Punk Rock Safety

Ron is back! Turns out that even a punk band needs a lead guitar, no matter how simple some people say it is to play. In this episode, the boys stumble onto the topic of whether safety can be a simple formula. There are some recent publications that represent it that way, but it's sort of like trying to define punk music. There are probably a million ways to describe it, and in the end, it doesn't...

Josh Bryant joins the pod for this episode because Ron's out doing real work, apparently. Joshie is a big-time safety and risk guy in the mining industry, and he's Australian, so this episode gets a Frenzal Rhomb song title to match. Not wanting to disrupt the norm of unpreparedness, the boys figured it out on the fly (even though it was Josh's job, and if he cared more, he'd have done it better)....

Shit. Things are crazy, man. As the Bad Religion song says, "Los Angeles Is Burning." Link to the song below, if you're into that sort of thing. Seriously, though, if you're one of the 11 listeners and you're out in LA and need help, drop PRS a line at info@punkrocksafety.com. Punks help punks - always. In the middle of all the chaos out on the West Coast of the US, there are some really cool stor...

Don't you think Punk Rock Safety isn't taking safety seriously enough? Making jokes about safety is surely a sign that some idiot doesn't care enough, right? Uhhh, no. And that applies to safety pros who are having a good time, laughing, and joking as they do their jobs, too. Why aren't people saying, "Whoa, this is fucking awesome!" when the safety folks come around? If the seriousness that a lot...

It's a Christmas miracle! We made it to 21. Seriously, though, this episode is coming out on Christmas or the day after, depending on where you are in the world. You're welcome. Man, some weird shit's been going down in the world of CEOs lately. We promise we have nothing to do with it. But this episode does. First, it's important to point out it's not a NOFX reference this time. It is a song from...

Sometimes bad shit happens to good people. We know it's weird, but here's another episode with a NOFX title. This time, it's a song about Tony Sly's (from No Use For a Name) death. Good dude and an awesome musician, but dead way too early. What about when organizations that are trying really hard to do safety stuff have an accident? Or a fatality? That can feel tough to reconcile, even though we c...

We keep forgetting (except for now, because we're definitely mentioning it) to say that there's some evidence that Fat Mike from NOFX loves the podcast. We'd go so far as to say it's his favorite pod. We're the "Seal Team 6 of podcasts," says Ron, because there's no prep at all except Provan. That guy has always been pre-gaming. So, the boys take on the topic of evidence-based safety, whether safe...

Yet another NOFX inspired title, huh? Yep. We're a one-trick pony around here. The boys have finally gotten around to human error, which is a theme for this podcast anyway. Maybe there's a difference between fuck-up and error, though? It's been a "squishy" part of understanding safety, incidents, performance, efficiency, etc. for a long time. Mostly, Ron just likes saying "squishy." So, what is hu...

This one's a little different. The title may give some of that away (and it's a Bad Religion song). None of your three hosts are tech wizards, but Collette Alexander joins the pod, and she is (even though she might argue that). Colette has been a professional cellist, worked in software engineering at Spotify, and earned a Master's degree from Lund University in Human Factors. She's got a lot of t...

It's Episode 16, punks. The boys start this one with a peek behind the curtain into just how much prep goes into the pod. Spoiler: not a lot. It's sort of like a punk show that way. The topic for 16 is regulators, which means it's a great time for Pennywise's Fuck Authority (link in the show notes). That's probably not a great way to handle regulation, though. So what can you do? Are all regulatio...

In punk, being a sellout means you've abandoned the punk rock culture: anti-authority, DIY, non-conformity, and tearing apart systems that don't work for the people. So what happens if you shake up the idea of safety culture as a cornerstone? Fucking sellouts. The boys talk about culture, some new publications on it, and how it's used as a lazy response to issues with safety or resilience. And the...

When's the last time the outcome of a risk assessment was a surprise? Thought so. So why do we do risk assessments, anyway? Are we really making decisions based on them? It doesn't sound like it. Is it a social process, then? Shit, man, that's a lame party. The boys try to sort through the mess of matrices, JHAs, JSAs, safety risk committees, and all that to get to what we actually expect from an...

