Safety On The EDGE TALKS

Corrie Pitzer & Malcolm Staves
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Safety on the EDGE TALKS is where safety leaders, practitioners, and innovators come to challenge the status quo and spark new thinking. Hosted by Corrie Pitzer, each conversation cuts through the noise to explore what’s truly working in safety — and what needs to change. From best-in-class practices and pioneering ideas to the evolving role of safety professionals, this series dives into the issues that matter most: protecting life, strengthening business integrity, and shaping the future of work. No self-promotion. No empty buzzwords. Just bold, honest, and thought-provoking discussions with the people driving real change.

  1. Myth-Busting AI: Governance, Risk, and the Future of Safety

    APR 11

    Myth-Busting AI: Governance, Risk, and the Future of Safety

    In this episode of the Safety on the Edge podcast, we sit down with Anthony Aarons, an expert whose career journey has transitioned from high-risk environments like mining, oil, and gas directly into the world of artificial intelligence. With the rapid and sometimes terrifying pace of AI development, this conversation dives into the realities, emerging risks, and undeniable opportunities of integrating AI into safety management. Anthony introduces the critical concept of "cognitive offloading," exploring what happens to our visceral safety instincts and critical thinking when we hand our processes and decision-making over to machines. Through powerful analogies and real-world stories from the deep mines of South Africa to modern hospital wards, we discuss why human intuition and physical presence are irreplaceable assets in high-risk environments. In this episode, we cover: The hazard of cognitive offloading and how offloading our thinking to AI may diminish our visceral sense of behavioral risk. Why artificial intelligence should be treated as a copilot rather than the pilot when it comes to organizational decision-making. The built-in sycophancy of Large Language Models and how their design to be pleasing prevents them from properly challenging our assumptions. The fundamental governance steps and building blocks organizations must have in place to deploy AI safely and effectively. The enduring necessity of human judgment and why the ultimate legal and moral liability for decisions will always rest with people. Join us as we explore what we don't know about AI and discuss how to preserve what makes us uniquely human in an automated world. Catch Anthony live at the Safety on the Edge Conference in Baltimore! He will be delivering a 45-minute presentation and leading a deep-dive 2-hour workshop on March 7th. Secure your spot today at https://safetyontheedge.com

    41 min
  2. The Metrics Mirage: How Metrics Shape Behaviour

    APR 10

    The Metrics Mirage: How Metrics Shape Behaviour

    There is much within safety discussion on the limitations of lagging metrics and the need to establish better ways of measuring safety. But what if the issue was not the type of metric, but measurement and the behavioural consequences of measurement? And what if performance indicators that we use to measure safety meant different things to people? The presentation will explore the behavioural effect of performance metrics. Based on empirical research with 20 safety leaders overseeing large and global organisations, the discussion will consider how the interpretation of performance metrics is fundamental in shaping how individuals respond to metrics. Using TRIFR as an example, the presentation will challenge the focus on finding the perfect indicator to measure safety and encourage attendees to consider the context and consequences of measurement. Drawing from his research, James will demonstrate how a safety metric can be interpreted in many different ways simultaneously. Whilst TRIFR can be interpreted as a measure of the safety within an organisation, it can also be interpreted as a sign of management control, a means of motivation, a sign of self-promotion, a measure of risk and an indicator of trust in leadership. In our pursuit of the perfect metric for safety, we are overlooking meaning and human behaviour. Key Take-outs: 🔹 Safety metrics should be viewed not as scientific instruments but behavioural triggers. 🔹 The meaning and use of safety metrics is not singular but multiple and therefore contestable and conflictual. 🔹 An individual's response to safety metrics is shaped by the context of use and consequences for them. 🔹 In our pursuit of the perfect tool, we need to consider how it is used and the consequences of measurement on individuals. 🔹 We also need to consider the ethics of safety metrics.

