Safety Heroes Podcast With Mousa Yassin

Mousa Yassin

The Health, Safety, and Enviroment space is made of everyday people who are real-life heroes, committed to creating a safe environment and engaging safety culture within their companies. Their priority is to ensure each and everyone of their employees gets to return home after a day’s work unharmed, and that both wellbeing and the planet are a core consideration: they are unsung heroes.In fact, you never hear about them when they do their jobs right!  We want to celebrate these everyday people and inspire others in that space to look at things differently, improve their safety management plans and overall learn as a collective; making “HSE” a cornerstone of every company’s culture.  So let’s celebrate those leaders from the Health, Safety, and Environment space who stand on the frontline and the emotional/human implications of working in the safety space.

  1. Jul 16

    #59 - Angelo Spingardi - Safety Has No Finish Line: 17 Years Running Safety at Saipem

    Angelo Spingardi runs HSEQ — health, safety, environment and quality — across Saipem's 118 operational sites worldwide, from offshore platforms to construction sites across the energy transition. He's been inside the company for 17 years, starting as an environmental engineer before being embedded into Saipem's safety functions. In this episode he shared the personal loss that shaped his career, the leadership question that reframes how you investigate every accident, and the story behind Fail Safe — the film Saipem built to make human performance principles real on the ground. We also get into why vulnerability — not authority — is what actually gets people to admit their mistakes, why "safety is a consequence, not a target," and how Angelo has gone 17 years without ever having to argue for a safety budget. Timestamps 00:00 — Cold open: why empathy is the foundation of safety leadership 01:47 — Trust, empathy, communication: anchoring 17 years in HSEQ 03:09 — From environmental engineer to Group Director HSEQ — the accidental path into safety 04:25 — The personal loss that made safety personal: losing a friend at work 06:25 — Earning trust vs. imposing procedure: how to get a room to actually listen 09:55 — "Safety is a race without a finish line" — his CEO's metaphor 10:29 — Do leaders really see safety as an investment, or still as a cost center? 12:45 — The reframe: safety is a consequence, not a target 14:35 — 17 years, zero arguments about a safety budget 18:15 — The leadership accountability reframe: step back a week, a month, a year 20:39 — Inside "Fail Safe": how Saipem's near-miss reconstruction film was born 22:44 — Benchmarking against civil aviation and air traffic control 24:03 — Why storytelling and film beat slides and procedures 25:53 — What "Fail Safe" really means: humans err, systems must catch it 26:46 — Vulnerability as a leadership skill: "I screwed up" 29:11 — The "macho man" problem in construction, and why psychological safety is hard-won 30:02 — Playing the film for 55 distracted people — and watching the room go silent 31:24 — What makes a human-performance program actually work, beyond the video 34:05 — Staying grounded: how Angelo avoids burnout after 17 years running safety 36:00 — Close Angelo Spingardi is Group Director HSEQ at Saipem, architect of the company's 2024–27 Safety Strategic Plan. In 2024, Saipem's TRIFR came in at 0.34 against a 0.41 target. Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #59 - Angelo Spingardi - Safety Has No Finish Line: 17 Years Running Safety at Saipem
  2. Jun 18

    #58 - Kathy Seabrook - Put Safety on the P&L: How to Sell the Business Case for Safety to the C-Suite

    Kathy Seabrook — Founder & CEO of Global Solutions Inc. and a standards architect on ISO 45001 and ANSI Z10 — joins Mousa to make the case that safety has always been the people side of sustainability. She walks through "impact valuation": putting the value workers create onto the P&L using data finance already understands. It's a conversation about money that keeps coming back to people as a great business decision. In this episode: • Why the harm-reduction argument has run its course  • "Impact valuation" — pricing the value people create, not the cost of harm  • Discretionary energy and the cost of re-hiring: making safety measurable  • Why "what gets measured gets managed" keeps teams stuck  • The one question to ask when you hit the boardroom wall ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Introduction  01:53 Heart, compassion and trust at the core of safety  06:17 The chemistry class that changed her career  09:42 "I just said yes" — ASSP, ISO standards, a career of saying yes  19:48 What impact valuation actually means  24:12 Discretionary energy: the 150% worker efficiency 26:16 Putting retention on the P&L (the $6,000 hire)  29:32 An ergonomics business case a CFO can follow  37:25 Why safety teams stay stuck  42:49 The one question for a stuck safety leader  47:01 Why safety is already inside human-capital metrics 🔗 Connect with Kathy Seabrook on linkedin · Book: Connecting the Dots: Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability (Wiley, 2024) Connect with the Host Mousa Yassin on Linkedin Pixaera: pixaera.com Safety Heroes is the Health, Safety & Environment podcast by Pixaera. New episodes weekly. Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #58 - Kathy Seabrook - Put Safety on the P&L: How to Sell the Business Case for Safety to the C-Suite
  3. May 21

