Illusion of Safety

Do You Even Safety Conference, Bro?

We are deep into safety conference season but it isn't too late to figure out how to best prepare for these big events! Whether you're a seasoned conference attendee or it's your first time attending, there are some great ways to make the most of these events. Everyone has their own way of preparing but Allison and Gabe share some of their favorite conference hacks to help you prepare for, attend, and decompress from your safety conference of choice. Find the right pair of shoes, get ready to learn, and brace yourself for some of the best networking opportunities in the safety industry!

How Does Safety Leadership Work in Mining? With Monique Parker

Confined spaces, heavy equipment, explosions…even to the layperson, it’s fairly obvious there are multiple hazards in the mining industry. Turns out there are other hazards that are more nuanced and possibly areas for growth in the mining profession…most of them involving people. It’s the connection with people that Monique Parker has found to be so fascinating in the mining profession, especially when the environment and the people you’re working with are changing all the time. Even more fascinating is how the lessons learned in mining has helped Monique in her involvement with the American Society of Safety Professionals, especially now as she moves into her new role as President of ASSP. From community involvement to career advancement, there’s a lot to uncover (unearth?) in this episode!

What’s work REALLY like for a new Safety Pro? With Olivia Rozenberg

For some of us who have been in the safety profession for a while, it’s easy to forget what it was like to be new to the job. That’s why it’s great to hear from new safety pros like Olivia Rozenberg, who just started as a safety professional in the construction industry straight out of school! Her perspectives on what makes the safety profession both challenging and exciting are refreshing to hear and serve as a reminder that school does a great job preparing safety pros for a lot of things, but some aspects can only be learned on the job. Olivia shares some tips and tricks that will help any safety pro getting ready to jump into this amazing field, like connecting with seasoned professionals at your job and having a mentor, especially after graduation. We look forward to how Olivia will continue to bring her energy and passion to the safety field as she grows in her career!

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.