Relationships are the Real MVP of Safety
You can track near-misses. You can log incidents. You can build a dashboard so detailed it glows in the dark. But here’s the thing: you can’t spreadsheet trust. And if your team doesn’t trust you—doesn’t feel seen, safe, or supported—all those beautiful metrics are noise.
Safety isn’t built on rules. It’s built on relationships.
That’s what Johanna Pagonis figured out after a decade inside government and law. Her background wasn’t in hardhats and hazard zones. It was in leadership and emotional intelligence. It was in understanding why people either speak up or stay silent. She didn’t plan to enter the safety world. But when a former colleague (a safety lawyer, no less) told her, “This is exactly what the industry needs,” she listened.
So she started doing something radical: teaching people how to lead with the heart. It’s a hard truth. You can have the best gear, best checklist, best training program money can buy …but if no one feels safe to speak up, it can fall apart.
The Invisible Injuries Cost the Most
We talk a lot about PPE. But what about psychological safety? Johanna’s work is grounded in one idea: people don’t need more rules—they need permission to care. They need leaders who listen, not just enforce. They need to know that raising a concern won’t get them punished, labeled, or iced out of the next promotion.
This isn’t fluff. It’s not “soft skills.” It’s a survival strategy.
And it works. Her programs are now being used by law enforcement agencies across Canada. Municipalities. Federal departments. She’s building instructor programs for organizations like Women Building Futures. This isn’t just a leadership problem. It’s a systemic culture shift.
Jennifer Lastra is building the tech. But it’s still about the people.
Now swing over to Jennifer Lastra’s world—where virtual reality meets real-world trauma. She’s a Navy vet. A former shipyard electrician. Now, she’s the founder of a VR safety training company. The focus is less on “box checking” and more on behavior change.
Her focus is psychological immersion. Helping learners feel consequences, not just memorize them. Because when a simulation hits close to home, people remember. They reflect. They recalibrate. But even Jennifer admits: tech is just the delivery method. The mission is human. The power is in empathy.
“I never realized how unsafe it all was—until I had time to reflect,” she said. “We’re not trying to impress people with VR. We’re trying to help them see the blind spots.”
This isn’t a soft approach. It’s a smart one.
Metrics still matter. But they only tell you what happened. They don’t tell you why your team didn’t speak up. They don’t tell you who’s quiet-quitting behind their safety glasses. They don’t warn you when the foundation of your safety culture is starting to crack. That takes listening. Vulnerability. Courage. It takes leading with the heart.
Anyone can recite the rules. Only the brave ones build trust. So the next time you’re in a safety meeting, try something different. Instead of asking “Did you complete the checklist?” ask “Is there anything we’re missing?” And mean it.
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