Speak!
By Crystal Danbury & Elisa Lynch
Speak!Aug 30, 2023
🔎EHS Congress Review! 🧐
Come with us on a whistlestop, haphazard (we really didn’t prep and it shows) tour of the EHS Congress Berlin agenda!
Crystal and Elisa give a run through their favourite speakers, takeaway moments, and talks they were disappointed to have missed. They also give a bit of insight into the venue, the organisation, pros and cons, and the ultimate review –
Would You Go Again Next Year??
Simon Cassin - Hey Safety, how ethical are we, really? 🤨
Just because I ought to…does that mean I can?
Just because I can…does that mean I ought to?
How does ‘can’ and ‘ought’ relate to human factors, and to safety?
Are we as ethical as we think we are? What’s your argument for that?
Simon Cassin joins us to pose some questions that maybe only a philosophical approach can answer.
~~~
Elisa here:
Part way through this episode, the conversation very briefly touches on the horrors being brought on G*za by Isr*el. Crystal speaks about a conversation we had a few months back about this that relates to the ‘ought implies can’ argument.
That conversation landed on a quote I’d heard by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca who said:
"It can be overwhelming to witness/experience/take in all of the injustices of the moment; the good news is *they are all connected*. So, if your little corner of the work involves pulling at one of the threads, you're helping to unravel the whole damn cloth”.
Safety is a human right. We have the immense privilege of helping to ensure people have safe and healthy workplaces. Our influence can reach far and wide, across supply chains, across industries, across the world.
This is our little corner of the work.
Please keep pulling at your thread.
👩🏽🤝👩🏼Women in EHS - lots done, more to do! Advocacy, Allyship, and the rest 👩🏾🤝👩🏻
TRANSATLANTIC!! The Americans are in the room!!
In this episode Crystal and I are joined by the wonderful Laynnea Myles and Kristi McClure, who have come to speak about the results of a survey they completed on women in the EHS profession.
We chat on Advocacy Allyship Micro aggressions (and how to address them in the moment) Laynnea’s insights about women supporting, or not supporting, each other in the workplace.
Leadership and ‘masculine attributes’
I have a pop at Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ (spoiler, not a fan)
Crystal shares a story about some difficult feedback she received that was pivotal to her career progression.
Thoughts on gender quotas!
And, Kristi brings it all together so well:
“…the women who have been in this for years and years…you're in that position of power. …If the word chief is in your title or VP, you have an incredible amount of power, you actually can influence how things are.
They need you to be an advocate and to be an ally. …You're actually in a position to change the structure and make some systemic changes… You can change a lot with your power if you if you choose to use it that way.”
SPEAK! Chloe Kirkbride on Messy and Leaky Bodies
Not for the first (and not likely the last) time on Speak, it’s time to get uncomfortable!
Chloe is back to talk all things Blood Work, based off a piece of research by Sang et al (2021) which is linked below. We get into
- Effects of having your period at work
- Menstrual etiquette
- Masking symptoms
- Personal anecdotes
- What kind of support is needed?
- What you (as a manager) can do next…be brave! You CAN survive an awkward conversation!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7921994/
to watch: https://youtu.be/NBmINVMbU6Y
Ahoy! Safety Piracy 🏴☠️, and Translating Value 💎 with Ben Legg
Ahoy! Safety Piracy 🏴☠️, and Translating Value 💎 with Ben Legg
~~~
We are joined by the wonderful Ben Legg for a chat about Safety Piracy! Sailing across the organisational seas searching for the magical solution that maybe doesn’t exist…
This was a cracker – we meander through “the debates”, “back to basics”, book burning (!), and how we translate and demonstrate the value of safety in a language that your business understands.
It’s time we move on from (or at least add to) safety is a moral responsibility/ accidents cost money.
~~~
BL: “You can’t go faster in the same way; you have to change something.”
CD: “See the problem, understand the problem - remove, mitigate, or accept.”
