Safety WALK Safety TALK: How small changes in what you THINK, SAY, and DO shape your safety culture

Every safety culture is shaped by what leaders consistently think, say, and do.
The question is: what kind of culture are your actions creating?

In Safety WALK Safety TALK, David Allan Galloway draws on more than 35 years of manufacturing and safety leadership experience to explore one of the most difficult challenges organizations face—creating a sustainable, injury-free workplace.

Rather than offering “silver bullet” solutions, Galloway reveals how small, intentional leadership actions can reduce risk-taking, improve hazard awareness, and strengthen trust and collaboration throughout the workplace. The organizations with the strongest safety cultures are rarely doing one extraordinary thing. They are doing many small things consistently—and doing them well.

Through practical examples, leadership stories, and research in psychology, sociology, and neuroscience, Safety WALK Safety TALK provides a relatable framework for influencing safer decisions and stronger safety performance. Galloway explores the difference between compliance and commitment, why people make mistakes and take risks, how social influence shapes behavior, and why the right safety conversation can change outcomes long before an incident occurs.

Inside the book, you’ll discover:

• Why people take risks—even when they know better
• How thoughts, words, and actions shape safety culture
• How leadership behaviors influence workplace performance
• How to facilitate meaningful safety conversations
• Practical ways to build trust, accountability, and commitment

Each chapter includes a SAFETY LEADER’S TOOLBOX™ featuring more than 70 practical tools and leadership strategies that can be applied immediately in the field.

Practical, conversational, and action-oriented, Safety WALK Safety TALK challenges leaders to move beyond compliance—and start shaping a culture where people want to do the right things for the right reasons.