Ep. 22: The Idiots Are Taking Over

Ep. 22: The Idiots Are Taking Over

Author: Ben Goodheart, David Provan, Ron Gantt January 8, 2025 Duration: 59:09
Don't you think Punk Rock Safety isn't taking safety seriously enough? Making jokes about safety is surely a sign that some idiot doesn't care enough, right? Uhhh, no. And that applies to safety pros who are having a good time, laughing, and joking as they do their jobs, too. Why aren't people saying, "Whoa, this is fucking awesome!" when the safety folks come around? If the seriousness that a lot of people think is associated with safety was working, we wouldn't be fighting to get folks' attention all the time. If safety is supposed to be about valuing and connecting with people, then we have to bring in all the stuff that makes life interesting. That's a big part of punk, too. Connecting with people through a common story and supporting one another even when shit gets gnarly. Fun and serious aren't opposites, dude, and if it's boring even to the people doing it, what the hell chance do we have of being helpful? The boys talk about safety as the "fun police" and more. It's a super serious conversation. Pinky promise.

Hosts Ben Goodheart, David Provan, and Ron Gantt aren't interested in comfortable safety myths. Their Punk Rock Safety podcast operates on a straightforward, if humbling, premise: many of our most deeply held beliefs about safety in workplaces and organizations are fundamentally flawed, and we've all likely absorbed a few. This isn't about intelligence, but about the sheer volume of misguided concepts that dominate the field. Each episode is a direct conversation between the three, dissecting these pervasive ideas with a blend of practical experience and critical thinking drawn from management, social science, and business. You'll hear them challenge dogma, question standard procedures that sound good but don't work, and argue for a more realistic, human-centered approach. The tone is conversational and often irreverent, but the goal is serious-to cut through the noise and replace empty safety rhetoric with something more substantive and effective. Tuning into this podcast means joining a discussion that prioritizes honest inquiry over easy answers, all in the service of creating environments where people are genuinely protected.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Punk Rock Safety
Podcast Episodes
Ep. 30: First Ditch Effort [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:07
First off, every new episode is sort of a surprise, but making it to Episode 30 is about 29 more than the boys expected. And of course the title is from a NOFX album. In celebration of Ron's (new) real job at a bit of a…
Ep. 29: Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:51
Two-thirds of the dickheads on this podcast are consultants, so an episode about consulting seemed like a good idea. Also, there's a lot of chatter at conferences, online, and probably in bars that play ska music about h…
Ep. 28: Insulted By Germans (Again) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:45
It's almost a theme at this point, but if you guessed the episode title is also a NOFX song, you're the winner. It's a pretty deep cut from the Backstage Pass album, but it gets right to the point of this episode - that…
Ep. 27: Eat The Meek [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:26
Hey, you guessed it - a title from a NOFX song. This time, the boys are talking about power. It's a pretty punk rock topic, because there's a lot of music about subverting power. The conversation starts with the same BS…
Ep. 26: Anarchy in the U(S) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:06
Like the Sex Pistols song, but with more cowboys and stuff. There's been some talk of abolishing the health and safety regulator - OSHA - in the US. It's pretty punk to think of full-scale safety anarchy, but is that wha…
Ep. 25: Safety Is Easy (Like Your Mom) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:28
Ron is back! Turns out that even a punk band needs a lead guitar, no matter how simple some people say it is to play. In this episode, the boys stumble onto the topic of whether safety can be a simple formula. There are…
Ep. 24: Digging A Hole For Myself (With Josh Bryant) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:46
Josh Bryant joins the pod for this episode because Ron's out doing real work, apparently. Joshie is a big-time safety and risk guy in the mining industry, and he's Australian, so this episode gets a Frenzal Rhomb song ti…
Ep. 23: Los Angeles is Burning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:19
Shit. Things are crazy, man. As the Bad Religion song says, "Los Angeles Is Burning." Link to the song below, if you're into that sort of thing. Seriously, though, if you're one of the 11 listeners and you're out in LA a…
Ep. 21: Do They Owe Us a Living? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:56
It's a Christmas miracle! We made it to 21. Seriously, though, this episode is coming out on Christmas or the day after, depending on where you are in the world. You're welcome. Man, some weird shit's been going down in…
Ep. 20: I'm So Sorry Tony [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:34
Sometimes bad shit happens to good people. We know it's weird, but here's another episode with a NOFX title. This time, it's a song about Tony Sly's (from No Use For a Name) death. Good dude and an awesome musician, but…