MY STORY
I found a professional doctorate program in the UK focused on the practical implementation of modern safety science. I was debating with myself if I should go. My English language wasn’t very good and the prospect of leaving my job and family behind to live in another country was a scary outlook. After long deliberations, I decided to go.
I graduated with a practitioner doctorate degree, but my thinking, language, and practice were dominated by academic style. This had many advantages but also did not resonate with practitioners.
I completed a popular safety qualification and noticed a huge gap between what I learned as part of my Ph.D. and in this course. With a background in psychology, many of the popular risk management practices did not make sense to me. I felt these popular tools were missing a big part of what makes the work safe.

After 2 years of work at a large power station in the UK, I started a new role at bp. Although I could offer many scientific tools, what I had to offer didn’t quite resonate with the leadership. They wanted simplicity, not academic research complexity.
My approach was not working. In just two years, I almost lost my job three times. All this was happening while I was getting married. Due to the uncertainty, I lost my house and went through acute stress episodes.
I’ve met my mentor who was supportive, listening and guiding me through this difficult time.
I decided to spend much more time with people on the frontline and find ways to turn the science into practice.
The more time I spent in operations, the more I learned how to apply science without using scientific jargon. I started receiving positive feedback such as “Marcin, people are raving about your work“.
After a few challenging years, I was able to operationalize science in a way that made a real difference and won multiple industry awards.
I now had a unique combination of scientific background combined with a proven practical application and experience in the frontline and headquarters.
I’ve developed practical, scalable solutions that help to modernize safety and made it available through various industry bodies.
I chair four most-prestigious Human Factors Groups in the industry, I write industry guidance, I’m invited to deliver keynote speeches to thousands of employees, I authored the majority of practical tools and templates available in the industry, and implement cutting-edge solutions at scale to transform corporate cultures.
INDUSTRY WORK







2021 – Co-chair of the Human Factors Working Group. Learn more.

2018 – I designed the first draft of the HF questions to be added into the contract pre-qualification process. These questions with some modifications are now part of the Contract Pre-qualification service in the UK.
AWARDS



2020 – The Center for Offshore Safety (COS) – Safety Leadership Awards


2018 – Offshore Safety Awards – Operational Integrity Category

2018 – Outstanding Young Professional Award – International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP)


2011 – DuPont Safety Awards – Innovation Category
PUBLICATIONS
PAPERS:







Empirical validation of operating discipline as a leading indicator of safety outputs and plant performance. Safety Science, (2018)