Fine. You're right. The title is also the name of a NOFX album. NOFX is rad, though, so we're keeping it. This week, we're talking to a kickass guest, Sam Goodman, about making safety less sucky. Sam even wrote a book about it. The truth is, a lot of people have experienced working with safety folks that just come across as assholes, or buzzkills, or cops, or knobs. It's not a surprise that most p...

It's episode 12, and we've got a new quote for a T-shirt, and instead of "goal conflicts," we just went with the title of the episode. Watch the merch store; we'll get it sorted. So, safety first, right? Maybe. Sometimes. Definitely, when someone asks, I guess. Like we say in the episode, there's probably not a room of executives who hate everything safety. It'd be a weird party, though. The boys...

Snake eyes, MFers! It's episode 11, and with a minute of prep or so, we settled on figuring out if people really are the solution to things, especially safety things. Toxic Narcotic has a song called "People Suck" I mean, sometimes, people are assholes, right? Or dumb? Or aren't they? Sometimes some moron tries to smash a can of triple-expanding foam with a forklift. We don't really think people s...

The fact that we've made it to episode 10 is sort of miraculous. Like a stage diver, you don't have to want it, but it's happening. We're talking about contractor management—or, as Ron calls it, "cross-boundary joint activity." Ron talks about agents and stuff like that, not even in the context of Agent Orange, which is probably a better conversation. Ok, what we're really looking at is some of th...

By the time this episode comes out, Ron will have defended his doctoral dissertation, a whole lot like Milo from The Descendents did. Except Ron is cooler. We're talking about investigations in this episode. What are they for? Ron thinks they're a little different than Dave and Ben do, but the consensus from the boys is that a lot of the espoused values of investigating don't make it into practice...

We said we were going to livestream, but we definitely didn't. Sorry. This shit's harder than it seems like it should be. You should 100% check out the YouTube on this one. Other Ben did some sweet background editing because we were in a hotel meeting room with gold striped fabric walls that looked like a United Nations briefing room. That made it really fucking hard to switch the background, and...

There's no better title than to make sure we've got Diane's name in it. Why? If you have to ask, go find out, then listen to the episode. There's a punk band called FEAR. Diane hasn't seen them. Anyway, fear of something different is sort of the topic for this episode. We're posting a little early because the CHOL conference is happening this week, and we'll be live there, too. Back to the importa...

Ron's halfway done with a dissertation draft, too, so that's a pretty important advance.   Don't forget to check out merch at www.punkrocksafetymerch.com We'll be at CHOL in Henderson, Nevada in a few weeks, so catch up with us there, and look for a live stream episode during the conference!   DISCLAIMER: You probably shouldn't take anything in this podcast too seriously. Punk Rock Safety is...

The fame is getting to Ron's head a little bit. Dave's too. Ben doesn't get out much, but give it time.  This one is a little more serious for some reason. Maybe it's because we're talking about metrics and measurement (not behavior-based safety). The boys are all pretty wound up about metrics anyway, so it's a decent topic.  Ron's back from Hawaii. Dave's on the way to Denver. Ben's headed to Nas...

There's some discussion around here about what the next topic should be, but we promise we'll figure something out.   DISCLAIMER: You probably shouldn't take anything in this podcast too seriously. Punk Rock Safety is for entertainment only. It's definitely not a replacement for professional or legal advice, and the fair amount of piss-taking, shithousery, and general ridiculousness ought to...

Wait, can I be on the show? Good question. Talk to Ron, and make sure to bring bribery-flavored hot dogs. Seriously though, there's no real plan, but if you have ideas, let us know. This was an episode that included some discussion on leadership, but it won't be the only one. There's a lot to talk about, so it's probably safe to expect more on the topic. Did we mention John Wilkes is on this episo...

There was some very real belief that this was an April Fool's joke. It isn't. Sorry about that. Ron, Dave, and Ben discuss what it means to be a safety professional. Well, if safety professionals are even necessary in organizations, Ron's not sure. Ben can't figure out how to go to conferences, so there are some helpful hints about how to do anything useful there.  Maybe the podcast could replace...

It's the first episode of Punk Rock Safety! Ben, Ron, and Dave are all over the place on this one, but we'll settle into a rhythm soon. In the true spirit of punk, if it isn't good, at least make it loud. So, you might want to turn this first one up. That's ok, though. Safety works the same way a lot of times. There's experimentation and a need for intelligent failure. We're doing our best to mana...