Leslie Rex Stockel
EP
91

Making Sense of Evolving Safety Approaches with Leslie Rex Stockel

This week on Safety Labs by Safety Products Global: Leslie Rex Stockel. With decades in safety practice and education, Leslie has seen ideas rise, fall, and even return in different guises. She challenges EHS professionals to look past silver bullets, balance technical rigor with cultural skill, and stop mistaking branding for understanding. From Heinrich to Safety Third, she offers a balanced perspective on what actually improves workplace safety.

In This Episode

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Leslie Rex Stockel, Associate Professor of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology at Oklahoma State University and a long-time leader in safety education.

Drawing on decades of experience and teaching, Leslie reflects on how safety ideas evolved from Taylor and Heinrich to behavior-based safety and human performance. And assesses the impact of approaches like safety third.

She questions whether leaders are patient enough to give new approaches a chance and warns against the profession’s tendency to chase silver bullets rather than focusing on sustained incremental improvement.

Leslie explores the growing imbalance between cultural and technical safety, warning that strong people skills cannot compensate for weak technical foundations.

Throughout the conversation, she offers candid, practical advice for EHS professionals to assess their own gaps, strengthen both sides of their practice and focus on what truly keeps people safe at work.

Transcript

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