The Occupational Safety Leadership Podcast

Episode 269 - Hearing and Listening to Employees about Hazards

Episode 269 is a short but powerful reminder from Dr. Ayers about the difference between hearing employees and truly listening to them when they bring up hazards. The distinction matters because safety leaders often think they’re gathering input, but workers can tell when the engagement is passive rather than active.

 

🔍 Key Themes

1. Hearing vs. Listening

• Hearing is passive — you receive sound.

• Listening is active — you engage, ask questions, and seek clarity. Dr. Ayers emphasizes that safety professionals must operate in the listening mode if they want accurate hazard information and trust.

2. Employees Often Have the Best Solutions

Workers usually know the hazard, the root cause, and the most practical fix. Active listening helps uncover these insights instead of defaulting to assumptions.

3. Clarifying Questions Are Essential

Dr. Ayers encourages safety leaders to:

• Ask follow‑up questions

• Confirm understanding

• Repeat back what they heard This ensures the hazard and the proposed correction are fully understood before action is taken.

4. Listening Builds Safety Culture

When employees feel heard, they report more hazards, offer better solutions, and engage more deeply in safety efforts. When they feel ignored, reporting drops — and risks rise.

 

⭐ Takeaways for Safety Leaders

• Don’t just hear hazard reports — listen to them.

• Treat employees as partners in hazard identification.

• Use clarifying questions to ensure you understand the issue and the fix.

• Active listening strengthens trust and improves safety outcomes.

Episode 268 - Rod Courtney - 8 Habits of a Highly Effective Safety Culture

In today's episode, Dr. Ayers talks to Rod Courtney about his book "8 Habits of a Highly Effective Safety Culture".  I really enjoyed the book and Rod's real world practical knowledge for safety professionals to work with operations.  

Episode 267 - Matt Herron of the Southwest Research Institute

Episode 267 features Dr. Ayers in conversation with Matt Herron of the Southwest Research Institute, a respected ergonomics expert and long‑time contributor to the field. The episode focuses on ergonomics, awkward postures, and how to gain management support for correcting hazards.

 

🔍 Key Themes

1. Ergonomics and Awkward Postures

Herron explains how awkward postures—bending, twisting, reaching, overextension—create cumulative strain that leads to musculoskeletal injuries. He emphasizes:

• Identifying high‑risk tasks early

• Using simple observation tools

• Teaching supervisors what “awkward posture” actually looks like

• Designing work to fit the worker, not the other way around

 

2. Making the Business Case for Ergonomic Improvements

A major part of the discussion centers on how to get management support. Herron highlights strategies such as:

• Connecting ergonomic issues to productivity losses

• Showing how small adjustments reduce injury rates and downtime

• Using data and photos to make hazards visible

• Framing ergonomic fixes as cost‑avoidance, not expenses

 

3. Practical Approaches to Hazard Correction

Herron shares real‑world examples of:

• Low‑cost ergonomic improvements

• Adjusting workstation height

• Reducing reach distances

• Using mechanical aids

• Coaching employees on neutral posture

He reinforces that ergonomic improvements don’t need to be expensive to be effective.

 

4. Herron’s Legacy and Expertise

The episode notes that Herron previously appeared in Episode 91, where he discussed the basics of ergonomics and cabinet lasers. Dr. Ayers describes him as a legend in the occupational safety field, known for his practical, worker‑centered approach.

 

⭐ Takeaways for Safety Leaders

• Ergonomics is one of the most cost‑effective ways to reduce injuries.

• Awkward postures are often easy to spot—and easy to fix—when leaders know what to look for.

• Management support grows when safety pros speak in terms of productivity, cost savings, and risk reduction.

• Small ergonomic improvements can have a big impact on injury prevention and morale.

Matt was also featured on Episode 91 where we discussed the basics of ergonomics and cabinet lasers.  Matt is a wealth of knowledge and a legend in the Occupational Safety field.

Episode 266 - Patience in Occupational Safety

In this short but pointed episode, Dr. Ayers emphasizes that patience is a core leadership skill in occupational safety. He explains that safety programs, cultural shifts, new policies, and performance metrics take time to mature, and leaders often sabotage progress by expecting instant results.

🔑 Key Themes

• Safety change is slow by nature. Improvements in behavior, culture, and systems don’t happen overnight.

• Leaders must resist the urge to rush. Impatience leads to frustration, inconsistent messaging, and abandoning good initiatives too early.