    #57 - Dan Hobbs - AI Vision = Guardian Angel: How Dan Hobbs Is Rewiring Safety with AI Vision

    Dan Hobbs did not set out to build a safety company. He and his co-founder Ciarán O’Mara started with a question: why do so many workplace fatalities get called freak accidents, when the CCTV footage usually shows the same behaviour patterns happening every day on the same site? Four years later, Protex AI plugs into existing CCTV infrastructure at Fortune 500 sites in 36 countries to surface unsafe behaviours before they become incidents. Computer vision. Privacy-preserving. Not a dashboard, a diagnosis. In this conversation, Mousa and Dan go deeper than the product. They work through the three mental shifts that decide whether an AI-in-safety deployment actually changes anything: surveillance to systems, reactive to proactive, and procurement to partnership. Dan tells the story of walking on stage in front of 300 union members expecting resistance — and the single sentence, from a senior union official, that changed the room. He talks candidly about the scar tissue from building an enterprise AI company: 92 flights in a year, legal councils that feel like Star Trek, and the co-founder dynamic that keeps him from flying too close to the sun. For HSE directors, VPs of safety, and operations leaders trying to figure out what to do with AI before their executive team asks them again. CHAPTERS 00:00  Cold open — Guardian Angel, not big brother 00:35  Who Dan is, what Protex AI does, where they operate 03:00  The founding story — the fatality that wasn’t a freak accident 06:00  The privacy reframe — see the forest, not the trees 08:00  The union stage and the Guardian Angel moment 09:45  ICP, deployment model, and what the first 60 days look like 13:00  Kentucky: the first site Dan saw someone nearly die 18:30  Build the plane as you’re flying — enterprise AI adoption 21:30  Protex Intelligence and the shift from dashboards to questions 25:00  Speed of AI versus speed of enterprise 28:30  What it is like scaling into the US as an Irish founder 32:00  How Dan is doing — 92 flights, yin-yang co-founding, and what lonely at the top actually means 34:30  What if everything goes right? Dan Hobbs on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dan-hobbs-258998ab/ His company website: protex.ai Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #57 - Dan Hobbs - AI Vision = Guardian Angel: How Dan Hobbs Is Rewiring Safety with AI Vision
  4. Apr 2

    #56 - Bryce Griffler - The Hidden Cost of Hiding: Authentic Leadership, Imposter Syndrome & Workplace Safety

    What if the shell you've built to protect yourself at work is actually the thing holding you back — and putting others at risk? Bryce Griffler is the co-founder of Safety Is For Everyone and Global Program Manager, Safety & EHS Assurance at Google. His journey spans systems engineering, leading critical national infrastructure manufacturing at BAE Systems through COVID, and building EHS programs at AWS. His conviction: authenticity isn't a soft skill — it's a safety-critical one. The workers most likely to prevent your next incident are often the ones who don't feel safe enough to speak up. And imposter syndrome is quietly draining your highest performers every single day. In this episode, Bryce shares the moment a senior leader challenged him with three words — "Why you, though?" — and how that shaped everything. He breaks down why psychological safety and physical safety are the same conversation, how to get buy-in from resistant supervisors, and tells the remarkable story of a Pride flag at a union plant during COVID that reminded him exactly why he does what he does. Follow or connect with Bryce on LinkedIn | Learn more at safetyisforeveryone.com In This Episode You are not employee number 789054: why who you are is what makes you effectiveThe "Why you?" moment: the challenge that changed Bryce's careerAuthenticity as a safety tool: how being yourself reduces incident riskThe shell we build at work — and why it's exhausting to maintainImposter syndrome vs. self-doubt: knowing the difference mattersWhy imposter syndrome hits hardest on your highest performersGetting resistant managers on board: lead with data, not ideasDiverse tiger teams: why the uncomfortable room produces the best solutionsThe Pride flag story: what true inclusion looks like in a union plant during COVIDChapters (00:00) — Welcome & introducing Bryce(01:27) — Bryce's core philosophy: you hired the whole person(03:52) — How Bryce got into EHS from engineering(05:13) — "Why you?" — the moment that changed everything(08:15) — Authenticity as a daily risk assessment(09:09) — Bryce's career: BAE Systems, AWS, and Google(14:04) — Management systems as a specialty(21:31) — Psychological safety and speaking up(25:45) — Building diverse teams for better safety outcomes(29:18) — How to get line manager buy-in(35:24) — The power of authenticity at work(36:32) — What imposter syndrome really is (and isn't)(38:24) — Telling your team "I have no idea what I'm doing"(43:07) — COVID at a critical national infrastructure plant(45:14) — The Pride flag story(53:48) — Bryce's closing message: get comfortable being uncomfortableSend us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #56 - Bryce Griffler - The Hidden Cost of Hiding: Authentic Leadership, Imposter Syndrome & Workplace Safety
  5. Mar 19