EL: “The key is listening, the language is there in every business, the conversations are happening and if you tune into it, they’ll hand it to you.”
CD: “If someone asks me to do some Safety Culture work, my job is not to humiliate them and say oh no that’s a subset of! …if you want to approach culture change by focusing on one area to get an understanding of why things happen the way they happen, it’s a positive movement, regardless of where we start.”
BL: “…friction fixer using health & safety as the catalyst to do that…We can go faster, we can higher, we can deeper, we can generate more product, by using the principles of good safety – not the basics – the good principles.
EL: “…there’s a lot of opacity between safety professionals, and we need to move to transparency – “I tried this it worked, I tried this it didn’t”, we need to be sharing a lot more…there’s still a big fear between ourselves of sharing.”
~~~
youtube: https://youtu.be/57WM-KoM6bw
Anna Keen takes the Speak! Seat and asks 'where are the next gen?'
Join us, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, as we chat with Anna Keen about where the next gen of safety talent are and how we can unlock them!
You can also see Crystal freak for about 4secs thinking she had gone off air, but she hadn't! A very smooth recovery haha!
Find the episode on youtube too: https://youtu.be/0ij8P2lqUYc
Speak! Are we focusing on the right things?
Join us, Elisa Lynch and Crystal Danbury, as we chat with Stuart Hughes in the SPEAK! Seat.
He wants to know if we focus on the right things in Safety.We dig into 'the basics', how HACCPs could be helpful across the board, if we know our critical risks and vitally our critical controls. We also ask if the basics are as easy as they sound!
As usual, it's a safe, honest, unedited learning space.
to watch it: https://youtu.be/WHGnBmQqK8s
Great chat! Enjoy
Crystal and Elisa x
Brad Green takes the Speak! Seat
So, Speak! has made it across the ocean to the USA - how amazing.
Brad Green joins us for this episode. He talks about failure, redefining success in safety and the reality of work and risk! Vulnerability and humility in listening to our own failures too is discussed - I really liked that bit.
Come, have a listen and enjoy!
Crystal and Elisa x Youtube: https://youtu.be/WVVHqgDoueo
Speak! What's the Craic?!
Join us as we talk through our fav pods so far, what's going on in our lives right now for us inc Elisa's trip to an incredible workshop in Norway and a pod that got traction.
Enjoy
Crystal Danbury & Elisa Lynch
Video: https://youtu.be/34oDCL0pcqk
What Blocks You Posting? With Christian Harris
Ah! Such a great chat with Christian Harris!
We talk about the origin of SPEAK! and the barriers that stop great people posting their own content.We also SPEAK! (and laugh) about #zerobookclub ......have a listen, you'll laugh!!
Safety Nomics is also introduced by Christian Harris, it's such an epic term and we share how to engage in a new way in your next safety event too!
Lastly, Elisa's wrap up thoughts are SO GOOD!!!!
To watch: https://youtu.be/L8uWEPdFX50
Enjoy
Crystal Danbury & Elisa Lynch
Fiona O'Donnell - The Worlds Biggest Mental Health Check-in!
Is Safety a mental game? That's Fiona's question and we take this to ALL THE PLACES!
- There's no such thing as balance!
- What do we expect from our humans when it comes to decision making, noting that 'leaving it at the door' is BS!
- The limits to connection in the workplace when hybrid working is all the rage.
- Organisations responsibilities to create safe mental spaces to talk about our feelings.
- Operating at 100% of your capability, 100% of the time is impossible.
And thats not even a quarter of the way in........
But the biggest call out is Fiona's organisation have created the biggest mental health check-in IN THE WORLD - FOR FREE!!!!!
On the 10th of October please participate http://www.oml.world/ . Last year the insight from it bought about terrifying stats, but this enabled great action.And here is a link for the Jacobs checkin toolkit!: https://jacobs-global.foleon.com/pps-global/wbmhci-resource-hub
Check Fiona out, she's doing great things from a great place!!
