Tag Archives: Leadership

Stop Work Authority: The Ultimate Expression of Safety, Empowerment, and Respect

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Chet Brandon

In the realm of industrial safety, few practices are as powerful—or as underleveraged—as Stop Work Authority (SWA). When properly understood and embraced, SWA is far more than a compliance protocol. It becomes a declaration of trust, a signal of psychological … Continue reading →

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AI as a Strategic Partner: Building a Digital Twin to Advance Safety and Sustainability

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Chet Brandon

Introduction The challenges of leading Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) efforts across global, high-risk operations have never been more intense. Executive leaders today are asked to navigate volatile regulations, emerging technologies, ESG mandates, cultural transformation, and shifting workforce expectations—all while … Continue reading →

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Safe to Fail: How Digital Twins Can Rewire Workplace Trust

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Chet Brandon

Digital twin technology—virtual representations of physical systems or processes—can significantly enhance psychological safety in the workplace by providing environments where employees feel secure to speak up, experiment, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences. These virtual environments enable organizations … Continue reading →

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Essential Mistakes for EHS&S Leaders to Avoid – 2025 Update

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Chet Brandon

I recently revisited an article I wrote for ASSP’s Professional Safety Magazine titled Essential Mistakes for OSH Managers to Avoid, published in the July 2018 edition. While the core principles I discussed remain highly relevant today, the evolving landscape of … Continue reading →

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Leadership 101: Positive Leaders Have a Healthy Dose of Skepticism Too

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Chet Brandon

One of the greatest pleasures of leadership is seeing those you lead succeed.  The more success that occurs, the better the team does.  However… in dynamic and complex situations things won’t always go as planned.  The experienced leader is always … Continue reading →

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Effects of Culture on Complex Systems

Posted on November 17, 2024 by Chet Brandon

I have recently been considering the impact of culture on the safety of complex systems, specifically chemical operations covered by the Process Safety Management standard. My supposition is that engineering and procedures factors are important building blocks to safe operations … Continue reading →

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My Volunteer Leadership: Purpose and Meaning

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Chet Brandon

I discovered the field of occupational safety and health and knew within the first 30 minutes of my first class, that this was the career I wanted to have, and the kind of people I wanted to work with.  For … Continue reading →

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Leadership is a Conversation

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Chet Brandon

There was a post a while back on HBR’s Blog site that caught my eye. It was titled: Leadership is a Conversation. It attracted me because I happen to believe this is very true. I worked once with a great … Continue reading →

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The Purpose of this Blog

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Chet Brandon

I have been thinking about this blog for some time and finally got around to creating it.  In my mind a see a work space where I can spend a few minutes a week looking for, thinking about and documenting new … Continue reading →

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