Technical safety talk for real workplaces.
3M Science of Safety brings occupational health and safety conversations into the details: sampling methods, protection selection, exposure limits, and worker fit. Mark Reggers and Lori Wells guide measured discussions that translate safety systems into workplace questions listeners can actually use.
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3M Science of Safety is a workplace safety podcast with a technical backbone and a practical ear. It focuses on PPE, occupational exposure, and the systems that help identify hazards before they become injuries or long-term health problems. The pace is deliberate. Mark Reggers and Lori Wells ask the kinds of questions that safety managers, supervisors, workplace representatives, and employees encounter on real sites. Episodes spend time on definitions, but they do not stay abstract. Exposure assessment becomes a discussion of similar exposure groups, risk registers, personal monitoring, area sampling, surface sampling, biological and physical agents, and the limits of any method that is not properly calibrated or analyzed. That detail matters. The show repeatedly returns to the idea that good safety decisions depend on knowing the task, the worker, the material, the route of entry, and the controls already in use. Hearing protection is not treated as simply blocking noise. It is weighed against audibility, communication, intermittent exposure, and complex environments where quiet can become extremely loud without warning. Silica episodes make invisible risk concrete by tying exposure limits to construction, general industry, maritime work, foundries, artificial stone, abrasive blasting, and hydraulic fracturing. The PPE conversations are equally specific. Full body harnesses are discussed through fit, comfort, fatigue, connection points, lanyard keepers, and the consequences of poor fit or design during a fall. Head protection episodes explain shells, suspension, shock absorption, chin straps, climbing-style helmets, and side or rear impact capabilities. The language is calm and professional. The value comes from patient explanation rather than dramatic storytelling. It suits listeners who need to think through selection, use, maintenance, monitoring, and documentation with more rigor than a quick toolbox talk can provide. The show also keeps its boundaries clear, reminding listeners that local regulations, equipment instructions, and qualified professional advice still matter.
Made for: This show is for occupational health and safety professionals, safety managers, supervisors, workplace representatives, and PPE decision-makers who need careful explanations of workplace hazards and controls.
What sets it apart: Its strength is the link between scientific detail and workplace decisions: exposure groups, sampling quality, fit, comfort, communication needs, and the hierarchy of controls all get treated as connected parts of safety work.
From identifying hazards to providing education and training, 3M can help you get your job done and get you and your workers back home safely at the end of each day. In this podcast series we discuss health and safety challenges to assist in controlling workplace hazards and risks through the Science of Safety.
A snowflake in a hot tub: suddenly, invisible silica exposure has your full attention.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear, practical look at making occupational exposure monitoring more reliable and defensible.
This episode frames occupational exposure monitoring as a disciplined way to understand how workers may come into contact with hazards. It draws a clear line between personal monitoring and related approaches such as area samples, surface sampling, and monitoring for biological…
A practical introduction to mapping worker exposures and organizing workplace health information in a risk register.
Exposure assessment begins by mapping who does which work and which hazards they may meet before a workplace decides what to do next. This review gives that groundwork a practical frame, defining similar exposure groups, noting that workers can sit in more than one group, and…
A snowflake-in-a-hot-tub image makes invisible silica exposure and workplace controls easy to grasp.
Silica exposure becomes concrete as Lori Wells and Mark Reggers move from broad workplace health and safety concerns to the tiny amounts that can still injure workers.
A grounded single-episode review of how noise, chemicals, and control choices can change workplace hazard assessment.
Workplace hazards are often hardest to spot when their effects build over time or shift as materials are used on the job. This single-episode review follows that thread through noise exposure and chemical agents, with practical attention to how physical form and application…
Particle accelerators, compost piles and Queen's guitarist, all explained.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
APA's Kim Mills interviews psychology researchers on tipping, crying, and extremism.
Katie Hacker explains when exposure monitoring is triggered and why representative sampling matters.
Katie Hacker explains why a SEG is a defined group of two or more workers with similar exposures, tasks, equipment, and chemicals.
3M Science of Safety focuses on balancing hearing protection with communication needs in complex noise environments.
Lori Wells and Mark Reggers host Shari Smith from 3M’s Personal Safety Division to discuss silica and silica exposures on construction and industrial sites.
Mark Reggers and Laurie Wells host Lucre from 3M New Zealand on 3M Science of Safety, focusing on the workplace hazard-recognition stage after anticipation.
Don Russ lists what never to do to a hard hat, from storing objects under the shell to leaving it on a car dash.
Katie Arney's rule of thumb: "the lens color will block its color opposite," from gray and brown to yellow, amber and blue.
Katie Arney, a 3M application engineer and certified safety professional, explains that spectacles, goggles, face shields and welding shields each match different hazards.
3M application engineer Katie Arney tells hosts Mark Reggers and Laurie Wells that "90% of eye injuries are preventable" with properly selected and fitted eyewear.
An occupational hygienist interviews a 3M expert about conducting respiratory fit tests to ensure worker safety.
An occupational hygienist interviews a safety expert about respiratory protection factors and fit testing standards.
An occupational hygienist interviews a quality and application engineer about fall protection body harnesses, covering the ABCDs of fall protection and safety standards.