Industrial Risk: Beyond The Blueprint

🎙️ Episode 43: Cathedral Thinking – Building Safety Culture for the Next Generation

In this episode, host Jowanza Joseph sits down with global HSE leader Paul Leonard. They explore the philosophy of "Cathedral Thinking"—a long-term strategy for building high-reliability organizations based on trust, learning agility, and a deep sense of belonging. About the Guest Paul Leonard is a global HSE executive, expert witness, and culture change expert who specializes in preventing unplanned events globally. With a career spanning the US, Europe, Mexico, and China, he has led enterprise safety and HSE operations across major chemical and utility giants, including Entergy, Arkema, and Orbia. He currently leads initiatives through SinoCelt LLC. Key Takeaways: ⛪ The "Art" of Cathedral Thinking Great cathedrals like Notre Dame or the Washington National Cathedral took decades, sometimes centuries, to build. Paul explains why leaders must adopt this "Cathedral Thinking" framework to build a timeless, resilient organization, moving away from short-sighted "quick wins" and establishing a foundation that will outlast their tenure. 🧠 The Neuroscience of Belonging A long-term safety vision cannot be executed through compliance alone; it requires a sense of belonging. Paul explores how social identity, authentic leadership, and shared purpose create the group cohesion necessary for workers to actively share knowledge, commit to ethical decisions, and prioritize safety. ⚙️ High Reliability Organizations (HROs) HROs have no choice but to function reliably, because if they fail, severe harm results. Paul breaks down the concept of "Chronic Unease" and the mindfulness required to anticipate risk relentlessly, focusing on key pillars like a preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify data, and deference to expertise. 📉 Performance vs. Paperwork Noise Many organizations have lots of safety activity—endless training, complex audits, and busy dashboards. Paul discusses how to identify when these activities turn into mere "noise" instead of actual risk reduction, and shares strategies for ensuring safety is treated as a core operating model rather than an isolated department. 📚 Resources & Contact To dive deeper into Paul’s work on Cathedral Thinking and global safety culture, check out the links below: * LinkedIn: Paul Leonard [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fpaulanthonyleonard%2F] * Consulting Work: SinoCelt LLC [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fsinocelt-llc%2F] * Speaking & Forums: Safety on the Edge - Paul Leonard Profile [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fsafetyontheedge.com%2Fall-speakers%2Fpaul-leonard-profile%2F] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit parakeetinc.substack.com [https://parakeetinc.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

🎙️ Episode 42: Predicting the Preventable - How Data Science is Redefining Safety

About the Guest Dr. Elif Erkal is a construction safety research expert who specializes in predicting serious injuries and fatalities (SIF) using data analytics. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Research and Strategy at the Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) at CU Boulder. Her groundbreaking work challenges traditional safety metrics and advocates for the use of predictive models in high-risk environments. Key Takeaways: 📉 The TRIR Illusion Traditional metrics like TRIR are not just flawed; they are statistically invalid when it comes to predicting fatalities. Instead of merely counting injuries, organizations need to identify the real "precursors" that signal a major incident is coming. 🤖 AI and Predictive Analytics Companies are sitting on mountains of unstructured safety data, from inspection reports to near-miss cards. By utilizing machine learning, organizations can shift from simply "collecting data" to actively predicting SIF exposure. However, algorithms must be carefully managed to ensure human safety managers don't become complacent. ⚡ High-Energy Controls Not all safety controls are created equal. Instead of relying on administrative controls like rules and signs—which are known to fail—organizations should focus on High-Energy Control Assessments (HECA) to implement direct, effective controls. 🧹 Eliminating "Safety Clutter" When looking at Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks, true safety culture goes beyond simply listing injury rates. Sometimes, removing outdated rules—known as "Safety Clutter"—is just as critical as creating new ones. Ultimately, safety is about stopping the practice of counting failure and starting to measure capacity. 📚 Resources & Contact To learn more about Dr. Erkal’s research on predictive safety, check out the following resources: * Website: CSRA [https://www.csra.colorado.edu/]* * LinkedIn: Elif Erkal, PhD [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elif-erkal/] *All of their research and resources are publicly available and free to access, including their published papers. Since the work is publicly funded, listeners are able to explore the papers, literature, and additional resources available on their website. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit parakeetinc.substack.com [https://parakeetinc.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

🎙️ Episode 41: How Does Military Discipline Apply To Industrial Problem-Solving? Bringing A Ranger’s Mindset To Safety

In this episode, I talk to Lee Campe, who blends military discipline with Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Lee teaches organizations how to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive risk prevention. About the Guest Lee Campe is a former US Army Airborne Ranger and a leading national expert on metric development, KPIs, problem-solving, and Lean Six Sigma deployment. As the President of Performance Excellence INC since 2003, he has earned Master Black Belt certifications across four major deployments for industry giants like Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and GE Power Systems. In addition to training thousands of corporate professionals, Lee served as a University Lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology for 17 years, bringing Lean Six Sigma into their MBA program Key Takeaways: 🪖 The Ranger Mindset in Corporate Safety What corporate executives can learn about decision-making, problem-solving frameworks, and leadership under pressure from an Army Airborne Ranger. 🛑 Red Flags in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) When investigators use phrases like "lack of training," "failed to follow policy," or "lack of communication," they aren't finding the root cause—they are making lazy excuses. A true RCA should skip these red flags and instead output testable hypotheses. 📊 Applying DMAIC to Safety-Critical Environments How the Six Sigma DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) can be practically applied to safety investigations in high-stakes industries like space exploration, pharma, and food manufacturing. 📈 Metrics That Predict Failure The difference between merely fixing a problem and actively preventing risk. Lee breaks down how to establish the KPIs and metrics that actually matter so organizations can predict failures before they ever happen. 📚 Resources & Contact To go deeper into Lee’s work and problem-solving methodology, explore the following links: * Website: www.leecampe.com [http://www.leecampe.com] * LinkedIn: Lee Campe [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecampe/?isSelfProfile=false] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@leecampe1407] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit parakeetinc.substack.com [https://parakeetinc.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

