From “Safety Cop” to Trusted Advocate: How Hal Wheatley is Leading with People, not Policies

For many organizations, safety still operates in the background, a checklist to complete, a box to tick, a compliance report to submit. But for Hal Wheatley, Corporate Safety Director at Manhattan Construction Company, safety is something much deeper. It’s not about policies for the sake of policies. It’s about people.

In the latest episode of The Canary Report, Hal joins host Michael Zalle for a candid and human-centered conversation about what it really means to lead safety at scale. Drawing from over 30 years of experience, including a background in ministry and frontline leadership, Hal shares how his personal journey shaped a leadership style that prioritizes connection over control, and advocacy over enforcement.

Safety Isn’t the Passion; People Are

A key insight from the episode comes early, when Hal flips a common leadership narrative on its head:

“I’m not passionate about safety. I’m passionate about people. Safety is just the conduit I use to show them I care.”

That one line reframes how we think about the role of a safety leader. For Hal, it’s never been about falling in love with procedures or regulatory frameworks. It’s about using safety as a vehicle to make sure people go home at the end of the day, healthy, whole, and seen.

This shift from policy to people isn’t just theoretical. It shows up in how Hal engages with teams, how Manhattan Construction trains its safety leaders, and how culture is built across eight geographically dispersed regions.

Breaking the “Safety Cop” Mold

Let’s face it, the “safety cop” stigma is real. For decades, safety professionals have been seen as the rule enforcers, the gotcha guys, the folks who show up only when something’s gone wrong. Hal knows this role well, and he’s actively working to dismantle it.

“We need to convey the message that we are their advocates, not their adversaries.”

That starts with presence. Hal’s team doesn’t sit behind desks or operate from a distance. They’re in the field, walking jobsites, talking to workers, and building relationships face-to-face. It’s not performative, it’s consistent. And that consistency builds trust.

It also means rejecting the “gotcha” mindset. Hal warns that when leaders show up looking for violations instead of opportunities to connect, they build barriers, not bridges. The goal isn’t to catch people doing something wrong, it’s to catch them doing things right, and to coach them toward safer decisions.

Culture First, Metrics Second

Yes, metrics matter. Incident rates, leading indicators, and near-miss reports are critical to any safety program. But Hal is clear: data only tells part of the story.

At Manhattan Construction, safety metrics are reviewed monthly and quarterly at both the regional and organizational levels. But those reviews are collaborative, involving multiple safety leaders across regions, and always grounded in context.

“We slow it down. We get the full picture. And we ask better questions.”

The process includes asking “why” repeatedly to identify true root causes, rather than reacting to surface-level symptoms. By fostering an environment of open dialogue and shared accountability, Hal’s team avoids blame and focuses on learning. That mindset shift has helped foster psychological safety among field workers,  making it safer to speak up and easier to report issues before they become emergencies.

A Distributed, Yet Connected Safety Team

With eight active regions under Manhattan’s umbrella, consistency could easily become a challenge. But Hal has built a safety leadership structure that encourages both autonomy and alignment. Regional safety leaders meet every other week, not just to report out, but to support each other, share learnings, and keep building the cultural thread that ties their work together. 

Field visits remain a cornerstone of the strategy, not as an audit mechanism, but as a way to stay grounded in the day-to-day experiences of their teams. It’s how corporate leadership stays connected to the actual jobsite and how leadership decisions stay rooted in reality, not assumptions.

From Incident Response to Root Cause Thinking

One of the most powerful sections of the conversation focuses on how Hal’s team handles incidents when they do occur. The traditional model often involves reactive, one-dimensional responses: assign blame, fix the issue, move on.

But Hal’s approach is more thoughtful and more effective. Each incident is reviewed as part of a larger system. Leaders from different regions come together to discuss what happened, why it happened, and what can be done differently in the future. Assumptions are challenged. Context is valued. And the result is better prevention strategies based on human insight, not just regulatory standards.

This approach is especially important in high-risk industries like construction, where the consequences of poor safety leadership are literally life and death.

A Family of Builders, Not Just a Workforce

Perhaps the most compelling theme throughout the episode is Hal’s belief that safety culture starts with care. Not slogans, not posters, not policies; care.

At Manhattan Construction, that ethos is captured in their identity as a “family of builders.” It’s more than a phrase,  it’s a way of leading that prioritizes wellbeing, human connection, and shared responsibility. Safety is seen not as a burden, but as a shared value.

“If they know you care about them, they’ll care about what you’re asking them to do.”

It’s a truth that applies well beyond construction. In any industry, people are more likely to buy in when they feel seen, supported, and valued.

Final Thoughts: Safety as Human Leadership

What makes Hal Wheatley’s message so powerful is how grounded it is in real life. There’s no preachiness, no jargon, no buzzwords. Just a leader who understands that policies don’t keep people safe;  people do.

By building trust, leading with empathy, and staying close to the work, Hal has helped reshape what safety leadership can look like in a modern, people-first organization.

If your safety program feels more like a policing function than a partnership, this conversation is a must-listen. Because the future of safety isn’t about more rules. It’s about more relationships.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of  The Canary Report with Hal Wheatley:

Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/45KUKHo
Spotify: https://bit.ly/45KrXTi
YouTube: https://youtu.be/uLFoiJDM2CI

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