    1h 2m
  3. Bridging Safety Science & Injury Prevention: Systems Thinking and Real-World Application

    APR 8

    Bridging Safety Science & Injury Prevention: Systems Thinking and Real-World Application

    In this episode of Safety On The Edge Talks, host Corrie Pitzer, CEO of SafeMap and co-founder of Safety on the EDGE, sits down with Shannon Frattaroli. Shannon is a Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and leads the Center for Injury Research and Policy. Together, they dive into the critical intersection of academic research and practical industry application. Shannon shares her expertise on taking a public health approach to injury prevention, aiming to systematically reduce the burden of injuries across populations. The conversation challenges traditional compliance-based industry metrics, exploring how organizations can move beyond lagging indicators to embrace prospective risk analysis and stop injuries before they happen. Key Topics Discussed: The Public Health Lens: How viewing workplace safety through a broader public health perspective offers new frameworks, data sources, and approaches to problem-solving.Bridging the Gap: The powerful potential of partnering academia with industry to continuously evolve safety models and adapt to new workplace threats.Frontline Engagement: Why successful safety protocols must involve and explain changes to the frontline workers who are arguably the most invested in safety.Prospective Risk Measurement: Shifting the ultimate metric of success from simply counting injured workers to proactively identifying and mitigating high-risk situations.The Power of Champions: The crucial role that individual leaders and internal spokespersons play in advocating for risk attention and driving cultural change.The Future of Safety: How emerging tools like Artificial Intelligence will create tremendous efficiencies in cleaning and analyzing data to speed up safety research and interventions. Join Us Live: Hear more from Shannon Frattaroli and other industry pioneers at the upcoming Safety on the Edge conference in Baltimore, May 4 to 7. Shannon will be a keynote speaker on Day 1, which will also be broadcast virtually to audiences across Latin America.

    37 min
  4. The Worker Is Not the Problem. They’re the Solution.

    MAR 27

    The Worker Is Not the Problem. They’re the Solution.

    In this episode of Safety on the EDGE, EDGETalks, Corrie Pitzer sits down with Todd Conklin for a candid conversation about how safety thinking is evolving and where it still falls short. They dig into a shift that sounds simple but changes everything: the worker is not the problem. The worker is the solution. From there, the discussion goes deeper. Why do organizations still default to controlling people instead of learning from them? Why does safety continue to focus on eliminating risk when risk can’t actually be removed? And what happens when leaders realize the problem sits closer to their desk than the front line? They also take on some of the friction in the industry today, including the tension between engineering-driven risk control and human performance thinking, the debate around whether HOP “reduces injuries,” and whether injury rates are even the right way to measure safety performance. 🔹 Why asking workers what they need is more effective than telling them to be safe 🔹 The difference between preventing failure and building capacity to handle it 🔹 How systems degrade long before something goes wrong 🔹 Why some regions are leapfrogging straight into newer safety thinking 🔹 What the “next thing” in safety might look like This is not a conversation about compliance or programs. It’s about how work actually gets done and what it takes to make it more reliable in a world where risk is always present. If you’ve ever questioned whether traditional safety approaches are solving the right problem, this one will land.

    42 min
  5. Speaking Truth at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Columbia Disaster

    JAN 31

    Speaking Truth at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Columbia Disaster

    What really causes catastrophic failure? It’s rarely a lack of intelligence, data, or expertise. More often, it’s silence, filtered truths, and decisions made at the edge of uncertainty. In this episode of EDGE Talks, we speak with Rodney Rocha, former Chief Engineer at NASA and a central voice in uncovering the systemic failures behind the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. This is not a retrospective. It’s a conversation about leadership under pressure, risk at the edge, and why organizations repeatedly fail to hear what they most need to know. If you work in complex, high-risk systems—mining, energy, healthcare, aviation, infrastructure—this conversation is for you.

    1h 5m
  6. Leading with Purpose and Influence - Driving Safety Culture through Courageous Leadership

    JAN 27

    Leading with Purpose and Influence - Driving Safety Culture through Courageous Leadership