• Consistency beats intensity. Small, steady actions—coaching, reinforcing expectations, reviewing metrics—compound over time.

• Trust the process. If the program is sound and leadership is steady, results will follow.

🎙️ Core Message

Patience isn’t passive—it’s a strategic leadership behavior. Safety leaders who stay calm, consistent, and committed create the conditions for long‑term injury reduction and cultural improvement.

Episode 265 - Be the Safety Leader that you want to follow

Episode 265 focuses on a simple but powerful leadership challenge: Are you the kind of safety leader you would personally want to follow? Dr. Ayers reflects on life lessons learned from former bosses and uses those experiences to highlight the behaviors that shape effective, respected safety leadership.

🔑 Core Themes

• Model the behavior you expect. Leaders set the tone—employees mirror what they see.

• Learn from the good and the bad. Past bosses teach us what to emulate and what to avoid.

• Credibility is earned daily. Consistency, fairness, and humility build trust.

• Leadership is personal. Your character—not your title—determines whether people choose to follow you.

🧭 Central Message

Safety leadership isn’t about authority; it’s about being the example. If you wouldn’t follow your own leadership style, something needs to change.

Episode 264 - Listen more than you speak

In this short, practical episode, Dr. Ayers explains a simple leadership strategy that dramatically improves hazard identification: talk less and listen more. When leaders create space for employees to speak freely, they uncover better information, stronger insights, and more effective solutions.

🔑 Key Points

• Employees know the hazards best. They see the work up close and understand the real risks and practical fixes.

• Leaders often talk too much. Over‑explaining, lecturing, or dominating the conversation shuts down valuable input.

• Listening builds trust. When employees feel heard, they’re more willing to share concerns and participate in safety improvements.

• The leader’s role is to ask, not tell. Good questions + quiet leadership = better hazard identification and stronger safety culture.

🧭 Central Message

If you want employees to speak up about hazards, give them the floor. Listening is one of the most powerful tools a safety leader has.

Episode 263 - Task Competency and Occupational Safety

In this episode, Dr. Ayers tackles a fundamental question every safety leader faces: When is a new hire truly competent to work on their own? He explains that competency is more than passing a written test—it requires demonstrated, hands‑on ability.

🔑 Key Points

• Competency is not just knowledge. A written or online test only shows someone understands the concepts, not that they can perform the task safely in real conditions.

• Hands‑on demonstration is essential. Leaders must verify that employees can actually execute the task correctly before allowing independent work.

• Rushing the process creates risk. Allowing a new hire to operate alone too soon increases the likelihood of errors and injuries.

• Competency is task‑specific. Being skilled in one area doesn’t automatically translate to another—each task requires its own validation.

🧭 Central Message

A safety leader’s responsibility is to ensure capability, not assume it. Competency must be proven, not presumed.

Episode 262 - Ken Reed - Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Episode 262 features a conversation between Dr. Ayers and Ken Reed, Vice President at TapRooT, focusing on the real purpose and power of Root Cause Analysis (RCA). The discussion emphasizes that incidents are painful enough—what matters most is learning from them so they never happen again.

 

🔍 What the Episode Covers

1. Why Root Cause Analysis Matters

Reed explains that RCA is about peeling back the onion to uncover the true underlying causes of an incident—not the superficial or convenient explanations. The goal is to understand why the failure occurred so organizations can prevent recurrence.

2. “Never Blame the Employee”

A major theme is rejecting the outdated mindset of blaming workers. Reed stresses that incidents almost always stem from systemic issues, not individual fault. Blame prevents learning and shuts down honest reporting.

3. RCA + Incident Investigation = A Complete Picture

The episode highlights how RCA works hand‑in‑hand with incident investigation.

• Investigation gathers facts

• RCA interprets those facts to identify root causes Together, they create a structured, repeatable approach to learning from failure.

4. Practical Guidance for Safety Professionals

Reed shares actionable insights for those new to incident investigations, including:

• How to approach interviews

• How to avoid assumptions

• How to use structured RCA tools

• How to communicate findings without blame

The episode is positioned as a starter guide for safety pros wanting to improve their investigation skills.

 

⭐ Key Takeaways for Safety Leaders

• Incidents are painful—but failing to learn from them is worse.

• RCA is about systems thinking, not fault‑finding.

• A structured approach leads to better corrective actions.

• Psychological safety is essential for honest investigations.

• The goal is always the same: make sure it never happens again.