S01:E18 Lucky or Good? Understanding Risk and the Science of Safety with Steve Smith

What if safety was not just about preventing things from going wrong, but learning more deeply from why things usually go right?In this episode of The Outdoor Education Podcast, Rob is joined by Steve Smith, founder of Experiential Consulting and author of Safety Science for Outdoor and Experiential Education. Together, they explore how outdoor educators, schools and programme leaders can think more clearly about risk, safety, judgement and purposeful challenge.Steve shares how his experiences in outdoor risk management shaped his thinking around beneficial risk, organisational culture and learning in dynamic environments.The conversation moves through risk literacy, the limits of being “paper safe”, the difference between work as imagined and work as done, and the importance of learning from near misses, workarounds and everyday success.This episode is full of thoughtful, practical insight for outdoor educators, school leaders and anyone interested in building a more honest, human and learning-centred approach to safety and risk.Find out more about Steve and Experiential Consulting:https://outdoorrisk.comSteve’s book, Safety Science for Outdoor and Experiential Education, is available here: https://a.co/d/05226cTB