Bill Wilson, Author at Balmert Consulting

Execution

Safety & Process Improvement: Synergy In Motion

In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News you’re in for a treat: one of our teachers and consultants is writing about something else he knows very well: what’s known in the business as “Lean Six Sigma.” In addition to teaching about managing safety performance, our Bill Wilson has been teaching about business process improvement for years. Despite the appearances, it turns out both subjects have a lot in common.

June 30, 2017 No Comments

Hazard/Risk

Safety On – And Off – The Job

Statistics suggest that people can – and do – turn safety on when they show up for work, and turn it off when they head home.

June 15, 2017 No Comments

Leadership

Anecdotes

In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News Paul reflects on some of the great leaders he has met during his working career and his time teaching leaders like you. He shares some of the stories he heard or was a part of when they occurred. Paul’s cleverness was not only being a great observer but also having a great memory for details and being good at analyzing them for what he can learn.

May 31, 2017 No Comments

Hazard/Risk

How Big a Problem Is Complacency?

At the organizational level, there are plenty of examples that suggest it’s a big problem. NASA’s Challenger and Columbia disasters and industrial accidents like …

May 15, 2017 No Comments

Leadership

Invisible Work

In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News Paul explores different ways to think about leadership when it comes to safety. He reflects on thinking from some of the best books on management and leadership and finishes with a most interesting view of leadership when it comes to sending people home alive and well at the end of the day.

February 28, 2017 No Comments

Execution

Undercover Boss

This month Paul’s journey into The Name of the Game Is Execution takes a new twist. With this edition, the focus is now turning to answering the question, “OK Paul, I got your point that execution is important. I get that. So, what do I do to change things? Answer me that!” Well, read this month’s Managing Safety Performance News and you’ll get the first idea.

May 31, 2016 No Comments

Leadership

Credibility Lost

This month Paul examines the credibility of leaders. How precious and useful it is, especially when it comes to sending people home safe at the end of the day. Wish I had his thoughts and advice back when I was trying to free that snake.

March 31, 2015 No Comments

Execution

Organization Power

In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News™, Paul examines Organization Power. He looks at who has the power to make a difference sending people home alive and well at the end of the day. And why power in organizations is so commonly misunderstood. I think you’ll find the lessons he draws from all of this very interesting.

June 30, 2010 No Comments

Top 10 Mistakes

Biggest Mistake Number 1

Managing safety performance– sending everyone home safe at the end of the day – is fundamentally a game of execution. No matter how good the game plan – policies, procedures and programs – when it comes to bottom line safety performance, the game is won or lost on the field.

January 14, 2005 No Comments

Top 10 Mistakes

Biggest Mistake Number 2

Read the mission, vision and values statement of just about any industrial company these days, and you’re bound to find safety prominently mentioned. Words to the effect that “The safety of our stakeholders is of critical importance to the success of our business” can be found right next to the other goals and values so important

January 13, 2005 No Comments

Popular Articles

Expectations and Assumptions

In this month’s Flash we look at the difference between an expectation and an assumption. That distinction might seem subtle at first glance, however the difference found in the definitions proves a very critical point for anyone who leads and manages safety.

Environment And Safety

In this issue of Managing Safety Performance News, Paul looks at why separating “environment” from “safety” misses the point. Using real work examples—from hauling tools over a snowbank to executive debates about compliance—he makes the case that many hazards don’t come from the job itself, but from the conditions in which the work is done. By stripping injuries down to simple “headlines” and sorting them by the source of the hazard, patterns start to emerge that are easy to miss in root cause analysis reports. The takeaway is straightforward: environment and safety are inseparable, and leaders who want better safety performance need to see the work—and its hazards—clearly, from the moment it begins.

Finding “The Source”

In this month’s Flash, we explore where hazards come from—and why that matters. Understanding their sources is a critical step in identifying what could cause harm.

It’s Just Common Sense

This month Paul examines how leaders often misuse the phrase “it’s just common sense”—either to dismiss learning or to assume shared understanding without definition. He argues that many leadership statements presented as fact are really opinions, and that poor communication stems from assuming others interpret words, experience, and expectations the same way.

Resetting PPE Habits

In this months Flash we are re-visiting the fundamental concept of getting folks to follow all of the rules, all of the time. As to how you might move the needle a great place to start is with PPE.

The Holiday Season

This month Paul shares that for twenty-five years, our work has been grounded in disciplined observation, analysis, and testing. That process has shaped how we identify the leadership practices that most directly influence safety performance—the same ideas we teach.

Accountability

This month, we are pleased to feature an article by Newton Scavone, one of our most experienced members of the Balmert teaching team, based in São Paulo. Newton started as a client learning and using the MSP tools, then became one of the leaders developed to teach the course inside his company. For the last six years, many of you have known him as a Balmert Consulting teacher. He brings deep operational credibility and a clear understanding of what it takes to make these tools work in the real world.

Enough Said?

In this month’s Flash, we take a look at a very important first step to ensure conversations go as well as they ought to when expectations around safety haven’t been met.

Managing Hazards

This month, Paul takes on one of the toughest challenges every leader faces — managing hazards. Not just the big, obvious ones that make the “A List,” but the ordinary, everyday things that cause most of the injuries. He reminds us that managing hazards isn’t about eliminating every risk; it’s about handling them — and the people around them — “with a degree of skill and care.”

Beyond the Rules

In this months Flash we look at the importance of Safety Rules, and a very critical concept about the rules that ensures they help keep us safe.

Bill Wilson

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