January 28, 2026
Why safety so often falls in the gaps between conversations
Back in 2022, I turned up to deliver a safety training session for a large manufacturer in South Yorkshire.
I arrived early. Set the room up. Made myself a cup of tea. And waited….
And waited.
No delegates. Not one.
Which was odd, because previous sessions had been well attended.
Eventually, I got hold of the HSE Manager and asked whether anyone was actually coming to the training.
“I hope so,” he said. “I sent an invite to the shift lead last week.”
“Did they respond?” I asked.
“Well… no. But I sent the email.”
I asked whether he had spoken to the shift lead to confirm who would be attending.
“No,” he said. “But I definitely… definitely sent the email.”
I suggested there might be a communication problem.
He paused. Then said, “Well… no one has told us we’ve got a communication problem.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
(This has now become my favourite quote. And wherever I go, I use it alot)
No one turned up. I left after an hour. And the client paid us in full.
Most safety problems don’t start with broken rules or missing procedures.
They start with something that wasn’t said. Wasn’t checked. Or was simply assumed.
“I sent the email.” “I thought someone else had told them.” “They knew what was expected.”
Sound familiar?
Safety doesn’t fall over because people don’t care. It falls over because communication quietly fades away.
Where communication really shows up
Hazards: The people doing the job usually know where the risks are. The issue isn’t spotting them. It’s whether people feel comfortable raising them and whether anything actually happens afterwards.
Expectations: If people aren’t clear on what safe looks like, they’ll default to what gets the job done. Vague messages create flexible behaviour. Under pressure, flexible becomes risky.
Training: Telling people what to do isn’t the same as them understanding it. And understanding it isn’t the same as doing it when the line is running late and everyone’s watching.
Hazards, Near misses and Incidents: If reporting feels like blame, paperwork or hassle, people stay quiet. Silence then gets mistaken for safety.
What usually gets in the way:
• Emails replacing conversations
• Assumptions replacing confirmation
• Time pressure doing the talking
Or something we’ve heard many times – ”They Should Know By Now”
Leaders being busy rather than visible
None of this is deliberate. But all of it matters.
A few practical shifts that help:
• Talk to the people doing the work, not just about the work
• Ask what’s making the job harder than it looks
• Check understanding instead of assuming it
• Close the loop when someone raises a concern
• Make speaking up normal
Good safety isn’t about better messages. It’s about better conversations.
Making Safety Stick starts when we stop sending emails and start listening.
