October 19 2026
By: Shawn M. Galloway
Most bad safety decisions do not feel risky in the room. They feel like agreement. We treat consensus as confidence, but unanimity is often just the sound of dissent that never made it to the table.
So before your next safety decision, run a quick check. Ask these five questions: Who has the most to lose from this decision being right, and have we heard from them? 
What would have to be true for this to be the wrong call, and is anyone tracking those signals? Who is closest to the work, and what did they tell us before we got here? If we are unanimous, what are we not looking at? And what is the one objection we keep dismissing, and is dismissing it a position we can defend?
The strongest decisions are not the ones with the least disagreement. They are the ones that invited it.
So consider: in your last major safety decision, did dissent show up because you built a place for it, or did it stay quiet because no one did?
Shawn Galloway, CEO of ProAct Safety, is an expert in safety excellence. With almost thirty years of experience, he is a highly sought-after advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. Shawn has become a trusted partner to leading organizations across various industries worldwide. He ranks in the top 1% of the most prolific writers in his field, having authored over 500 articles and several bestselling books. He also launched the world's first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence©. As a recognized authority in safety, Shawn has received awards such as being named among the Top 50 People Who Most Influence EHS and a Top 10 Speaker, among others.
He is a regular guest on Bloomberg, Fox News, The Daily Mail, Dubai One, U.S. News & World Report, Sirius Business Radio, Wharton Business Daily, and leading safety magazines and podcasts. Shawn also serves as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Business Council, and Fast Company Executive Board, enabling his influence to shape safety thinking and strategy at the executive level.
