Safety Meeting Topics
Procedures
In this month’s edition Paul discusses procedures and offers a simple lesson along with a tragic example of what can happen when they are not known or understood.
May 16, 2022
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Compliance
Applying Root Cause Failure Analysis to Safety
In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News Bill is back to dive deeper into improving safety performance this time through the lens of Root Cause Failure Analysis. In this new article, he focuses on applying the tools and concepts of RCFA on the challenge of rule compliance, or if you prefer, the challenge of rule non-compliance. Bill admits it took him a long time to learn some important lessons. He shares them with you here, so you don’t have to learn the hard way.
April 29, 2022
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Safety Meeting Topics
Correcting Problems
Everyone knows the point of troubleshooting is to fix a problem. But there’s a world of difference between trying to fix a problem and successfully correcting the problem.
April 19, 2022
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Safety Meeting Topics
Do Not Assume
It’s easy to be lulled into making assumptions. People make them all the time. This month Paul discusses assumptions as they relate to safety and provides a tragic example of how they can prove fatal.
March 15, 2022
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Troubleshooting
Eye On The Prize
Imagine situations where the clock is ticking, fast, and lives hang in the balance. This month Paul examines cases where getting it right matters and identifies some key lessons that can make a huge difference in sending people in your organization home alive and well at the end of the day.
February 28, 2022
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Safety Meeting Topics
Always The First Priority
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.
February 15, 2022
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Execution
A Resolution – or a Commitment?
It is hard to believe tomorrow is February and this month Paul is talking about resolutions and commitments. Fortunately, he is not examining mine, but rather is talking about a commitment he has made, and he is going to ask your help for him to… well, I am not going to steal his thunder as I think this news, and it is big, should come from him along with his request for your help. Help Paul, help you and your leaders make a difference.
January 31, 2022
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Leadership
Sage Advice
In this edition Paul shares a few thoughts about experience, wisdom, and a Wyoming State Trooper’s advice on avoiding tragedy.
January 18, 2022
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Hazard/Risk
Working For A Living
This month Paul examines what happens when the right things aren’t done to make sure the hazards do no harm. He examines the case of Jacob Dean and how the decisions, not just of Jacob, led to a tragedy. There are many lessons to be learned from this case regardless of where you work or what you do that can make the difference between going home alive and well at the end of the day or not going home at all. The Case for Safety depends on doing the right thing.
December 16, 2021
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Execution
Things Went Awry
This month Paul examines what happened on the set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He finds several very important lessons for us to apply where we work when things go differently than the planned or expected course.
November 30, 2021
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Popular Topics
Popular Articles
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.
My Supervisor
In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News Paul takes on the challenge of trust and credibility in leadership—he discusses why they’re eroding at the top, why supervisors hold the real advantage, and what that means for influencing followers to work safe. He makes the case that trust is not a given but a hard-earned reward—and the most powerful tool any leader has for sending everyone home safe, every day.
Setbacks
In this month’s Flash we take a look at setbacks, and the unique opportunity they provide to a leader in ensuring followers know and understand what is most important.
Blowing The Whistle
In this month’s Managing Safety Performance News Paul reflects on the investigations into Challenger and the Titan submersible. From Richard Feynman’s ice-water demonstration to the Coast Guard’s scathing report, Paul points out that history shows how truth can be buried, warnings ignored, and lives lost.
Leading With Questions
In this month’s Flash, we look at the important role questions have in ensuring Followers understand hazards and safe work practices.
Managing Success
In this month’s Managing Safety Performance, Bill Wilson explores the importance of analyzing and understanding success with the same diligence that organizations typically reserve for failures. He argues that leaders often overlook everyday successes, missing the opportunity to identify and replicate what works. He makes the case that by focusing on success organizations can focus resources on impactful initiatives, reduce waste, and improve long-term performance—ultimately making sustained improvement a strategic priority rather than a lucky outcome.
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