Safety Labs by Safety Products Global

Safety Products Global

Safety Labs by Safety Products Global is a podcast where we explore the human side of safety to support safety professionals. We move past regulations and reportables to talk about the core skills of safety leadership: empathy, influence, trust, rapport. In other words, the soft skills that help you do the hard stuff.

  1. 5D AGO

    Redefining Safety Success with Dr. Todd Loushine

    In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Todd Loushine, an Associate Professor, EHS professional, scientist and Data Analytics enthusiast who has extensively researched how we track safety. Todd challenges the profession’s reliance on familiar aspirations and indicators, questioning whether established goals and metrics actually enhance workplace safety. In this stimulating interview, he explores the current balance between compliance and people, and shares his extensive critical analysis of the data we rely on to measure performance. Other big-picture questions, such as safety’s role and alignment within an organization, also come under the spotlight. Todd pushes EHS professionals to raise ambitions for safety. He urges you to think more deeply and critically about metrics, while broadening your perspective beyond hazards to a more empathetic approach. Resources recommended by Todd: Home - Safety On The Edge Conference SafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summaries Dr. Todd Loushine on LinkedIn: Todd William Loushine, PhD, PE, CSP, CIH | 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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    59 min
  2. JAN 26

    The Power of Words in Workplace Safety with Crista Vesel

    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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    1h 2m
  3. JAN 19

    Broadening Your Approach to Workplace Safety with Dr. Simon Goncharenko

    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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    1h 2m
  4. JAN 12

    The Dangers of Safety Incentives with Diane Chadwick-Jones

    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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    53 min
  5. JAN 5

    Making Sense of Evolving Safety Approaches with Leslie Rex Stockel

    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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    1h 1m
  6. 12/29/2025

    How Sociology Can Help Safety with Martijn Flinterman

    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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    1h 11m
  7. 12/22/2025

    Enhancing Safety Through Design Thinking with Ben Goodheart

    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: bgoodheart@safetyforhumans.com 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 safetylabs@safetyproducts.global

    51 min
5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Safety Labs by Safety Products Global is a podcast where we explore the human side of safety to support safety professionals. We move past regulations and reportables to talk about the core skills of safety leadership: empathy, influence, trust, rapport. In other words, the soft skills that help you do the hard stuff.

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