Illusion of Safety

What's Special About Data Center Safety? with Bryce Griffler

If you're listening to this episode, there's a strong possibility it's housed in a data center and you can thank safety pros like our guest Bryce Griffler for making sure it's up and running without interruption. From the construction phase where there are thousands of people working as fast as they can to the moment it's up and running, safety professionals are creating new best practices to address the needs of this exciting field. Listen in as Bryce tells us about the approaches that "hyper-scalers" are taking with construction, the challenges of new equipment used for AI/ML and even where/what/who The Cloud is and where we might meet her. The ride is as wild as an AI generated video of a cat playing a banjo, so you might want to ask your GPT of choice for a summary.

How Do You Achieve Career Success in Safety?

Obviously we all want to be successful in our work. But determining whether you've "made it" can be tough to define, especially in the safety profession, where there are always new certifications to earn, job titles to aspire to, and money to make. And that's just the main job. There are endless "side quests" you can pursue as a safety professional, from volunteer leadership opportunities to speaking and consulting gigs. It can be exhausting and many professionals find themselves burned out chasing "just one more" all the time. Maybe it's time we take a deep breath and think about what success really means, especially in a job as people-focused and varied as safety.
Feeling overwhelmed by the demands of your safety-related projects? From training to site surveys this episode's sponsor, Vibe Environmental, can help! Check 'em out at www.vibeenvironmental.com!

Can Safety in Entertainment be Entertaining? with Teresa Beardsley

The show must go on...safely! When a film production, awards show, or major sporting event needs help with safety, they call Teresa Beardsley! She's a safety consultant, serves on the board of the Event Safety Alliance, and does her own stunts. But most importantly, she's focused on developing and implementing practices that are tailored to the unique needs of the entertainment industry. From hanging out with rock stars to red carpet awards shows, pyrotechnics to pandemics, Teresa has dealt with them all and knows the ins and outs of safety in these glamorous(?) workplaces!
 
Speaking of glitz and glam, we want to thank the FAAAABULOUS Vibe Environmental for sponsoring this episode! For help with your safety training, safety audits, site inspections, and more, check out Vibe Environmental at www.vibeenvironmental.com!
 
Curious about becoming a safety pro in the entertainment industry? Check out the Event Safety Alliance, a non-profit that provides resources for safety pros looking to get into this exciting field! Visit https://eventsafetyalliance.org/ 

How Does a Research Lab Run Safely? with Ahana Khokhar

Every day, ground-breaking, innovative research is happening at labs around the world. Even though much of the work is unprecedented, there still are foundational principles about worker safety that apply, especially in a laboratory environment where an incident can result in injury along with the loss of years of research. That's where folks like Ahana Khokhar come in who specialize in lab safety. As we'll hear in this episode, the "jobsite" might look different, but there are more similarities to safety in other fields than you would think. For instance, in a lab, you're still dealing with people, so many of the principles related to working with teams still apply. Oh, and we find out what it's really like to have Josh as a coworker.

What's the Current State of Women's PPE? with Amy Roosa

The conversation around women’s PPE has slowly evolved and progress has definitely been made, but as we hear from Amy Roosa of The Safety Rack, there’s still a lot to do when it comes to properly fitting PPE, especially for women. There’s so much more to the conversation now, from research on proper fit to evaluating distribution bottlenecks. Allison, Josh and Gabe learn some encouraging things from Amy about how this conversation continues to evolve and some steps we can take to bring properly fitting PPE to everyone on the job. Just in time for Women In Construction Week, check out this important discussion about the ongoing advocacy and research being done to get properly fitting PPE to every worker...it's not "one-size-fits-all"! Sorry in advance to anyone named Chad.

How Do Safety Pros Make Training Better?

Training is part of the job. Sometimes that training can be interesting, exciting, and engaging while other times it could be a slog. So, what makes a training effective? Whether you're using material you've created yourself or a pre-packaged training, doing it voluntarily or being told to do it, there are ways that safety pros can make training more effective. And no, we don't mean just add a quiz at the end to check understanding.

Why Do We Even Need This Policy?

Policies and procedures. They go together like peanut butter and jelly, and like a PB&J sandwich they can get really messy if you don't handle them properly. In this episode we look at why we need proper documentation and how to make them a little more engaging (spoiler alert: know your audience). Whether it's a multi-step, multi-section, see-paragraph-E-subpart-1-section-J kind of policy or just something as simple as foods that are NOT ok to put in the breakroom microwave, safety pros and others can always learn a thing or two that will make their policies and procedures meaningful and effective.

How do you gamify Safety? with Dr. Jonathan Smith

Worker safety is serious business, but that doesn't mean you can't introduce element some fun into it! In this episode with Dr. Jonathan Smith, the gang explores how gamification can be used in the workplace to positively drive results and even make safety part of the organization's culture. People play games from a very early age as a way to learn concepts and interact with one another, so it makes sense that elements of games can be used to help people embrace safety concepts and help one another to work safely each day. The benefits go far beyond just the pizza party or high fives. Gamification is a great way to make worker safety really stick and help people cooperate to get that win!

Are New Year Resolutions a thing?

New Year, who dis? We're back in action and ready to start 2026 with a bang! There's something special about starting the year with some goals in mind, but what is the best way to approach those goals to see that they're actually accomplished and not just abandoned after a couple months...or days?! Whether your goal is personal (like drinking more water) or professional (like actually making safety part of the work) it seems like there are many ways to accomplish those goals. One thing we do know, though, is that setting goals is a lot easier than doing them, so it might help to have some accountability with others on your journey. Regardless of how you approach those goals, we wish you the best as you get ready to make 2026 YOUR year!
 

Mini-episode: Wait, 2026 is just around the corner? with Allison Short

It's our third mini-episode and we have our very own Allison Short taking a look at how things have changed over the last year, and even over the course of this podcast! As new opportunities and challenges arise, it's important to give yourself some grace and room for error. No one is perfect (gasp!) and we all need to be kind to ourselves, especially when starting something new. 2025 was definitely quite the year and we're looking forward to jumping into 2026 with all of YOU!