🎙️ Episode 40: What's On That Train? Why Rail Disasters Keep Happening

In this episode, investigative journalist and author Justin Mikulka breaks down the hidden dangers of crude-by-rail transport, the systematic erosion of safety regulations, and why the rail industry often treats disasters as cheaper than accident prevention. About the Guest Justin Mikulka is a former civil engineer turned investigative journalist. He is the author of Bomb Trains: How Industry Greed and Regulatory Failure Put the Public at Risk. His reporting extensively covers the dangers of crude-by-rail transport, the environmental risks of the energy industry, and the “regulatory capture” of the safety agencies meant to protect the public. Key Takeaways: 🚂 The Origin of “Bomb Trains” The terrifying term "bomb train" wasn't coined by environmentalists or media watchdogs; it originated from the rail workers themselves, highlighting how unsafe the frontline operators feel doing their own jobs. 📑 Dangerous Regulatory Loopholes Despite carrying highly toxic chemicals like vinyl chloride, the train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, was not legally classified as a “High-Hazard Flammable Train” (HHFT). This classification loophole allows the industry to keep local first responders completely in the dark and unprepared for worst-case scenarios. 💰 Cost Over Prevention Technology exists to make trains significantly safer, such as Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brakes, which deliver faster, synchronized stopping compared to the 19th-century air brakes currently in use. However, aggressive industry lobbying successfully rolled back ECP requirements, pointing to a business model that treats catastrophic accidents as cheaper than upgrading safety equipment. 🛢️ The Bakken Crude Threat Following the devastating 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster that killed 47 people, investigations revealed how highly volatile Bakken crude oil poses a far more explosive threat than conventional oil when transported by rail. 📚 Resources & Contact To learn more about Justin’s investigative reporting and the regulatory failures in the rail industry, explore the following resources: * Website: justinmikulka.com [https://justinmikulka.com/] * Book: Bomb Trains: How Industry Greed and Regulatory Failure Put the Public at Risk [https://www.amazon.com/Bomb-Trains-Industry-Regulatory-Failure/dp/1072181339] * Current writing: Powering the Plane [https://powering-the-planet.ghost.io/]t * Reporting: DeSmog [https://www.desmog.com/] * Social: Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/justinmikulka.bsky.social] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit parakeetinc.substack.com [https://parakeetinc.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

🎙️ Episode 39: What Heavy Industry Can Learn from NASA's High-Consequence Safety Culture?

In this episode, NASA veterans Dr. Jim Peters and Dr. Lou Carfagno from the Space Leadership Institute pull back the curtain on human spaceflight safety, commercial space partnerships, and what heavy industry and commercial business can learn from the cosmos. You’ll find out: * When the margin for error is absolute zero, how do you prevent emotional bias from overriding logical risk management? * And more importantly, how can leaders on Earth apply these same mission-critical principles to protect their own operations? About the Guest Dr. Jim Peters retired from NASA after a 29-year career in human spaceflight, where he led the Shuttle Return-to-Flight debris risk integration after the Columbia accident and served as the Commercial Crew Program Risk Manager. A former nuclear submarine officer on the USS Hyman G. Rickover, he also successfully applied NASA's strict risk frameworks to the private sector as the owner and President of Quasar Data Center. Dr. Lou Carfagno is a human spaceflight training and safety expert. With a background supporting top-secret SR-71 and U-2 spy plane missions as an aerospace physiology specialist, he transitioned to NASA as a spacesuit engineer. He is a recipient of the prestigious NASA Silver Snoopy award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to astronaut safety. Key Takeaways: 🧠 Emotion vs. Logic in Risk Management Humans are notoriously bad at intuitively judging risk—we fear highly publicized, rare events like plane crashes or shark attacks while ignoring the higher statistical risk of driving to the grocery store. NASA combats this emotional bias by relying heavily on Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) models to make purely logical, data-informed decisions. 🏭 Translating Space to Business The core principles of NASA's risk mitigation—identifying, prioritizing, mitigating, and monitoring risks—apply directly to the private sector. Jim successfully translated these exact models from the space shuttle program to manage zero-day cybersecurity threats, power, and cooling risks at his commercial data center. 👨‍🚀 The 5-Inch Margin of Error Engineering for space means fighting an environment that actively wants to kill you. Spacesuits aren't just about survival; they require an exact modular fit (measured in 1/8th-inch increments) to ensure astronauts can maneuver switches without losing fingernails or rolling around the suit's fiberglass torso like a ping-pong ball. 🚀 The New Era of Commercial Space The partnership with commercial entities like SpaceX has fundamentally changed spaceflight. Instead of NASA completely controlling all design and operations, it acts more like a customer "paying for seats," while transferring shared responsibility to commercial partners by heavily enforcing "loss of crew" and "loss of mission" requirements. 📚 Resources & Contact To learn more about Jim and Lou’s work translating space protocols to terrestrial leadership, explore the following links: * The Space Guys: thespaceguys.com [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fthespaceguys.com%2F] * Space Leadership Institute: spaceleadershipinstitute.com [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceleadershipinstitute.com%2F] * Connect with Lou: LinkedIn [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Flouiscarfagnodm%2F] * Connect with Jim: LinkedIn [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fjames-peters-6b658979%2F] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit parakeetinc.substack.com [https://parakeetinc.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]