Author: Larry Pearlman

How to Keep New Employees Safe During Their First 90 Days

Starting a new job can be an exciting and stressful experience for any employee. But for employers and safety professionals, it’s also a critical period to ensure that new hires stay safe and engaged right from the start. In my keynote presentation, “How to Keep New Employees Safe During Their First 90 Days,” I dive […]

Managing Your Own 250 Square Feet to Change Safety Culture

As a safety professional with experience working in high risk industry of high-risk industries, I’ve seen the power of leadership in shaping safety culture. I’ve had the privilege of delivering presentations and keynote speeches to a wide range of organizations, from major corporations to smaller teams, all focused on one key message: safety culture starts […]

TLDR: Revolutionizing Safety Through AI-Assisted Documents

Streamlining Safety Documentation with AI In case you missed our article in Canadian Occupational Safety, here’s a quick summary on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way to develop and review safety policies and procedures. Developing clear, concise, and effective safety policies is essential to any safety management system. But it’s a time-consuming task […]

TLDR: Revolutionizing Toolbox Talks with AI

TLDR: Revolutionizing Toolbox Talks with AI *TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) How AI is Enhancing Safety Communication Did you miss my recent article on AI and toolbox talks in Canadian Occupational Safety? No worries! Here’s a quick summary of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing safety communication and transforming the way toolbox talks are done. […]

Texas City Disaster: A 20-Year Reflection on Systemic Safety Failures

Listen to the article in podcast format: For those who prefer to listen, I’ve also created a podcast-style interview that covers the key takeaways from the article, allowing you to absorb the important lessons while on the go. Texas City Disaster: A 20-Year Reflection on Systemic Safety Failures March 23rd is the 20th anniversary of […]

A time-honored tradition or safety through operational discipline?

There’s something romantic about a railroader carrying a lantern. It dates back to the 1800’s when lanterns were used as kerosene powered signaling devices. There still may be romance, but this CPKC conductor’s actions are all about safety. He just completed a visual inspection of the switch points to confirm that the switch was properly […]

East Palestine Derailment: Why Learning From Incidents is So Freaking Hard

The NTSB issued their final report on the Norfolk Southern Railway derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The 201page report contains 37 NEW findings and 35 NEW recommendations. I like to look for quick wins and the NTSB provides several. Finding number 6 states that “the vulnerability of tank car placards to fire exposure resulted in […]

Wide World of V.U.C.A.

For episode 37, we speak with Larry Pearlman to explore the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (V.U.C.A.) that we are all faced with when dealing with change management. Our conversation dives into important principles and practical application from an industry veteran in his field. This is an important episode for us all as we deal […]

Faster Than the Disaster: BP Texas City 19 Years Later

March 23rd will mark the 19th anniversary of the BP Texas City refinery disaster. 15 people lost their lives that day.  None needed to die. I write about this incident every year because people and organizations forget. We need reminders. My career in safety started with this disaster. I was assigned as a consultant to […]

Risk Assessment vs. Poor Management of Change for the Francis Scott Key Bridge Disaster

It’s natural to point to poor risk assessment when looking at this disaster. Let me suggest something different. This likely wasn’t a flaw in risk assessment during the design phase. It’s likely a flaw in the management of change for MDOT who manages the bridge. (Let’s let the great folks at the National Transportation Safety […]