    In this episode of SOTE Edge Talks, Malcolm Staves (Global VP of Health and Safety at L’Oreal and co-founder of SOTE) sits down with Jennifer McNelly, CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), for a deep dive into the evolution of safety leadership. Jennifer shares her unique journey—from growing up in a political family in Alaska to leading one of the world's most influential safety organizations. The conversation explores how safety professionals can transition from technical experts to influential leaders by leveraging personal strengths and focusing on organizational culture. Jennifer breaks down the Workplace EHS Coalition’s core principles, the critical role of leading indicators, and why mental health has moved from the "backburner" to front and center in the modern workplace. Whether you are a seasoned executive or an early-career professional, this episode offers a masterclass in courageous leadership and the power of community in saving lives. Key Topics Covered: The "Unicorn" Career: How a background in national politics and the U.S. Department of Labor shaped Jennifer’s mission-driven leadership style.Beyond Compliance: Why culture "eats strategy for lunch" and the importance of psychological safety.Strengths-Based Leadership: Using Gallup CliftonStrengths—like "Woo" (Winning Others Over) and "Strategic"—to build trust and hope within an organization.Leading Indicators: Shifting the focus from the "rearview mirror" of lagging statistics to proactive, business-driven safety practices.The Power of Community: How the ASSP’s 36,000 members collaborate to ensure safety is an inherent right for every worker.SOTE 2026: A look ahead to the upcoming Safety on the Edge forum in Baltimore. About Jennifer McNelly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcnelly/ Jennifer McNelly is the CEO of ASSP and a certified Gallup CliftonStrengths coach. With a career spanning the public and private sectors, she is a leading advocate for workforce development and global safety standards. Outside the office, she is a WSET Level 2 wine enthusiast and an avid pickleball player. 00:00 – Welcome to SOTE Edge Talks 00:47 – Meet Jennifer McNelly: From Alaska to the CEO of ASSP 01:46 – Wine Certification and Life Outside the Office 04:28 – Reflections on SOTE 2025 and Industrial Visits 06:12 – A "Unicorn" Career: Politics, Public Service, and Manufacturing 08:50 – How Safety Found Me: Joining ASSP as CEO 11:48 – The Passion of the Safety Professional 12:27 – The Power of Community: ASSP's Global Chapter Structure 14:34 – CliftonStrengths: Building Influential Leaders 18:01 – Why Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch 20:38 – What is "Woo"? Demystifying the Top 5 Strengths 24:18 – Memories from SOTE: Living on the Edge 28:03 – Normalizing the Mental Health Conversation 33:44 – The Workplace EHS Coalition and Core Principles 38:51 – Leading vs. Lagging Indicators in Safety 44:07 – The Future of ASSP: Digital Transformation and Career Coaching 54:19 – Why ASSP Partners with SOTE 58:55 – Turning Back Time: Courage and Stewardship 1:02:29 – Closing Remarks

    1h 4m
  7. Building the Business Case: Integrating Safety, Sustainability, and Value Creation

    JAN 16

    Building the Business Case: Integrating Safety, Sustainability, and Value Creation

    In this episode, Kathy Seabrook shares a global perspective on how safety, sustainability, and business performance intersect. She explains why safety cannot sit on the sidelines of strategy and why leaders need to understand risk in the same way the rest of the business does. Kathy discusses the evolution of people sustainability, the economic forces reshaping the safety profession, and the importance of connecting culture, governance, and human performance to long term value creation. Her insights come from decades of experience across industries, continents, and boardrooms. If you want a fresh and strategic look at where safety is headed and how it can drive real business value, this conversation will challenge your thinking and expand your perspective.

    55 min
  8. Be the One: Transforming Safety Through Listening and Leadership

    JAN 2

    Be the One: Transforming Safety Through Listening and Leadership

    In this episode, Carole Smets shares a candid look at what it takes to transform safety inside a global organization. Drawing on her experience at Pernod Ricard, Carole explains why real safety performance begins with culture, not compliance, and why leaders must learn to listen, focus on risk, and create a space where people feel safe to speak up. Carole also highlights the importance of diversity in decision making, the role of authenticity in leadership, and why every improvement starts with someone who is willing to “be the one” who drives change. She reflects on learning from failure, building momentum across teams, and creating a culture where safety is felt, not forced. If you are interested in human performance, psychological safety, cultural transformation, or modern safety leadership, this episode offers practical wisdom and powerful perspective.

    56 min
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About

Safety on the EDGE TALKS is where safety leaders, practitioners, and innovators come to challenge the status quo and spark new thinking. Hosted by Corrie Pitzer, each conversation cuts through the noise to explore what’s truly working in safety — and what needs to change. From best-in-class practices and pioneering ideas to the evolving role of safety professionals, this series dives into the issues that matter most: protecting life, strengthening business integrity, and shaping the future of work. No self-promotion. No empty buzzwords. Just bold, honest, and thought-provoking discussions with the people driving real change.

Information

  • Creator
    Corrie Pitzer & Malcolm Staves
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Corrie Pitzer & Malcolm Staves
  • Show Website
    Safety On The EDGE TALKS