Tag Archives: risk management

AI Won’t Need to Become Evil to Become Dangerous: What the AI Doomsday Debate Means for EHS

Posted on September 19, 2026 by Chet Brandon

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from a tool that provides information to systems that can make decisions, take action, and interact with other agents. For EHS professionals, that shift should raise a familiar question: are capability and autonomy expanding faster than the controls designed to manage them? This article examines the AI “doomsday” debate through an EHS lens, connecting emerging AI risks to Management of Change, SIF prevention, human factors, inherited risk, and defense in depth. Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Design for Safety, Digital Twin, Innovation, Technical Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inherited Risk Ecosystem: How Upstream Decisions Shape Human Error at the Point of Work

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Chet Brandon

Serious injuries and fatalities are often shaped long before a worker reaches the point of exposure. The Inherited Risk Ecosystem provides a practical way to identify how upstream decisions, organizational conditions, and interacting risk factors combine to influence the real risk of work—and where leaders can intervene before an event occurs. Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Culture, Design for Safety, EHS Management, enterprise risk management, Innovation, operational integrity, psychological-safety, risk management, Technical Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SIF Reduction: The Leading Edge of Operational Integrity

Posted on June 9, 2026 by Chet Brandon

SIF prevention belongs within the broader discipline of Operational Integrity. Preventing life-altering events requires more than a safety program; it requires an operating system that connects leadership, frontline knowledge, reliable controls, meaningful data, and organizational learning. Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, EHS Management, enterprise risk management, risk management, Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Decision-Ready Information: The Modern Standard for Leadership in Complex Organizations

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Chet Brandon

Organizations are drowning in information and starving for judgment.

My latest article on LeadingEHS.com explores the concept of decision-ready information and compares it to the classic management discipline of completed staff work.

The core idea is simple: leaders do not need more dashboards, alerts, reports, or raw data. They need information that has been interpreted, contextualized, risk-ranked, and shaped into clear options and recommendations.

This discipline matters across EHS, sustainability, operations, cybersecurity, process safety, and enterprise governance. Whether we are dealing with AIoT signals, process safety data, ESG disclosures, or operational risk indicators, the challenge is the same:

-What is happening
-Why does it matter
-What could happen next
-What should we do?

Decision-ready information converts complexity into accountable leadership action. Continue reading →

Posted in Business Accumen, EHS Management, Leadership, Professional Skills, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cyber-Physical Risk in the Age of AI: How Safety Leaders and Boards Can Protect Operational Technology – Part 2

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Chet Brandon

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 →

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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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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 →

Posted in Culture, EHS Management | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Technology Designers Must Begin the Journey to Safety

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Chet Brandon

Uber self driving car accidents and the facebook data scraping scandal are the most recent indications of a significant risk in the technology industry: the lack of mature safety processes.  The icons of the “hot industry” of the 21 century … Continue reading →

Posted in Design for Safety, Ethics, Innovation, Responsible Use of Technology, risk management | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

High Flight Requires Risk

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Chet Brandon

The passing of two of the great aviation masters in the last few weeks started me thinking about what forges great people like them.  The Aerospace Icons I am discussing here are Bob Hoover and John Glenn.  Both made incredible … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment