Safety and culture
Before It Happened
Serious incidents are built long before the day they happen
- See risk earlier
- Challenge what's normal
- Make better decisions
Shane Varcoe · Workplace safety and culture speaker
The day of a serious incident is almost never where it started
In 1997, a forklift crushed Shane Varcoe at work. Today he takes workforces and leaders back through the shortcuts, routines and tolerated deviations that built that day, so they recognise the same drift in their own
Before It Happened is about how the day was built. Find Another Gear is about lifting performance when pressure rises
Explore both talks1997 · One ordinary shift
The incident was the end of the chain, not the beginning
A forklift crushed Shane at work. The recovery took years
Looking at it honestly, that day was built from habits nobody questioned, a shortcut that had become the way it was done, and a standard that had quietly moved while everyone was busy
That is the part he asks a room to recognise before somebody else reaches the end of the chain
Two talks · One lived story
Safety is the primary lane. Resilience is the same story applied to a different room
Performance under pressure
Find Another Gear
What it takes to lift performance, rebuild momentum and keep going when the pressure is on and the number still has to be hit
- Reset after setbacks instead of carrying them into the next opportunity
- Understand how confidence, capability and momentum work together
- Keep making good decisions when pressure rises
What the room is left with
Recognition, not a handout
See risk earlier
Recognise the subtle signs before they escalate
Challenge what is normal
Question routine, shortcuts and accepted behaviour
Make better decisions
Understand how everyday choices create risk
Interrupt the drift
Give people language for what has quietly become standard
Who Shane speaks to
Rooms where the subject is not abstract
More than a decade of speaking in multiple countries, grounded in one experience and adapted to the room in front of him
- Safety conferences
- Safety month and stand-downs
- Toolbox and all-hands sessions
- Mining, construction, transport and energy
- Sales kick-offs
- Leadership days
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