Paul Balmert

Hazard/Risk

The Critics Speak

This month, Paul focuses on the vital topic of hazard recognition, examining why failure to recognize hazards continues to show up in incident and near-miss reports. He underscores the reality that whenever someone is injured, a hazard is always present. Drawing on Dr. Daniel Kahneman’s psychological studies, Paul explores how human cognition impacts the way we perceive hazards. He concludes that leaders play a crucial role in fostering a culture where individuals feel compelled to take action when they detect a hazard or serious concern. The message is clear: if you see something, say something, and do something! This is an important read for any leader… and their followers.

May 30, 2025 No Comments

Safety Meeting Topics

Assuming That Can Never Happen

In last month’s Flash we looked at one Fatal Assumption too commonly made, assuming “That will never happen to me”. This month Paul looks at a second Fatal Assumption, assuming “That will never happen.”

May 15, 2025 No Comments

Execution

About Those Details

This month Paul applies some of the key lessons he and Dr. Pete Robison explored in last month’s Managing Safety Performance News and the accompanying That’s A Darn Good Question podcast to a real case study involving two fatalities. He draws three very important lessons about execution that can make all the difference between going home alive and well at the end of the day… or not.

April 30, 2025 No Comments

Safety Meeting Topics

Fatal Assumption?

In this month’s Flash, Paul looks into a tragic and fatal event for which two known facts and one likely assumption serve as important lessons in sending folks home alive and well.

April 15, 2025 No Comments

Hazard/Risk

What Was He Thinking?

This month Paul examines an off-the-job injury to the number one rated professional golfer, Scottie Scheffler who was seriously injured when he used an improvised tool to make dinner. Paul and colleague Dr. Pete Robison examine “What was he thinking?” framing the conversation around Thinking Fast.. And Slow teachings of Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman.

March 31, 2025 No Comments

Safety Meeting Topics

Ladder Safety Month

In this month’s Flash we continue the campaign to help you improve your safety tool box meetings with an example on ladder safety.

March 14, 2025 No Comments

Execution

Execution and Leadership

This month Paul examines execution in business and as it relates to sending people home alive and well at the end of the day. He shares the story of one of his former bosses who thought like McKay. Paul explains plans are important, but execution is what is done, and how well things are done. He says, “Yes, there can be cases where failure was a function of a terrible plan fabulously executed, but they’re pretty rare.” He discusses the problems with execution and leaves us with some valuable lessons that can make a difference ensuring everyone goes home safe every day.

February 27, 2025 No Comments

Safety Meeting Topics

An Ask – Don’t Tell Safety Meeting

In this month’s Flash we provide another example for an Ask, Don’t Tell Safety Meeting. The example serves as a reminder on the use of the tool, and provides an important lesson to be learned about accidents.

February 18, 2025 No Comments

Safety Meeting Topics

Ask – Don’t Tell Safety Meetings

In this month’s Flash, we take a moment to revisit the Ask – Don’t Tell safety meeting format, and provide an example for the application of the method.

January 15, 2025 No Comments

Execution

Leading – And Managing Safety

This month Paul hails Ceasar’s selection of New Year’s Day as the beginning of the next trip around the sun, as well as the perfect moment for every manager and supervisor to plan and evaluate. He points out there is nothing more important than planning for actually making things safer for those who do the work of the business. In the process he takes on “the next big thing” and “conventional wisdom” that frequently appear during the planning process. He leaves us with thoughts on the critical importance of leadership and execution if the goal is to see that everyone goes home alive and well the end of the day.

January 7, 2025 No Comments

Popular Articles

Situational Awareness

In this month’s Flash we look at static hazard recognition. Knowing and understanding where stored energy exists, which might not always be obvious, helps us ensure everyone goes home alive and well.

Looking In The Mirror

In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News, guest contributor and Balmert Consulting senior teacher Van Long reflects on a simple but powerful idea: the most effective safety leadership begins with self-reflection.

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.

Paul Balmert

Popular Topics

Popular Articles