My articles on leaders’ choices and their consequences for safety at work.
Picture a supervisor standing in front of a crew of 20 people, minutes before a critical activity. They all work for the same company, wear the same uniform, know the same procedures and sat through the same toolbox talk, with the same instructions. Even so…
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Few models have influenced occupational safety as much as Heinrich’s famous Pyramid. It has appeared in training programs, procedures, audits, corporate presentations, and performance indicators for nearly a century. Yet there is one question we rarely ask.…
Leadership communication is often full of subtle traps. Among the most dangerous is the paradoxical message, the kind that conveys two conflicting instructions at the same time. In Brazil, we have a perfect colloquial expression to illustrate this phenomenon…
There are leaders who manage the accident after it happens. And there are leaders who manage risks before they find a way to become a tragedy. This may be one of the most important questions for any leader, whether on the frontline or in senior management. Am…
We are beginning April, a month that cannot go unnoticed by those who live safety in a deep and meaningful way. On April 28, the world observes the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, a date that the International Labour Organization (ILO) has…
More metrics, more reports, more tools, more jargon and at the same time, more difficulty in getting the basics done in everyday work. The foundation of the organization the people who operate, execute, and make decisions in the field wants clarity…
This is not just a story about a ship. It is a story about the way the human mind deals with risk and about what happens when perception drifts away from reality. The Titanic’s crew was not incompetent. The officers were experienced, procedures existed, and…
Every organization says it wants to be safe. But few take the time to honestly reflect on what that statement truly demands in daily practice. Between targets, audits, indicators, and recurring incidents, there is a simple yet decisive question that can…
Today I was at Barnes & Noble, one of my favorite bookstores to visit here in the United States. I picked up a magazine and started reading an interview with Warren Buffett. At one point, he said something that stopped me in my tracks: "Someone is sitting in…
Throughout my career, I have observed a recurring pattern: introducing a new tool, proposing a new process, sharing a tested and validated practice, only to watch waves of criticism follow. People pointed out what was "wrong," what "could be better," what "…
Tell us which issue caught your attention and how it appears at work.
