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Recent Posts
- Operational Integrity: The Operating Model Heavy Manufacturing Needs
- Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Professionals Help Directors Make Better Operational Technology Investment Decisions – Part 4
- Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Professionals Identify and Manage OT Cyber Risk – Part 3
- Automated Reasoning for Human Error Detection in Industrial Operations
- Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Leaders and Boards Can Protect Operational Technology – A Four Part Series
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Author Archives: Chet Brandon
Operational Integrity: The Operating Model Heavy Manufacturing Needs
Heavy manufacturing does not fail all at once. It usually fails in layers.
A workaround becomes normal. A critical control weakens. A maintenance backlog grows. A near miss is explained away because no one was hurt. Over time, the operation drifts from discipline into exposure.
That is why I believe Operational Integrity needs to be treated as an overarching operating model, not just another safety, reliability, or compliance initiative.
In this article, I outline a practical framework for Operational Integrity built around five elements:
Operating Envelope | Strong Systems | Reliable Equipment | Leadership Cadence | Disciplined Operations
The goal is simple: help manufacturing organizations run with greater control, consistency, resilience, and accountability — for the benefit of employees, customers, communities, owners, and all stakeholders who depend on the enterprise. Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Employee Engagement
Tagged Artificial Intelligence, business, critical control management, equipment reliability, heavy manufacturing safety, industrial safety leadership, Leadership, manufacturing leadership, manufacturing risk management, manufacturing-operational-integrity, manufacturing-resilience, operational excellence, operational integrity, process safety management, safety culture, safety-innovation, technology
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Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Professionals Help Directors Make Better Operational Technology Investment Decisions – Part 4
As the final article in this four-part series, Fay Feeney and I bring the conversation into the boardroom. Operational technology is no longer just an engineering concern—it is a governance test. As AI-enabled assets reshape industrial operations, directors are approving new risk profiles, resilience assumptions, and value-creation models. Continue reading
Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, EHS Management, enterprise risk management, Leadership, Machine Learning, Sustainability Leadership
Tagged AI, AI operational technology risk, AIOT Resilience Index, Artificial Intelligence, board oversight cybersecurity, business, cyber physical risk management, cyber-physical risk management, enterprise risk management OT, industrial cyber resilience, Leadership, operational technology governance, OT capital investment risk, OT cyber risk, safety professionals and cybersecurity, technology
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Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Professionals Identify and Manage OT Cyber Risk – Part 3
Part 3 moves from understanding the risk to executing against it. As cyber threats increasingly intersect with physical operations, organizations need a practical, structured approach to manage these risks at the system level. This section outlines how safety professionals—working with cybersecurity and engineering teams—can apply proven process safety methods to identify vulnerabilities, prioritize risk, protect critical systems, and strengthen operational resilience in the face of cyber-physical threats. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged AI, cyber risk in manufacturing, cyber-physical risk, cyber-security, cybersecurity, EHS cyber risk integration, industrial control system security, industrial cybersecurity resilience, operational technology cybersecurity, OT cyber risk management, OT risk assessment, process safety and cybersecurity, safety instrumented systems security, security, technology
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Automated Reasoning for Human Error Detection in Industrial Operations
Most incidents aren’t caused by a single mistake—they result from conditions that made failure likely long before it happened.
In this article, I explore how automated reasoning can help EHS and operational leaders detect those conditions earlier, connect weak signals, and make more consistent, defensible decisions in real time. Just as important, I outline where technology stops—and where human leadership, trust, and judgment still determine outcomes.
The future of safety isn’t human or AI—it’s the integration of both to anticipate risk and act before it becomes reality. Continue reading
Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Leaders and Boards Can Protect Operational Technology – A Four Part Series
AI is changing the rules of cyber risk—and in OT environments, the consequences are no longer just digital.
From process instability to SIF potential, cyber threats are now operational threats. The real question isn’t if this risk exists—it’s whether we’re integrating safety, cyber, and operations fast enough to manage it.
Part 2 explores how AI is both accelerating the threat—and becoming a critical part of the defense. Continue reading
Posted in AI, enterprise risk management, Technical Skills
Tagged AI, AI cyber risk industrial systems, AI in industrial cybersecurity, artificialintelligence, business, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, cyber physical risk management, cyber physical security strategy, cyber risk governance board oversight, cybersecurity, enterprise risk management, industrial control systems security, operational technology cybersecurity, operationaltechnology, OT cyber resilience, process safety and cybersecurity integration, risk management, riskmanagement, technology
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Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Leaders and Boards Can Protect Operational Technology
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cyber risk — and for industrial organizations, the stakes are no longer just digital.
Cyber attacks on operational technology (OT) can now disrupt physical processes, threaten worker safety, and create significant economic impact. Managing this evolving risk requires new thinking that connects plant-level realities with boardroom oversight.
I’m excited to share a new four-part thought leadership series I’ve co-authored with Fay Feeney, bringing together perspectives from industrial safety leadership and enterprise governance.
Together we explore how organizations can strengthen operational resilience, cyber-physical risk management, and strategic oversight in the age of AI.
Part 1 is now available — more to follow soon.
#OperationalTechnology #CyberSecurity #AI #IndustrialSafety #RiskManagement #BoardGovernance #Resilience Continue reading
Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Design for Safety
Tagged AI, AI cyber threats to infrastructure, critical infrastructure cyber risk, cyber physical risk management, cyber risk governance board oversight, cyber-security, cybersecurity, industrial control systems security, industrial cybersecurity risk, operational technology cybersecurity, OT security resilience, process safety and cybersecurity, security, serious injury fatality prevention cyber risk, technology
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Building Sustainable Leadership: Why It Matters More Than Ever
What if leadership itself were treated as a renewable resource rather than a consumable one? First introduced at the ASSP Management Systems Symposium, the sustainable leadership framework was designed to help organizations perform today without eroding the people, trust, and systems they depend on tomorrow. In an era shaped by AI, complexity, and constant disruption, its seven tenets offer a practical blueprint for building leadership that endures. Continue reading
You’ve Been Given the Assignment: Why Modern EHS Leadership Requires a New Operating Model
If your EHS system struggles when conditions change, that’s not a people problem—it’s a system design issue. This article outlines how leading organizations are modernizing EHS for real work and real risk. Continue reading
Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, New View of Safety, Uncategorized
Tagged digital EHS systems, EHS transformation, high reliability organizations HRO, human organizational performance HOP, modern EHS management systems, predictive safety analytics, proactive safety management, resilience engineering safety, safety culture improvement
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Seeing Risk Before It Hurts: An Example of How Predictive Analytics Are Redefining Safety
Most safety systems are designed to explain injuries after they happen—not to prevent them while risk is forming. What if EHS leaders could see danger emerging in real time, understand why it’s happening, and intervene before someone gets hurt? This article outlines a bold predictive safety concept that uses AI, computer vision, and causal analytics to challenge traditional thinking about leading indicators and redefine what proactive risk management in manufacturing could look like. Continue reading
Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, EHS Management, Injury Prevention, Machine Learning, psychological-safety
Tagged AI, AI in EHS, Artificial Intelligence, computer vision safety, leading indicators safety, manufacturing safety innovation, occupational injury prevention, predictive safety analytics, proactive safety management, real-time risk management, safety analytics and AI, structural equation modeling safety, technology
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A Discussion About the Future of OSH with AI+Humans
AI is rapidly transforming the EHS profession, accelerating how we learn, make decisions, and uncover insights that were previously out of reach. This podcast conversation explores what happens when human expertise and machine intelligence converge to shape the future of safety and work. Continue reading
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