Chloe Hughes SPEAK!'s on Repro and Wellbeing
This is a fun and brilliant SPEAK! Seat!
Chloe Hughes is smashing life and brings wellbeing and repro health to life for us.
She SPEAK!s about the impact of the u-turn on menopause in the workplace and her lived experience with repro disease.
We explore our conditioning to hide pain in the work place and what Chloe hope leaders know.
Tune in and see if you take something away, because we did!!!She was one of the best guests we've had!
To watch: https://youtu.be/-q6hTKDVcps
C&E x
Let's SPEAK! about AI with Tiffany Argent
The pro's, con's and fears of AI.....joins us as we chat about it all! To watch: https://youtu.be/rPRBQvpbuk4
Karen Hewitt in the Speak Seat; Simple, Sustainable, Relevant Safety
Karen Hewitt approached us with her question before she was a TED Talker (how exciting for us!).
Eeeeek! A TED Talker in the Speak Seat!
She asks how we make safety simple, relevant and sustainable.....and We quickly dig into simple for who? Relevant for who? What do we mean by sustainable? Why is it always about the front line? And more...and more....It's a lovely episode, and we share some great stories too!
We hope you enjoy!
To watch instead: https://youtu.be/ER93OMStpE0
C&E x
Is it Safety Culture or Culture? by SPEAK!
Join us as we SPEAK! about Jerry's question, which is:
Why are we SPEAK!ing about Safety Culture, isn't it or shouldn't it just be culture? And, why do we separate it?
This is a GREAT episode! We had so much to say, and we laughed! Elisa is on form in this one (as usual).We hope you enjoy!
E&C
Need the video: https://youtu.be/rCzkGJ_eyNI
Process Vs Purpose with Gregg Smith
Join us as we Speak! to Greg Smith about his topic...Safety Purpose Vs Safety Process.
This was such an interesting discussion; Greg is a lawyer and the author of Paper Safe and he shared so much insight and some great stories.
We dive into drivers, the Due Diligence Index, echo chambers, purpose and more!!
We talk about getting 'the answer' and also ask 'what the hell is the question we are trying to get the answer'!
It's soooo good, enjoy!
Join us here or on Youtube: https://youtu.be/E75xr-9A_yk
C & E!
Menopause, it's in the post!
Wow, this one has something for everyone!
Are you a woman approaching your 40s? Do you have women in your team? Do you have someone in your life that is going through menopause or approaching 45?
If yes, this is a share that enlightens us all! There are some staggering facts as well, so come along for the ride.
Myself and Elisa were wonderfully ignorant, but Sarah and Heather brought this to life for us!
Menopause is IN THE POST, so let's get informed!
We had some internet issues, there are 3 blips of between 1 and 3 seconds. But we decided......we don't edit, and this is about the convo and real life, not perfection....so we left it in! (OMG)Happy listening!
C&E x To watch: https://youtu.be/xZ6ZhFk2_Z4
The Spotlight Episode 2023
Welcome to the #itisaboutyou episode!!
Join us, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, as we roll through names of great people we just think have an X factor. Not the same X factor, not even a common factor - just SOMETHING Different!
We reel off people we love and/or respect that we think are just making a difference in their own way!We hope you find someone new to inspire you in this mix....it will be hard not to!
Enjoy!
Crystal and Elisa x
To watch: https://youtu.be/SxO_UrQJZv8
The Legend and the Myth of Risk Free Work
Join us, Elisa Lynch and Crystal Danbury, as we talk to the awesome Stuart Hughes.
In our episode with Sunit Atwal a few weeks back, we dropped the line 'our homes aren't risk free, so why would our workplaces be'. Stuart loved it and reach out to come on and explore the question with us.
We get into some EPIC stuff here; risk acceptance, liability, blame, knee jerk fixing, curiosity.....and what is NOT the answer to safety problems.
It's a seriously good episode, with a wicked little story at the end that helps you summarise how to put some of this into play!We loved it, and we hope you do too!
