoughtful application of its ideas - rather than uncritical adoption or rejection.Learn more about Mike’s work: The Recovering AcademicRecommended reading:Fears, M. R. (2025). The promise and problems of the "New View" of Safety. Vegetation Manager Magazine, 24 October 2025;18-20. Fears M.R. (2024). 349 Pushing the right buttons: creating conditions for developing personal motivation towards safe behaviours. Injury Prevention; 30: A74.Fears M.R. (2024). 698 The promise and problems with the “new view” of safety: weaknesses, limitations, and suggestions for further research. Injury Prevention; 30: A145. Cooper, M. (2022). The emperor has no clothes: A critique of Safety-II. Safety Science, 152, 105047. Mike Fears on LinkedIn: Mike Fears – LinkedIn Profile 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Zoë Nation, a human factors and safety expert with over 25 years of design and implementation experience across rail, oil and gas, logistics, mining, marine, manufacturing, and aviation industries.Zoë challenges safety professionals to be more curious, move beyond ‘tribalism’, and adopt more context- and research-driven approaches to safety management: “There isn’t one right answer!”She highlights the common pitfalls organizations face when implementing change and emphasizes the importance of understanding the unique maturity and culture of your organization.Drawing on her extensive experience, Zoë stresses the critical role of end-user engagement, reminding EHS professionals that frontline workers don’t care about safety camps or jargon - they just need solutions based on their work realities.Throughout the conversation, Zoë shares practical tools and insights to help EHS professionals learn from the workforce, influence decision-makers, avoid common blind spots, and create effective safety systems that resonate across all levels of the business.Safety resources/authors recommended by Zoë:The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error': Amazon.com: Dekker, SidneyBob's Guide to Operational Learning: How to Think Like a Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) Coach: Amazon.com: Edwards, Bob, Baker, AndreaHumble Inquiry, 3rd edition: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling (Humble Leadership): Amazon.com: Schein, Edgar H., Schein, Peter ASafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summariesGlobal Safety Innovation SummitZoë Nation on LinkedIn: Zoë Nation | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Sarah Ischer, CIH, CSP, the Senior Director of Expertise at the What Works Institute, who recently published a ground-breaking report investigating neurodiversity in the workplace.Roughly 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent, meaning their brains process information, perceive hazards, or communicate differently. Yet many traditional safety programs still assume a single way of thinking.Sarah explores why neurodiversity isn’t given the same focus in the workplace as it now receives in the education system and highlights how this negatively impacts the well-being of your workers.She provides EHS professionals with practical and affordable tactics to improve workplaces for neurodiverse - and neurotypical - workers, giving you a new lens to enhance safety systems at your organization.Find out more about Sarah’s work: What Works InstituteThe full report into neurodiversity at work: Neurodiversity in EHSSarah Ischer on LinkedIn: Sarah Ischer, CIH, CSP | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Nippin Anand, an event investigation expert who founded a consultancy specialising in human-centred approaches to learning.Using the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, Nippin examines how investigations often produce explanations that satisfy the need for closure but fail to reflect the complexity of events and help organizations actually learn.Drawing on social psychology, mythology and anthropology, Nippin challenges many “safety myths” including normal work, zero harm and the role of blame in the workplace. He encourages the safety profession to uncover deeper insights through surfacing the unconscious, using our three minds and focusing on intelligent cues in accident investigations.A key theme is that real learning lies in the tension, and Nippin argues for transdisciplinary thinking in safety, moving beyond root cause and corrective action towards context, meaning, individuality and uncertainty. This interview offers EHS professionals a more reflective approach to safety learning.Find out more about Nippin’s work: About Nippin - Nippin AnandNippins’s book: Are We Learning from Accidents?Nippin’s consultancy (including knowledge space): Home - Novellus SolutionsRecommended resources about the iCue (intelligent cues) process:The iCue engagement program™iCue engagement processDr. Robert Long’s excellent work: Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR)Nippin Anand on LinkedIn: Nippin Anand | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Shawn Connick, a safety consultant with decades of experience across construction and energy.Shawn reflects on why safety professionals are surrounded by ideas yet often struggle to turn them into practice. Drawing on his own experience, he shares his success operationalizing new workplace safety approaches with (all too familiar) resource constraints.Discover how to effectively implement learning teams, ensuring safety is aligned with production and quality, insights emerge before workers get hurt, and your organization improves in all these areas together.Shawn emphasizes the importance of building ‘safety fluency’, helping leaders understand that organizational change is the key to creating safer workplaces. This episode gives EHS professionals invaluable guidance on making new safety approaches work in practice - and on a limited budget.Find out more about Shawn’s consultancy work: Shawn Connick Construct StrategiesBooks recommended by Shawn:- Sidney Dekker’s: The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error'- Todd Conklin’s: The 5 Principles of Human Performance- Bob Edwards and Andrea Baker’s: Bob's Guide to Operational Learning- Edgar Shein’s: Humble InquiryPodcasts recommended by Shawn:PreAccident Investigation Podcast | Todd ConklinA HOP Podcast (With No Name)Podcasts - FreakonomicsShawn Connick on LinkedIn: Shawn Connick, CSP | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Lori Guasta, a safety leader whose career spans frontline practice, academia and consultancy.Lori reflects on the profession’s obsession with the next shiny object, even though the fundamentals that support safe work have been understood for decades. She explains that chasing the latest silver bullet will actually distract organizations from doing safety well.Leadership development and cultural change are key themes throughout this inspiring conversation; however, Lori’s experience allows her to cover many important areas, including generational change and women’s role in workplace safety.Lori encourages EHS professionals to step back from the noise, reconnect with proven principles and focus on what genuinely supports people to work safely. This episode offers practical guidance to get back to basics and ignore the temptation to search for safety shortcuts.Explore the life’s work of Edgar Schein: Edgar H. Schein: books, biographyLori Guasta on LinkedIn: Lori Guasta, Ph.D. | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

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 FactorsOperationalizing Twenty-First Century SafetyFind out more about Simon’s work: Save Lives Global – Safety ConsultingDr. Simon Goncharenko on LinkedIn: Dr. Simon G. | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

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 UniversityOSHA’s website: Home | Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationASSP website: ASSP - American Society of Safety ProfessionalsLeslie Rex Stockel on LinkedIn: Leslie Rex Stockel, PhD, CSP, SMP, FASSP | LinkedInSafety 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.globalIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global