Expert Blog
The Wasteland
The author's personal story connects a 1989 childhood memory of his uncle's death on the railway with his appointment to the position of an occupational health and safety specialist years later. Having studied the archival investigation materials, he learned the real circumstances of the tragedy — the foreman's haste, the lack of lighting, and a dead walkie-talkie during unloading. The publication clearly demonstrates what severe consequences result from neglecting workplace safety rules.
The Brain Loves Stories, Not Instructions: Turning Dry Safety Rules into Living Knowledge
Dry cardinal rules of occupational health and safety are often perceived as formal bureaucracy and are quickly forgotten, since the human brain absorbs meaning and emotions, not dry instructions. The article examines the approach of specialists at Bystra, who suggest explaining safety through life stories, empathy, and real examples. Such a presentation engages the emotional centers of the brain and helps workers perceive the rules as personal protection and a guarantee of safety.
Why "No!" Doesn't Save: A Scientific Look at the Effectiveness of Prohibitory Signs
The article examines the differences between prohibition and mandatory signs in industrial safety from the perspective of the psychology and physiology of perception. The author explains why strict prohibitions can provoke psychological resistance among workers, while mandatory signs reduce cognitive load and shape safe behavior. The material helps to understand how a proper combination of both approaches allows building an effective occupational health and safety system at an enterprise.
Internship: Preparing for Public Speaking. Or: How a Novice Manager Can Learn to Synthesize Information
Preparing a report on the results of an internship helps a future manager master key managerial skills, including communication, synthesizing information, and building an action strategy. In the process of work, trainees learn to independently assess risks, analyze the effectiveness of injury prevention measures, and formulate recommendations for improvements. It is the final public presentation of the report to management that turns out to be the most difficult stage for novice managers.
Safety Walkarounds: What a Novice Manager Needs to Know About Precursors and Leadership
The article describes a workplace internship system for young managers in the position of head of the occupational health and safety department, a key part of which is practical walk-throughs of various facilities. Such walk-throughs involving experienced inspectors and top executives help novice specialists notice early signs of violations, see positive practices, and build a friendly dialogue with staff. This practice helps to move away from formalism in occupational health and safety and learn to show leadership to create safe working conditions in the workplace.
Fast and Effective Internship: What a Novice Manager Needs to Know
The article describes an internship system for novice managers in the position of head of the occupational health and safety department to develop personnel management skills and ensure safety. The material describes the preparation procedure — from practical site inspections and risk assessments to the final report — and also presents feedback from program participants. The author explains how such training helps young leaders consciously build a safety culture and improve communication with subordinates.
The Impact of Training on Personnel Performance
The article examines the impact of stress on erroneous decision-making by workers in emergency situations and the role of the human factor in industrial accidents. The author analyzes the mechanisms of brain function at critical moments and relies on research data confirming that regular practical training reduces stress levels and increases the psychological resilience of personnel. The material shows the importance of moving from formal inspections to workplace skill development using the example of practical emergency response programs.
Resistance to Influence: A Psychological Phenomenon
The article by safety culture trainer Roman Portnyagin is dedicated to the phenomenon of psychological reactance, due to which employees may reject even logical arguments during a behavioral safety audit. The material explains why people experience internal protest when they feel a threat to their freedom of choice during attempts to influence them. The author examines psychological principles of communication that allow reducing the employee's defensive reactions and making the dialogue about safety effective.
DRA Tool: A Skill or a Long Process?
Roman Portnyagin, a safety culture trainer at Norilsk Nickel, breaks down the "Dynamic Risk Assessment" (DRA) tool and explains why industrial safety should not be perceived as a process that interferes with work. Using the example of everyday hazard assessment when crossing the road, the author shows how continuous practice turns risk management from rules into an automatic skill. The article reveals which training, incentive, and recognition tools help motivate employees to apply "DRA" for their own safety.
Safety Architect: How an HSE Expert Can Create a Training Game in a Week Using AI
Traditional training methods in occupational health and safety do not reveal specialists' "blind spots" that manifest during decision-making under stress. The article examines an approach to creating an industrial reality simulator that allows practicing practical skills without risk to life and health. The author uses an example to show how an expert in occupational health, safety, and industrial safety can reduce the development cycle of an educational game from six months to one week with the help of artificial intelligence.
HSE Budgeting: Structure, Calculation, and Defense
The article reveals an approach to budgeting in the field of occupational health and safety and industrial safety as a tool for managing production risks, dividing expenses into mandatory and development areas. The material examines regulatory, risk-oriented, and combined budget calculation methods, as well as the practical application of artificial intelligence. The author explains how to defend financial line items to management using ROI, scenario analysis, and FSS compensations to prevent losses from downtime and accidents.
Optimizing HSE and Industrial Safety Personnel in the New Economic Reality
In conditions of staff shortages and economic challenges, occupational health and safety and industrial safety become a mechanism for ensuring the operational resilience of business. The article examines an approach to optimizing the occupational health, safety and industrial safety system through the reassessment of functions, the elimination of excessive paperwork, and the competent integration of digital technologies. The material shows how a systemic restructuring of processes, the development of internal personnel, and accounting for the human factor help a company form a reliable risk management model.