C & E To watch: https://youtu.be/in3pzrkJwNg
BRAND, an honest reflection!
It's short and sweet this week folks, so grab a brew!
This episode is personal, open, honest and as usual unedited. We share a real off-pod conversation on the weight of brand, and how it led us to this conversation. We also go into what we think it is, and the simplest way to go about it, networking....and more!
We hope it helps you if you are building or focusing on brand right now, and it brings some relief.
Fancy watching instead, click here: https://youtu.be/SlHVunWXsUk
Purpose Deviation and Safety Narcissism
What an episode this is, you are in for a treat.
We are joined by Sunit Atwal, a VERY smashy safety professional who poses a great question about purpose in safety. But, it's not the normal pink and fluffy stuff!!! It's a challenge on why we talk about it but can't seem to revisit or evolve it.
We go into all sorts; business purpose, corporate BS, safety narcissism...and we even do a shout-out to our buddy Stuart Hughes (Hi mate!). Sunit has to come on again, but this one was a PROPER GOODIE!
We hope you enjoy.
C & E
To watch, click here: https://youtu.be/or-S4TSb81A
A Pod about a Post: Work Friends or Get Paid and Go?
It's a(nother) Pod about a Post.
Join us as we discuss a post that had over 70k reactions, over 2k comments and nearly 2.5k reposts on Linkedin; the post said 'Not everyone at your workplace is your FRIEND. Do your work. Get Paid. Go Home.'
It's a goodie!!
This short and sweet episode covers boundaries, when leaders should step out, the internal expectation of leaders.....and even a Whatsapp Hack that allows you to read a message without setting the blue ticks off! HA!
As usual, it's honest, open, unedited and....fun!
To watch instead hit this link: https://youtu.be/USxdBfVCLT4
We hope you enjoy
C&E
A Pod about a Post: Do Big Corp Really Care?
HELLO! A Welcome to Speak!
Join us, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, as we discuss a great post by Christian Harris, where he talks about Big Bosses not caring. I disagree; Elisa doesn't.....let's get into it.
This is a great chat!
To bang us on your screen instead: https://youtu.be/ymmel7kDaYg
Guest Question: What is Failure?
Join us as we talk through the question 'What is Failure'
This was a great conversation with Oli Harris, the guest and questioner!
We got a lot of good examples of 'failure' and talk through whether you can come back from it, whether the response to failure reduces or amplifies it or if you can celebrate success while acknowledging failures are certain or ongoing. We also talk about the role accountability has in failure...man, this was a good episode and we hope you enjoy it!
Take Care and Stay Safe
C & E x
P.S. To watch it smash the link: https://youtu.be/Jqa_DaQhDAI
Guest Question: How do you measure success?
Welcome to SPEAK!
Our Guest question is a corker this week!! How do you measure success?
Sam Neal put this to us with two lenses to consider; how do you measure success personally, with regard to our work and how do you measure safety success in the round?
MAN! We loved this one! There were so many frames, thoughts, considerations and more!
Please come join us as we dig into what success is, how we measure it and we talk about feelings of fault and failure when it hits the fan.....as in, SHOULD WE feel those feelings?? Honestly, what a chat!
SPEAK! is an unedited honest learning space where we get into all the questions you want to ask and talk about. Perfection is not the focus for us, great conversation and growth is!
We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!
C & E
PS: want to watch it instead: https://youtu.be/45fE42eJd3A
Guest Question: How do looks affect the perception of you?
Join us, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, and our fab guest Ellie Thomas.
We dig into Ellie's incredible question about whether our looks affect our perception of ourselves and others perception of us!
It's a big convo! We talk about body size, age, make-up and clothes....and not just from a female perspective, we talk in the round.
It's a GREAT chat and we hope you really enjoy it!
Stay Safe!
E & C
If you fancy watching, catch us on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/Ff2gLkvs-84
Guest Question: How do you change sectors in Safety?
