The Manufacturing Edge - For Ops Leaders · 2026-06-01 · 12 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
23 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
TBM's five-step safety playbook - Assess, Make Visible, Build, Train, and Sustain - transforms reactive safety cultures into interdependent ones where safety is collectively owned across all levels. Speaker Nasser emphasizes that most food and beverage operations believe they're proactive based on programs and metrics, but floor observations reveal reactive behavior; the gap between policy on paper and actual practice is where incidents happen. The assessment phase maps current state using tools like Pareto analysis to categorize injuries and identify root causes (behavioral vs. unsafe conditions), while the visibility phase quantifies safety costs and creates burning platforms for change. Building involves establishing safety committees, appointing safety managers, and embedding safety into continuous improvement efforts like Kaizen events. Training ensures standard work documentation and process adherence, but sustainment - conducting Gemba walks specifically for safety hazards like tripping hazards and contamination risks - is the hardest and most critical step, requiring 2-3 years of consistent effort. Operations leaders should commission honest third-party assessments of safety culture across production floors, people, and suppliers rather than assuming regulatory compliance equals cultural safety. The episode targets plant operations executives, safety managers, and facility leaders seeking to eliminate the culture-policy gap and achieve interdependent safety without sacrificing operational efficiency or OEE.
The five steps are: Assess (diagnostic of current state using tools like Pareto analysis), Make Visible (share findings and quantify safety costs), Build (establish safety committees and embed safety in continuous improvement), Train and Do (document standard work and ensure process adherence), and Sustain (conduct ongoing Gemba walks and continuous improvement processes).
Most companies believe they're proactive because they have safety programs, metrics in place, and leadership that talks about safety; however, when floor behaviors are observed, they respond well to incidents after they happen rather than systematically preventing them beforehand, which is the hallmark of reactive culture.
According to the episode, achieving truly interdependent safety culture where safety is collectively owned at every level takes 2-3 years of consistent work with no shortcuts; it requires ongoing training of new employees, process reinforcement, and sustained management effort to prevent bad habits from spreading on the shop floor.
Leaders should conduct candid, honest assessments across all three parts of safety culture - the production floor, the people, and suppliers - rather than assuming regulatory compliance equals cultural safety; organizations need to 'find it before it finds you' by proactively identifying gaps.
Safety should be integrated directly into Kaizen teams by requiring 3-5 safety improvements every time a Kaizen event occurs, ensuring that throughput and quality improvements don't come at the expense of safety, and making safety part of standard continuous improvement discipline.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode moves through a generic five-step consulting framework with very little that a practiced ops leader wouldn't already know. A handful of mildly concrete points (2-3 year culture timeline, 3-5 safety improvements per Kaizen) are buried in extended filler and restatements of the framework.
Takes two to three years of consistent work and there's no shortcut now you just have to keep driving it
if you do a Kaizen team, generally we ask for three to five safety improvements every time we do a Kaizen
The reactive-to-proactive-to-interdependent culture spectrum is a well-known framework (effectively the Bradley Curve) and every other tool cited - Pareto, Gemba walks, Kaizen - is textbook lean manufacturing. The closing claim that safety and performance aren't trade-offs is a common industry talking point, not a fresh argument.
we like to rate safety culture on a spectrum from reactive to proactive to interdependent
safety and operational performance are not trade offs
Nasser presents as an experienced operations and safety consultant, but this is an internal TBM marketing podcast with the firm's own consultants interviewing each other. There is no evidence of independent practitioner credibility at scale, and the conversation is promotional in structure rather than operator-to-operator.
having bid in operations and run operations from an internal perspective, you know, kind of go snowblind after a while
When's the last time you've done a candid, honest assessment on all three parts of the safety culture?
Almost no named companies, dollar figures, or outcome data appear anywhere in the transcript. The only concrete figures are a rough timeline (2-3 years) and a Kaizen heuristic (3-5 safety items), while claimed benefits like improved OEE and retailer relationships are asserted without any supporting evidence.
Takes two to three years of consistent work
generally we ask for three to five safety improvements every time we do a Kaizen
The hosts ask entirely scripted, open-ended prompts that serve as cues for the guest to recite TBM's framework. There is no pushback, no probing follow-up, and the hosts openly acknowledge their promotional intent mid-episode, removing any pretense of independent editorial scrutiny.