    #55 - Thomas Krause - Decisions That Set the Stage: The Leadership Cultures That Make Incidents Happen

    What if the biggest safety failures in history weren't caused by reckless workers but by leadership decisions made years earlier? Dr. Tom Krause is the Founder of Krause Bell Group and one of the most respected voices in safety leadership. Over his career, he conducted over 2,300 consulting projects across 60 countries, and after the Columbia space shuttle tragedy, his firm was selected to lead NASA's safety culture transformation. He worked personally alongside Paul O'Neill at Alcoa.  His books 7 Insights into Safety Leadership and If Your Culture Could Talk are must-reads for any leader serious about building high-performing organizations. Tom breaks down why blaming employees is the wrong reaction every single time. He shares the story of a plant manager changed forever by a 3 AM phone call — and how that moment turned him into one of the most effective safety leaders Tom had ever encountered. We go deep on the hidden chain of decisions that precede every major incident, why your inner state as a leader ripples across the entire organization, and why most companies are measuring the wrong things. We also get into AI — from cameras in factories to predictive risk modeling — and why Tom believes the question isn't whether AI is good enough, but whether we are. Follow or connect with Tom on LinkedIn | Learn more at krausebellgroup.com In This Episode Nobody should get hurt at work: what real safety leadership looks likeThe 3 AM phone call: the moment that changed a leader foreverWhy blaming employees is always the wrong answerDecision-making over behavior: the chain that leads to every incidentPaul O'Neill's legacy: what made his leadership so rareThe leader's inner state: how your energy shapes your whole organizationAI in safety: the one way to use cameras that will make things worsePredictive risk: using AI to find the combinations of variables that accelerate dangerThe question isn't whether AI is ready — it's whether we areChapters (00:04) — Intro & welcome (01:29) — Why Tom does what he does (03:06) — The fun behind the work: evolution of his career (08:29) — The evolution of safety leadership (09:10) — Paul O'Neill and what made his leadership rare (18:28) — Fundamentals great safety leaders adopt (19:25) — The 3 AM phone call that changed a leader forever (23:06) — Decision-making as the real root cause of every incident (27:24) — How cognitive bias shapes organizational risk (31:58) — Leaders taking responsibility for every outcome (32:32) — AI in safety: the right way and the very wrong way (36:18) — Predictive risk and what AI can actually do well (39:01) — The future of learning, upskilling, and point-of-work AI (41:22) — What's next for Krause Bell Group Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #55 - Thomas Krause - Decisions That Set the Stage: The Leadership Cultures That Make Incidents Happen
  6. Feb 5

    #54 - Ergin Akbaş - How to Set Up Systems for Success: On HSE and Systems that Work for the Frontline

    Today, we're excited to share our latest Safety Heroes episode with Ergin Akbas. With over a decade at AVANGRID managing EHS systems across wind farms, solar projects, and critical infrastructure serving 3 million customers, Ergin has learned one truth: systems only work when they're built WITH the people who use them, not FOR them.  He shares stories about achieving zero findings during ISO audits, why his 6-year-old thinks he "makes sure people don't get zapped," and how Learning Teams are transforming incident investigations from blame to real improvement. If you're trying to build safety systems that frontline teams will actually adopt, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom.  Time Stamp Guide: (02:12) From Bridges to Wind Farms: How civil engineering led Ergin to realize safety is integral to everything (04:34) Dual Risk Landscape: Navigating renewables construction and network operations across 26 states (07:37) Systems 101: Why management systems are a journey, not software—and definitely not magic (13:59) Beyond the Audit: Convincing leadership that real value happens every single day, not just certification time (17:41) The Pencil Analogy: Why frontline workers are the sharp end—and must design systems WITH you (24:03) Proving Effectiveness: Moving from training completion checkboxes to measuring actual competence (26:26) Worker Voice in Action: Monthly Innovation Calls and Skilled Safety Panels that empower the field (29:57) Compliance is the Floor: Breaking through the ceiling with risk-based thinking and proactive tools (33:46) AI That Sticks: How supervisors kept using pilot apps weeks after the study ended (41:46) Managing Change Methodically: Why telling people "what's in it for them" prevents reversion to old ways (44:44) HOP & Learning Teams: Replacing root cause analysis with soak time, multi-stakeholder input, and zero blame (50:29) You Fall to the Level of Your Systems: Building resilient frameworks that outlast any individual leader (52:15) Planting Seeds: What a 6-year-old's "Daddy stops people from getting zapped" teaches us about legacy Follow Ergin on LinkedIn to keep up with his latest insights. Send us a message! Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #54 - Ergin Akbaş - How to Set Up Systems for Success: On HSE and Systems that Work for the Frontline
  7. 12/17/2025

