David Hazell Speaks at Global HSE Conference 2025: Advancing HSE Culture – Climbing the HSE Culture Ladder

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David Hazell, Senior Vice President at CAVU | The RelyOn Leadership Academy, led a highly impactful workshop earlier today at the Global HSE Conference 2025. The workshop, titled Advancing HSE Culture – Climbing the HSE Culture Ladder, provided valuable insights on how organizations can evolve their safety cultures from compliance-driven to behavior-embedded, making safety an instinctive part of daily operations.

Many organizations face the challenge of progressing from a reactive, compliance-based safety culture to one where safety is naturally integrated into the organization's decision-making, leadership, and daily behaviors. The HSE Culture Ladder framework offers an insightful approach to help organizations assess and enhance their safety culture, transitioning them to a proactive safety mindset that drives long-term success.

In today’s session, David took attendees through the five levels of the HSE Culture Ladder and provided actionable steps that leaders can use to evaluate their organization's safety culture, identify barriers, and implement strategies to foster engagement, accountability, and proactive leadership in safety.

Key Takeaways

  • Understanding the Five Levels of the HSE Culture Ladder: Attendees gained a comprehensive understanding of the five levels that organizations can use to assess and advance their safety culture.
  • Identifying Barriers: Leaders learned to identify the cultural, leadership, and behavioral barriers that may have been hindering progress and how to address them effectively.
  • Leadership Strategies for Engagement: Proven leadership strategies were shared that foster a culture of psychological safety, proactive safety behavior, and accountability.
  • Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Participants walked away with tools and strategies to create an environment where safety is woven into the fabric of the organization, becoming an intrinsic part of daily operations.

By the end of the session, leaders were equipped with a clear path forward to transform their organizations' safety cultures into resilient, high-performance environments where safety isn’t just a requirement, but a deeply ingrained core value.

Presenter Profile: David Hazell

Former RAF fast jet squadron commander with extensive experience in high-risk environments, crisis leadership, and cultural transformation. Led teams through operational adversity, including managing the closure of the RAF’s largest fast jet squadron after a fatal accident. Transitioned into corporate leadership,helping high-hazard industries build resilient safety cultures and leadership strategies. Now Senior Vice-President Eastern Hemisphere at CAVU, overseeing global operations and coaching multinational teams across six continents. Holds a Master’s in International Studies from King’s College London.

For more updates on CAVU's involvement in industry events, be sure to follow our blog and connect with us to learn more about how our leadership development programs are making a difference worldwide.

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