Do you want to speak a little bit to each of those steps and what that might look like
I hate getting off our solutions because, uh, I do think they're very, uh, exciting
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Narrator: The Manufacturing Edge where ops leaders break barriers, drive growth and redefine what's possible. This three part podcast explores what it really takes to run a safe, high performing food and beverage operation every day on the plant floor. Part three turns insight into action, outlining a practical five step safety playbook to embed safety into daily management and long term performance.
Will: I would like to switch gears and talk about our approach. What do we do when uh, we come into a facility or operation, uh, from a safety management and optimization perspective? We do have five main process steps here at TBM that we like to run by the assessment, making uh, visible, building the actual structure, training and actually doing the work and sustainment to continue hopefully well past uh, those first four steps. But there is a sixth dimension as well, uh, which I know you've touched on a bit previously here in the episode and that's the culture. Either culture maturity or just the definition of culture in a more general sense. I think we here at tbm, we like to rate safety culture on a spectrum from reactive to proactive to interdependent. And I think most companies would love to hear your input on this. They think they're a little bit farther along than they truly are. And that gap between policy on paper and culture is exactly where incidents occur. Is that a fair assessment of your experience, Nasser?
Nasser: Well, you're absolutely right. Most companies when we assess them, uh, believe that they have proactive safety culture because they've got programs in place, they got metrics in place, leadership talks about safety. But when, when we push uh, into the active behaviors on the floor, most are actually just reactive. Right? Uh, like we talked about earlier, not proactive, reactive. I know they respond really well to incidents, uh, when they happen, but they don't systematically uh, prevent them. Again, getting to truly interdependent, uh, where safety is owned collectively at every level takes years. Takes two to three years of consistent work and there's no shortcut now you just have to keep driving it, keep building the culture, uh, as new employees come on, making sure that they're following processes. And you know, a lot of times you train somebody in a uh, in a conference room and say here's what our safety culture should be and this is how you want you to behave. And then they go on the shop floor, right? And they go to work and they see others around them that been there and not following the processes, not following the procedures. And they soon learned that what they talked about in the conference room is not what's happening on the floor. Right? They uh, pick up on those bad habits. So two, three years of going in, making sure, like you said, the sustainment part is absolutely critical. And making sure you sustain, uh, what you put in place, it doesn't fall out.
Will: Now, Nasser, let's talk about what the path forward, forward may look like from a safety management and optimization perspective. I know at tbm, our approach is structured around five key steps being assessment, uh, doing that diagnostic, making visible, actually building, uh, the structure of safety management, having operators and frontline workers trained, and actually doing it in practice. And then that sustainment, uh, following that. Do you want to speak a little bit to each of those steps and what that might look like and maybe you know, what that means for an organization that's not doing these steps?
Nasser: Yeah, sure. Well, um, you know, having a outside set of eyes come in. And so the first step would be assess, right? Um, making sure that we see what current state looks like, um, map the current state, look at the injuries and why the injuries are happening. So categorize injuries. We use tools like Pareto to uh, quantify, uh, what's happening and then, uh, look at the root causes. Right. Is it behavior based or is it, uh, some sort of unsafe condition? So truly assessing the entire process and looking at what current looks like compared to their operational KPIs would be the first step. And then as we start helping to make improvements, we make it visible. Right? So share findings, um, quantifying the cost of safety or not having proper safety in place, and then continue to address the corrective actions and addressing the burning platforms for the change. And then we build a safety structure. Right. So making sure the safety committee is in place, um, you have a safety manager that can oversee the process coordination, uh, with uh, the different agencies and authorities, and then embed safety in the culture, the CI culture. So if you do a Kaizen team, generally we ask for three to five safety improvements every time we do a Kaizen. So you may be doing a Kaizen for better throughput, better quality, but addressing safety is absolutely critical. And then the next phase, uh, step four would be the training and the doing so. Making sure you got the documentation in place, you got your standard work, uh, processes in place, uh, people are following the standard processes and making sure that it's in place and training people. Right. And then sustain. Sustain is always the, uh, hardest thing to do in any operation. Making sure that you're going back and checking. Uh, so a lot of times if I'm setting up my team to go do Gemba walks, uh, we specifically look for Safety, specific safety things. Um, are there uh, tripping hazards? Are there uh, hazards where somebody can cut themselves? Are there issues where product could get contaminated? So addressing those as well, that's a
Will: great perspective and I appreciate the walkthrough of that. I know a lot of companies think they can do this internally and have that sense, uh, of self, which I'm sure they can. Uh, but like anything, it is great to have that fresh set of eyes, third party to come in and look at it, to say, okay, you know, we haven't seen this before. We're not entrenched in these processes and we can take a step back and say, okay, here's maybe where, uh, we've seen things falter in the past, um, which you know, these companies may not have. Uh, and just having that external uh, perspective, uh, is so important.