    #53 - Fuzzy Bitar - Putting Safety Back in the Line: On Proportionality, Supervisor Leverage & Point-of-Work AI

    Episode Summary Fuzzy Bitar has led safety and operations at global scale, including serving as bp’s Senior Vice President for HSE & Carbon and chairing the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP). He’s known for a plain-spoken, human-first approach that keeps ownership where it belongs: in the line.  In this conversation, Fuzzy goes beyond slogans. He explains why “good operations is good safety,” how to keep controls proportional to risk, and why supervisors are the highest-leverage node for culture change. We dig into coaching vs. compliance, adoption that lasts beyond pilot buzz, and the practical reality that VR wowed—but mobile worked when you need scale on site. We close with point-of-work AI: 60-second SOP summaries, incident-informed prompts, and micro-learning that shows up exactly when the job needs it. Follow or connect with Fuzzy on LinkedIn In This Episode Line-owned safety: why safety leadership is just leadershipProportionality > paperwork: more signatures ≠ more safetyWhere culture is made: supervisors, wrench time, and coaching loopsDon’t weaponize observations: design for trust and adoptionAdoption > hype: VR wowed; mobile worked in the fieldPoint-of-work AI: summaries, lessons, and prompts in the momentStability over shiny objects: iterate without churning the agendaFinal advice: confident humility + scanning uncertainty hotspotsChapters (01:30) — The moment safety became human(05:03) — Safety leadership is just leadership(06:00) — From “fail-safe” to “fall-safe”(10:50) — Proportionality beats paperwork(13:52) — Where culture is made: the supervisor(18:02) — Don’t weaponize observations(20:30) — VR hype vs reality (VR wowed. Mobile worked.)(21:38) — Simplify at the point of execution (point-of-work AI)Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #53 - Fuzzy Bitar - Putting Safety Back in the Line: On Proportionality, Supervisor Leverage & Point-of-Work AI
  8. 07/23/2025

    #52 - Tim Page-Bottorff - Game On for Safety: How to Drive Engagement for Zero-Harm Culture

    Tim Page‐Bottorff didn’t “choose” safety—he was drawn to it, and has spent his career transforming how organizations think about risk, culture, and technology. In this episode, the ASSP Vice-President of Safety shares the defining moments that shaped his journey from Marine‐trained leader to industry innovator. You’ll hear how he turned PPE drills into gamified challenges, built trust with a simple “REAL” framework, and now leverages AI to spot hidden hazards. Along the way, Tim explains why compliance alone isn’t enough, how to ignite genuine engagement (and cut injuries by up to 71%), and why every safety leader must embrace both data and empathy to make zero harm a reality. Whether you’re at ASSP Safety 2025 in Orlando or leading an HSE team anywhere, this conversation is your playbook for building a safety culture that sticks. (03:37) The Calling to Safety: Why Tim “didn’t hesitate” when the industry chose him (17:49) Beyond Checkboxes: Shifting from compliance to purpose-driven training (14:00) Culture Through Competition: Gamifying PPE drills for “go slow to go fast” results (35:36) The REAL Trust Framework: Respect, Empathy, Accept, Listen (22:14) AI as Partner: From site photos to automated hazard reports (15:32) Engagement Metrics: How driving retention over retraining cuts injuries by 71% (26:41) Global Safety Lens: Navigating varied regional appetites for innovation and spend (30:49) Final Charge: “Take the hill” with clear objectives, collaboration, and relentless discipline Follow Tim on LinkedIn to keep up with his latest insights. Send us a message! If you like this podcast episode, subscribe here and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest from our HSE community and guests. Connect with our CEO and host, Mousa, today to stay updated on Safety Heroes, Pixaera, and more.  Do you want to be a guest on Safety Heroes, or know someone who would be a great fit? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message on LinkedIn or email podcast@pixaera.com.

    #52 - Tim Page-Bottorff - Game On for Safety: How to Drive Engagement for Zero-Harm Culture

About

The Health, Safety, and Enviroment space is made of everyday people who are real-life heroes, committed to creating a safe environment and engaging safety culture within their companies. Their priority is to ensure each and everyone of their employees gets to return home after a day’s work unharmed, and that both wellbeing and the planet are a core consideration: they are unsung heroes.In fact, you never hear about them when they do their jobs right!  We want to celebrate these everyday people and inspire others in that space to look at things differently, improve their safety management plans and overall learn as a collective; making “HSE” a cornerstone of every company’s culture.  So let’s celebrate those leaders from the Health, Safety, and Environment space who stand on the frontline and the emotional/human implications of working in the safety space.