In this episode of Building Doors, host Lauren Karan sits down with Dr. Sean Brady, a forensic engineer, safety expert, and founder of Brady Heywood Consulting. Known for leading the landmark Brady Review into fatal mining accidents, Sean breaks down why our current approach to safety is fundamentally flawed and how the way we design systems, reward behavior, and report incidents can quietly create the very risks we think we are preventing.
Sean shares what he discovered while investigating major failures across mining, aviation, health, and engineering, and why so many organizations unknowingly encourage silence, hide near misses, and measure the wrong things entirely. From normalization of deviance to the dangers of chasing zero-harm metrics, this episode challenges leaders to rethink how they view systems, human behavior, and organizational learning.
Whether you lead teams, manage major projects, or simply want to understand what true safety looks like, Sean's insights will shift how you think about risk, leadership, and culture.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Rethinking Safety and System Design:
- Why most companies mistake the absence of incidents for the presence of safety.
- The real reason safety statistics often hide, not reveal, fatal risks.
- How normalization of deviance creeps into everyday work and leads to catastrophic failures.
- Why high-reliability organizations like aviation do not rely on compliance alone.
Leadership, Reporting, and Culture:
- Why bad news rarely flows upward and how leaders can change that.
- How to create a culture where people report near misses instead of hiding them.
- Why learning beats blaming and how organizations unintentionally punish honesty.
- What senior leaders must do to build genuine psychological safety.
Building Systems That Actually Keep People Alive:
- Why effective controls, not hazards, determine whether people survive high-risk work.
- How to design critical controls and verify their effectiveness continuously.
- The powerful difference between set-and-forget systems versus systems that learn.
- How dropped object reports and near misses can reveal deep system weaknesses.
Key Quotes from Dr. Sean Brady:
- "It is not hazards that kill people, it is ineffective controls."
- "Zero harm sounds good, but what your people hear is: do not report anything."
- "When you cannot measure what is important, you make what you can measure important."
- "High-reliability organizations do not expect perfection. They expect things to go wrong."
- "Our companies are built for good news to flow up, not bad news."
About Our Guest:
Dr. Sean Brady is a forensic engineer, consultant, and internationally recognized expert in safety and organizational failure. Through his company, Brady Heywood Consulting, Sean investigates complex failures across high-risk industries and helps leaders understand how systems break and how to design organizations that learn, adapt, and prevent catastrophic events. His work on the Brady Review reshaped how Australia views mining fatalities and organizational risk.
About Your Host:
Lauren Karan, founder of Karan & Co. and host of Building Doors, is dedicated to helping professionals unlock their potential. Through insightful interviews and real-life stories, Lauren empowers listeners to create opportunities and thrive in their careers.
How You Can Support the Podcast:
- Subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
- Share this episode with anyone interested in sustainability and leadership.
- Connect with Dr. Sean Brady on LinkedIn to learn more about his work.
Stay Connected:
- Follow Lauren and the Building Doors podcast on LinkedIn.
- Subscribe to the Building Doors newsletter for exclusive content.
Let’s Connect:
- Want to be a guest or share feedback? Email us at reachout@buildingdoors.com.au.
Thank you for listening! It’s time to stop waiting and start building.
What is Building Doors with Lauren Karan?
Building Doors, hosted by Lauren Karan, is the podcast for ambitious professionals in construction, infrastructure, and engineering ready to accelerate their careers and lead with impact. Each episode explores how top industry leaders built their success and what it takes to stand out.
Lauren shares practical strategies for career growth, networking, and influence, along with insights on leadership, hiring trends, and the future of the industry. You’ll hear real conversations with CEOs, project managers, and innovators shaping the built environment.
Tune in every two weeks for expert guidance and inspiration—and start building doors to your future.