Nasser: Absolutely Will. I mean having bid in operations and run operations from an internal perspective, you know, kind of go snowblind after a while. You don't see the things that are just blaring out there because you got so many other things going on that you're looking for. So uh, having a fresh set of eyes, an external resource come in and taking your, take a look at your facility is absolutely critical. It'll help you see things that you, uh, don't see every day.
Will: Of the five of those areas we talked about, what do you think is the most important? Obviously they're all key to understanding where a safety incident might occur, uh, how to mitigate that. But what are the first four going to do if sustainment and actual consistent practice isn't being followed? So yeah, it sounds like that's a very key aspect of it, just like in other aspects.
Nasser: Um, you know, you're absolutely right again, and I jumped at sustainment. You know, all five are critical to get us to sustainment. The assess phase.
Nasser: Right.
Nasser: Making sure that you honestly assess what's current state. Like I talked about earlier, we go out, we process map making sure everything, uh, and truly identify what the issues are. That's critical. And then like you mentioned, making things visible and making sure that things are obvious when, when safety isn't being met, when processes aren't being met. M. That's usually the burning platform. Right. So again, that's part of the organizational change that you got to drive and that leads to uh, the sustainment part and then the continuous improvement part as well. Right. So not put something in place today and think you're done, uh, you got to go back and continuously put a process in place that corrective Action needs processes in place that will help continue to address issues as they come up.
Will: I, um, hate to do this. I know we're kind of nearing the end of the episode and I hate getting off our solutions because, uh, I do think they're very, uh, exciting and also, uh, they just make sense, you know, talking about what TBM can do and the approach of some of our consultants. What you would do, what when being on the floor. I would like to ask one final question. Uh, and that being if there are any senior operations or safety leaders listening to the episode right now and they're maybe unsure of what their biggest exposure is, uh, from a safety perspective, what do you think the first step they should take should be?
Nasser: If I'm talking to senior leadership, my challenge would be, when's the last time you've done a candid, honest assessment on all three parts of the safety culture?
Nasser: Right.
Nasser: The production floor, the people, and, uh, your suppliers. Again, not just say that we were covered by regulation, but what's the culture look like? What does safety look like? So again, find it before it finds you.
Nasser: Right?
Will: I think, uh, most organizations hope they can find it, but it's really, truly about putting those processes in place to find it. Nasser, this is, uh, starting to be the close of the episodes. I just want to thank you for your perspective today. I think it's a truly important and sometimes overlooked aspect of operations safety. And I know with your experience it, uh, can be invaluable for companies that are looking for any, uh, type of assistance or just that perspective, uh, in general. Um, do you have any closing remarks before we log off today?
Nasser: I think what I want people to take away from this is that safety and operational performance are not trade offs. Um, they work together.
Nasser: Right?
Nasser: So the facilities that I work with that have the strongest safety culture also have the best oee, the lowest turnover, uh, the strongest retailer relationships. Uh, they're not safer despite being efficient. They're both because of the same underlying discipline. Right. Uh, they're better companies, better product, because of a good safety culture, and they said it better.
Will: For those of you who are listening and, uh, would maybe like more perspective, uh, please reach out to Nasser, uh, directly. You can find his information, uh, online, or you can, uh, reach out to TBM and we can get a conversation going. If you feel this episode was useful, feel free to share it with someone maybe on your leadership team, uh, or who may need to hear it, uh, in your network. We've unfortunately reached the end of this episode of the Manufacturing Edge. Nasser, thank you so much again for having this conversation with me today.
Nasser: Been a pleasure, Will. Looking forward to, uh, other conversations.
Will: Yeah, Pleasure. As always, this has been the manufacturing edge. And as always, we'll see you on the next episode.
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