Rhaynukaa Soni, one of the few that make up the 1% of women Chartered Fellows in Safety, joined us (Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch) to ask her burning question: 'How do we change Sectors in the Safety Profession?'.
We chat about sectors, experiences, views on 'special sectors' and much more...we possibly render at the end but WHAT'S NEW!
We offer five key things you should be doing to change sectors (but only if you want to!).
As always, the content is unedited, honest and it's a learning space.
Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy!
C & E
P.S.
The next swath of SPEAK! podcasts will focus on audience questions, and booooooooy do we have a lot in the pipeline!
Audience questions coming up cover; body image in the professional world, quiet quitting, measuring safety, unconscious bias, when's the right time to quit, are women leaving safety, people pleasing, is safety respected, D&I in H&S and even AI Vs Human in safety........ BUCKLE UP! We are excited!!
P.P.S
If you fancy watching the chat, you can find us here: https://youtu.be/4wq3_e-thdc
SPEAK! Imposter Syndrome
Welcome back to SPEAK!
It's 2023 and we, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, are kicking of with a request to SPEAK! about Imposter Syndrome.
It affects us all, so come along for the ride as we open up about our very different experiences with it, we share a helpful article and share tips for tackling it.
We hope you enjoy and it helps you or someone you care about!
If you fancy watching it instead of having a wander with it in your ears, you can find the video of the pod here: https://youtu.be/KrY6QFcknV4
As always, this is not edited; perfection is not the aim, reality is!
Thanks a bunch for your support in 2022 and we hope you had a wicked Christmas and NYE!
Between a Rock and Hard Conversation Prt2
Join us, Elisa Lynch and Crystal Danbury, as we recap on Prt 1, chat about things looking worse when they are actually getting better, dive into managing up and then get stuck into managing performance conversations.
We also talk about giving difficult feedback to help people create REAL development plans for themselves...as difficult conversations are not meant to be unkind conversations, they are meant to help!
We meander for the first quarter, but we commit to being unedited as PERFECTION IS NOT THE AIM here, authenticity is.
So, come join us and maybe pick up a tip or two, or at least a laugh!
Lastly, thank you for your support and ears - it means the world to us!
(to watch the pod go to https://youtu.be/nlEzSvoiybY )
Between a Rock and a Hard Conversation
Join us, Crystal Danbury and Elisa Lynch, for the first half of the SPEAK! podcast on difficult conversations.
We hear a lot about the need for soft skills so we wanted to unpack 'why' we need them.
We share our own stories about when we were between a rock and a hard place and some tips to help start a difficult conversation or create a feeling of trust so the conversation is more fruitful.
Come with us as we unpack it! Part 2 drops in two week (as usual).
To watch it head to our Youtube Channel https://youtu.be/z0mbr3izb5A
Speak! Blame and Accountability
Join us, Crystal and Elisa, as we talk about Blame and Accountability! We LOVED this one!!!
Come with us as we explore ALL THE questions!
What does blame block, if anything? How are they different? Are they both useful? Which is harmful or helpful? Which one creates difference or damage? Can we escape blame, and should we? What are their roles and impacts in businesses and safety? Is accountability enough?
We share some great work examples of how this topic has played out in our careers, as well as quotes and story's. So, there is plenty to take away.
It is a GREAT episode; we hope you love it too!
Want to watch it instead, go ahead! Here's the link: https://youtu.be/xESc7dhtfXI
Speak! Suicide Awareness Month Prt2
After so many emails, messages and love regarding last weeks Suicide Awareness Special, we decided to do the part 2 we waffled on about at the end! LOL!
So, join us all again as we move on from our lived experiences regarding suicide and talk about how you come back from the darkest places, our 'I wish I said this last week' moments and we respond to a tweet about Suicide. We had SO many thoughts!
Such rich conversation again! A special thank you to Damien for being here with us and being amazingly open!
As always, we don't edit as perfection is not the aim. It's open, honest and a learning space. So, ENJOY!
