Ryan Castello: The Anthropologist In PPE Rethinking Safety, Culture, And People

On this episode of The Safety Knights Podcast, host Zach Johnston sits down with Ryan Castello, SMS, MSP, Director of Safety & Risk at CILA — and an anthropologist-turned-safety-leader who sees the job very differently than most.Ryan didn’t come up through a traditional safety path. His academic background is in anthropology, studying black and gray market economics and subcultures. After 9/11 derailed his academic plans, a “temporary” internship in safety turned into a 20+ year career spanning manufacturing, American Express, grocery/warehousing, heavy industry, and now home services.In this conversation, Zach and Ryan dig into:How an anthropology nerd fell into safety and never leftThe moment a New York City transit strike & crisis management made safety feel realWhy “most people don’t experience safety the way safety people do”The human side of fear: evacuations, injuries, ladders, and why empathy matters more than checklistsWhy Ryan intentionally didn’t change anything for the first months at a new plantTurning training from 1-hour lockout/tagout lectures into 2–5 minute, task-based mobile videosUsing QR codes and phones as safety tools instead of banning themHow learning teams and casual conversations uncover the hazards your metrics missBehavior-based safety without the blame: forcing supervisors to give 80% positive feedbackWhat’s broken about how we talk about “safety culture” — and why Ryan says it basically doesn’t existNight shift, donuts, and why micro-cultures matter more than slogansWhy you shouldn’t stay in a bad safety job just to “tough it out”Switching industries (print → finance → grocery → manufacturing → home services) and why safety skills travelHow to speak leadership’s language: TRIR vs. downtime, revenue, and cost per $100kTech he trusts (microlearning, translation, QR tools) vs. where he’s skeptical of AI & surveillanceIf you’re a safety pro trying to build trust, simplify training, or get better support from operations and leadership, this one is packed with practical, human-centered insight.🛡️ Join the Safety Knights community: https://SafetyKnights.com/join-us🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations with the protectors of the industry.🤝 Connect with Ryan Castello on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.#SafetyKnights #SafetyPodcast #EHS #SafetyLeadership #Anthropology #WorkplaceSafety #SafetyCulture #RiskManagement #LearningTeams #Microlearning