In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr David Provan, an award-winning safety researcher who investigated the role of safety professionals. David is also the CEO of Forge Works, founder of Safety Futures, and host of ‘The Safety of Work’ podcast.David begins by explaining why it’s important to define the role of the HSE professional and what role scientific research plays in the safety profession.He then shares the main factors that shape the role of a safety professional, which he’s categorized as: institutional, relational, and individual.David discusses the limited decision-making authority held by safety leaders and how they can move from a position of challenging to influencing to improve workplace safety.A key part of David’s research was exploring the identity of a safety professional. He discovered real tensions playing out in the mindset of safety people, concluding that the identity is confusing and paradoxical!David’s enlightening research findings are essential listening for EHS practitioners, and he also shares his ‘scary’ conclusions after studying the activity of HSE professionals. Do you agree you spend too much time on safety work rather than initiatives directly contributing to the safety of work?This high-impact interview will get you thinking deeply about why and how you do what you do as a safety professional.Find out more about David’s Safety Consultancy work:Forge Works and Safety FuturesThe podcast David co-hosts:The Safety of WorkDavid’s recommends Paper Safe by Greg Smithhttps://www.amazon.com/Paper-Safe-triumph-bureaucracy-management-ebook/dp/B07HVRZY8CDavid Provan on LinkedIn:David Provan | LinkedInSafety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find us at www.sliceproducts.comIf you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@sliceproducts.com