Description
Why 86% of Organisations Struggle with Negative Safety Cultures
Despite significant advancements in workplace safety—from the industrial revolution to the challenges of the 2020 global pandemic—86% of organisations still operate within a negative safety culture. What keeps us trapped in a compliance-driven mindset that limits innovation and engagement? How can we expand our view of safety to address both physical and psychosocial risks?
A Paradigm Shift: The Presence of Safety
At the heart of Leading Positive Safety lies a transformative idea: focusing on the presence of safety, rather than just the absence of harm. This shift begins with an investment in the three dimensions of safety experience—physical, social, and psychological. When workplaces nurture these dimensions, they inspire safer, more engaged teams. This environment creates the foundation for a thriving and successful business.
Science-Backed Principles for Positive Safety
Drawing on over two decades of research and real-world experience, Dr Vanessa Cook and Anthony Gibbs introduce eight science-backed principles. These principles are illustrated through the insights of safety professionals across diverse industries. The book provides a practical guide for leaders, offering clear steps to create a positive safety culture. Leaders who embrace these principles can improve safety outcomes, boost productivity, and enhance operational performance.
A Call to Action for Leaders
Leading Positive Safety is more than a book—it’s a call to action. Equip yourself with the tools to attract and retain top talent, uplift leadership capabilities, and build diverse, inclusive, and supportive teams. By fostering a positive safety culture, you can make your organisation a desirable place to work. In such workplaces, safety improvements flow naturally into increased business profitability.
The Future of Workplace Safety Starts Here
The journey of workplace safety has evolved. Leading Positive Safety empowers leaders to shift from a compliance-focused culture to one where safety is a core value. Make safety a positive part of your organisation’s journey to success.
About the authors
Dr Vanessa Cook
Vanessa Cook is a Doctor of Psychology, specialising in safety leadership and culture development, and has been providing coaching, training and consulting for over 15 years. In her seven years with Sentis, she has applied her expertise in workplace engagement and psychological safety, safety motivation and behaviour change, and positive psychology principles to design, develop and facilitate impactful training all around the world.
In her role as Head of Positive Safety, Vanessa dedicates herself to delivering practical, neuroscience-backed training and consulting to enable organisations to level up their leadership capability and safety culture performance. Her passion for enhancing safety is demonstrated by her unwavering commitment to empowering individuals to revolutionise their thinking. Vanessa works with leaders from all industries to implement a positive safety approach, driving meaningful change and creating the ideal conditions for both their people and organisations to thrive.
Anthony Gibbs
As the visionary CEO of Sentis, Anthony Gibbs spearheads the organisation’s transformative mission to enhance the lives of individuals and organisations each day. Anthony embarked on his career in psychology within the complex addiction and clinical areas, later applying his expertise in interpersonal dynamics and behaviour change to the intricate landscape of organisational settings. During his impactful 15-year tenure at Sentis, Anthony has cultivated robust relationships and partnerships with organisations worldwide, helping them to understand safety drivers within their workplace, and crafting strategies to improve safety, wellbeing, and overall organisational performance outcomes.
Bringing a unique understanding of varied industries including mining, utilities, oil and gas, construction, healthcare, and retail, Anthony has skilfully steered the dedicated Sentis team who play a pivotal role in delivering exceptional safety outcomes for the organisations they serve. Through mentorship and educational outreach, Gibbs constantly strives to elevate and empower others. At the core of Anthony’s leadership philosophy is a commitment to positive safety – a conviction that leaders who genuinely care about their people and their experience of safety will drive behaviours beyond compliance, ultimately leading to increased commitment, care and effort.
Simone (verified owner) –
Really helped me think about the way I understand why I think the way I do about safety. Strongly recommend this book!
Corinne –
Great read. Lots of real world examples of different concepts. Recommend for anyone in leadership or that works in or around the safety space.
James –
I’ve been following ‘new view’ safety philosophies for some time, and while I resonated with the concepts, I often struggled to make the puzzle pieces fit or find practical applications that worked in the real world – until now! The Positive Safety approach is a fresh, holistic way of thinking about safety, and it finally brings clarity to these ideas. It acknowledges that we are all human, with the understanding that mistakes happen, and it emphasizes a proactive, supportive environment. Positive Safety not only aligns with ‘new view’ principles but also provides a clear, actionable framework for creating a safety culture that is grounded in trust, resilience, and continuous improvement.
Dr Brett Solomon –
This is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to make a lasting and significant difference in their organisation’s safety culture.
Tim Whitford –
For any modern safety practitioner this book is a must read. It’s chock full of real world examples of people and organisations who do positive safety both very well, and appallingly badly. It’s like a playbook for cutting edge safety leaders and coalface workers alike and is clearly pitched, through the writing style, at the end-user rather than at academics.
I commend the authors for an outstanding work and recommend it to all.
Tia –
This book presents a fresh and scientifically backed approach to safety culture in the workplace. It is a must have for any safety professional or organisational leader – it empowers leaders to see safety as an opportunity for growth, productivity, engagement, and continuous improvement.
Darren –
Well done on sharing your insightful approach to safety in such an easy to understand and down to earth manner. Great models and tools to use, excellent shares from people who have been there and done that. Thank you for sharing concepts that can be practically applied vs promoting discussion on why certain approaches are better than others in a negative manner – refreshing. I highly recommend!