Why am I writing this book? Because I believe it’s important to discuss the topic of leadership as it impacts safety. When I’m talking about leadership, I’m talking about leadership at all levels, whether it be your personal leadership skills, the skills you draw on as a leader of teams or as a manager, and also the act of being a visionary who identifies and mentors those who will become our next generation of leaders.

Safety can be broken down into physical and psychological safety, both of which are important to the culture of an organization. My dream is to eliminate workplace death and injury. Unreasonable? Maybe. But others have undertaken similar goals and have significantly reduced death and injury in their workplaces. I will argue that the quickest way to achieve this goal is to improve leadership skills throughout an organization, especially in the trades where leadership is less likely to be a training priority.

Throughout this book, you will learn about my lifetime passion for safety, in all aspects, and my lifetime involvement with the trades. My hope is that, at the end of this book, you feel inspired to improve your own leadership skills and the leadership skills of those with whom you work. If we work together, we can improve safety and save lives in the trades.