You can count every close call. Flag every incident. Build dashboards that glow brighter than the job site lights. But here’s what numbers won’t tell you: if your crew trusts you. If they feel safe, heard, and human at work. Because when trust is missing, all that data? Just background noise.

Real safety isn’t enforced. It’s earned—through connection, not just compliance.

That’s the shift Johanna Pagonis made after years in public service and law. Her work didn’t begin with site hazards—it began with human behaviour. What causes people to speak up—or stay silent? What does leadership look like when it actually protects people?

She didn’t plan to work in the safety space. But when a former colleague—a safety lawyer, no less—told her, “This is exactly what we’re missing,” she leaned in.

Her approach? Teach people to lead with heart. Because you can have the latest gear and gold-standard training, but if your people don’t feel psychologically safe None of it holds.

You Can’t See Trust on a Spreadsheet

We talk about helmets. We talk about gloves. We talk about checklists. But we rarely talk about fear. The kind that keeps someone quiet when they spot a risk. The kind that whispers, “Don’t rock the boat.”

Johanna’s work focuses on making room for people to care—out loud. Not just about tasks, but about each other. Because no one should have to choose between speaking up and keeping their job.

This isn’t “extra.” It’s not fluff. It’s a foundation.

And it’s working. Her programs are being rolled out across law enforcement agencies, government branches, and organizations like Women Building Futures. This isn’t just a leadership challenge. It’s a culture one.

Tech Is Evolving. But It Still Comes Down to People.

Jennifer Lastra’s story proves it.

She’s a Navy veteran. A former electrician in shipyards. Today, she runs a VR safety company—one focused on impact, not bells and whistles. Her goal isn’t to check training boxes. It’s to shift mindset.

By immersing workers in high-stakes simulations, Jennifer helps them connect with the emotional weight of risk. Because when people feel a moment—not just study it—they remember it. They change.

But ask her what really matters? It’s not the tech.

“We’re not here to show off virtual reality,” she says. “We’re here to help people see what they couldn’t before.”

 

Smart Safety Starts With Listening

Yes, metrics matter. But they only show what happened. They can’t explain why someone held their tongue. They won’t tell you who’s halfway out the door. They won’t catch the fractures in your culture until it’s too late.

That takes empathy. Curiosity. A willingness to ask, “How are we really doing?”—and mean it.

Because anyone can enforce the rules. It takes real leadership to create trust.

So next time you sit down with your team, skip the checklist for a moment. Ask this instead:
“Is there anything we’ve been missing?”

And really listen to the answer.