Fancy watching us instead, got for it: https://youtu.be/dLVvx7YT-fQ
Speak! Suicide Awareness Month
Join us and our amazing guest Damien McMullan as we dive into the taboo topic that is Suicide. We hear a lot from surviving family and friends of people lost to suicide, but rarely do we get to hear from those that lived through it or were saved by others.....until today.
We have two counts of lived experience on this call and man do we share! We have real stories, take-aways, tips, stats and observations. T
he best thing is, we (Crystal and Damien) are grateful every day that we are still hear. It's a point we didn't get to, but it has to be said - we LOVE every day that we nearly didn't have. As always its unedited, honest, a learning environment and we hope you or someone you love takes something from the episode. Lastly, sorry about the 30second ramble at the end about extending the call. There is an important number just after that so bare with us.
Thanks for listening!
If you fancy watching though: https://youtu.be/1o3AyIMypx4
Screw New View..?
Join us, Elisa and Crystal, as we chat about whether we should care about the term 'New View' in the safety context. We chat about what we fundamentally believe safety is about, and how being precious or negative can cost us in the long run in terms of progression.
Warning: There is a rant about social media Trolls contained in this podcast! It's so ranty but SO valid!
Fancy watching the pod, crack on: https://youtu.be/od7HI4r6nEs
Curriculums
Join us as we talk all things curriculum; as usual this is unedited, real and authentic.
We chat about what's missing for us, what we'd remove from all course, what we'd put in all courses, what courses we have loved and hated!
We also chat about how we treat people, investigations, motivations etc As usual, there is a tangent or 50.
Oh, and you may want to jump passed the first few minutes as Elisa is losing it over a fly....ha! Just saying!
Enjoy!
To watch: https://youtu.be/0I8XnXdfewU
Storytelling
The Pressure to Consume (all media)
Join us as we SPEAK! about the pressure to consume the right books, pods, articles, bloggers and vloggers. We chat about our different approaches to learning......and spoiler alert, one of us doesn't read books etc and one is a content junkie! It's a great conversation where we talk through our differences. And the irony of challenging media content consumption on a pod is NOT lost on us haha!
It's a real, open, honest, unedited, learning space.....so come on in.
Right, let's have the craic!
The Zero Harm Fallacy
Join us as we SPEAK! about 'ZERO Harm'. We explore its validity, it's point and whether it's real or bull!
Speak! About Pride Month (Prt 2)
Join Elisa and Crystal to talk about psychological safety and its place in relation to pride, the work place and allowing better questions around LGBT+ topics.
We loved it, we hope you do too!
You'll notice we introduce this as 'Why Should I Care' - since recording. We felt so compelled to make this partnership solid we have created our new brand - SPEAK!
Speak! - About Pride Month (Prt1)
Join Crystal & Elisa to chat all things pride month, stereotype, lived experience and much more......
This is part 1 of 2!
In part 2 we dive into psychological safety in relation to the workplace and pride and taking people on a journey by allow better questions about LGBT+ topics.
We loved it, we hope you do too!
You will hear we intro this episode as Why Should I Care, this is because we recorded part 1 and 2 of this podcast and felt so compelled to make this partnership a fulltime thing we choose a new brand together and you will now hear us SPEAK! as a team going forward. WHOOP!
Interviews
Black History Month
Paternity Leave
Why Should I Care: About 'Health' in H&S
Why Should I Care - About Ethical Leadership
It gives shout outs to two great leaders and points listeners to a few great people to have a look at in this space.
This podcasts aim is to enable your own debate and conclusion for the question 'Why should I care about ethical leadership'.
Happy listening People!
P.S as my podcast progresses, so will my editing skills - so bare with the rookie x
Safety 1, 2 & Differently
This episode looks at the three most popularly quoted approaches to safety. They are creating friction and I explore why we should care about them, or if we should at all!
Happy Listening, and thanks for joining me!