More than a decade ago, Chesley Sullenberger faced a problem. He had less than two minutes to come up with a solution, and finding an airport was not an option. His decisions provide an important insight when it comes to troubleshooting a problem.
In this edition Paul shares a few thoughts about experience, wisdom, and a Wyoming State Trooper’s advice on avoiding tragedy.
In this edition Paul discusses two important places to look for hazards, as well as an incident to illustrate the point. You might be surprised by the connection.
When it comes to enforcing the rules, most leaders don’t enjoy making people follow the rules.
So, what if we just hit the easy button, making following the safety rules an option instead of a requirement?
This month Paul looks at how we perceive the relative risk of hazards, as well as the process we use to determine which ones require the most attention.
It’s a rule anyone who’s ever learned to change a tire knows well: before jacking up a vehicle, put it in park and set the parking brake. For good measure, chock the wheels…
A few weeks ago a residential condo collapsed, catastrophically and tragically – but absolutely not unexpectedly. If you have followed the story, you know there were plenty of warnings…
In this edition Paul offers some insight into PPE, its role in protecting you, and how it does so.
You’re in a rush. There’s a delivery about to show up and your crew has equipment to be repositioned to prepare for the arrival.
In the middle of all of that, you have a safety concern…
This month’s edition comes in the form of an opinion poll question: When recognizing things that can hurt you, what matters more: knowledge or fear?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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