Lead Like Kerin Pty Ltd

ABN 77 683 578 654

Leading in Safety - Trish Kerin

I am a world renowned award winning process safety keynote speaker challenging the status quo in process safety leadership. I connect with organisations to improve their process safety capability and outcomes. I do this because people have a right to stay safe at work.

#FindYourPlatypus

Storytelling Workshops
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About Us

Lead Like Kerin and Trish Kerin

Lead Like Kerin provides bespoke process safety and material risk leadership coaching and guidance. We provide interactive workshops and presentations on a range of process safety and material risk governance topics.
Lead Like Kerin led by Trish Kerin, an award winning international expert and key note speaker on process safety leadership. She was the inaugural director of the IChemE Safety Centre. Trish works with organisations to share and learn in process safety and material risk. She leverages off her years of engineering, safety and varied leadership experience to help organisations improve their process safety and material risk outcomes.
Trish has represented industry on many government committees and has sat on the board of the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) and the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) steering committee at Texas A&M University. She is currently the Chair of the WorkSafe Victoria Major Hazards Advisory Committee.
Trish is a Chartered Engineer, registered Professional Process Safety Engineer, Fellow of IChemE and Engineers Australia and a Senior Member of AIChE. Trish holds a Diploma in OHS, a Master of Leadership and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a Founding Member of the Institute for Safety Coaching and Leadership.
Her expertise has been recognised with the John A Brodie Medal (2015), the Trevor Kletz Merit Award (2018) and Women in Safety Network’s Inaugural Leader of the Year (2022). She has been named one of the “Superstars of STEM” for 2023/24 by Science and Technology Australia. She hosts an award winning podcast called Process Safety with Trish and Traci.
She is available for speaking engagements as well as workshops and coaching.
Enquiries

Our Services

Lead Like Kerin can assist with a wide range of process safety and material risk needs. Offerings include:

  • For Executives and other Leaders

  • Bespoke process safety and material risk related training programs for leaders (Process Safety Culture, Leadership, Accountability and Governance Program)

  • Due diligence workshops 

  • Leadership coaching

  • Storytelling workshops and coaching

  • Understanding your Weak Signals and The Platypus Philosophy®

  • Process safety and material risk governance reviews and feedback

  • Public speaking and presentations on a range of topics

Enquiries

The Platypus Philosophy®

After almost 30 years work I have had some time to reflect and learnt so many new things. This learning never stops, and I think is part of what keeps me motivated. Some key areas I find fascinating are leadership, learning in organisations, cognitive biases and storytelling as a means of communication. In my latest thoughts I have been combing these four areas and trying to think about how we can improve our understanding and application of all of them. Some of you will be aware of my recent article for Chemical Processing on storytelling, where I explored how Australia’s First Nation peoples used stories to communicate important life lessons (https://lnkd.in/g6vEGQjD). There is so much we can learn from the First Nations, especially understanding some of their creation stories.

One question in my reflection I keep coming back to is why do we continue to see the same incidents occur? I think part of the answer is we fail to recognise the weak signals that will lead to the incident. This lead me to think about how I could use storytelling help people recognise what weak signals are and then provide a framework to manage them. So “The Platypus Philosophy®” was born. It provides a framework to identify and manage weak signals. The platypus is a unique and unusual animal, that was unbelievable to Europeans before they first examined one in 1799. I believe it is a better analogy for catastrophic incidents than a black swan, because a black swan assumes the event is truly unpredictable, and process safety incidents are not truly unpredictable. But the idea of a creature that appears to be part duck, part beaver, part otter and is an egg laying mammal with the ability to inject a toxin puts the platypus in a unique category. It tells us that even unlikely can occur, and we must be prepared for it. We might see a weak signal, like a partial platypus sighting, just the bill, for example, and assume it is a duck, rather than search to see if we have a platypus lurking somewhere in our facility. If this has piqued your curiosity, I have written a short book explaining The Platypus Philosophy®. You can find it on your local Amazon marketplace.

Enjoy the book and I hope it helps you to better see your weak signals and manage them. #ReadToLearn #ProcessSafety 
#PlatypusPhilosophy  #SuperstarsOfSTEM #WeakSignals #LeadLikeKerin 
#Leadership #FindYourPlatypus

Listen to my 10 minute ABC Radio National Ockham’s Razor podcast, explaining The Platypus Philosophy® here.

You can order a signed copy of The Platypus Philosophy® here, or The Platypus Philosophy® Lanyard Cards here.

You can order a signe dbook bundle including Let’s Talk About Your Leadership here.

The ART (& Science) of STORYTELLING

If you want to learn how to covey complex information in ways that stick, check out my new in person half day workshop or one day masterclass on “The Art (& Science) of Storytelling”. These programs teach you how to craft useful stories and improve your communication skills. These small group programs are available in company as well as public.
Enquire here

Latest News

Check out the latest news from Lead Like Kerin.

Coming soon

Lead Like Kerin will be expanding into some new safety areas soon. Stay tuned for updates.

Media

I am a regular podcaster, columnist and webinar presenter for Chemical Processing magazine. You can access this material below.

Podcasts

Process Safety with Trish and Traci

In this award winning podcast series, I discuss a wide range of topics with my co-host Traci Purdum.
Click here to access the podcasts.

Columns

Stay Safe

I write a regular column for Chemical Processing magazine, using storytelling to communicate complex process safety messages. The columns also later appear in audio as part of the Process Safety with Trish and Traci podcast, ICYMI version.
Click here to access the Stay Safe column.

Webinars

Process Safety Series

I deliver a series of process safety webinars for Chemical Processing magazine, covering a wide range of topics.
Click here to access the past webinars and registration for upcoming webinars.

Appearances

Book me for speaking, media or workshops

I am an experienced speaker and facilitator. If you are looking for an event with a difference, engaging storytelling to share learning, talk to me about an upcoming media or speaking event email me here.
I have been published in multiple journals and books over my career. If you are interested in reading any of my past publications, you can view the catalogue at my ORCID page.

Awards

Over the years I have received several awards for my work in safety and leadership.

Process Safety with Trish and Traci wins the 2025 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Podcast

Process Safety with Trish and Traci Podcast won the 2025 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Podcast.
Trish and Traci’s Endeavor Business Media podcast has won the prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Podcast. Recognising the quality of content delivered in this regular podcast. Established in 1955 The Jesse H. Neal Awards are the highest honour in business journalism.

Process Safety with Trish and Traci a finalist for 2024 Eddie Awards

Process Safety with Trish and Traci Podcast was a Finalist in the 2024 Eddie Awards.
Trish and Traci’s Endeavor Business Media podcast discussion about the lessons learned from Boeing’s 737 MAX Crisis is a finalist in the Eddie Awards Podcast Business News and Information category. Other finalists include McKinsey Global Publishing and Strategy+business: A PwC Publication.

Trish Kerin awarded ASBPE Bronze Award

Chemical Processing magazine won an American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Regional Bronze Award in the Technical Article category for my October 2022 cover article title Taking The Right Steps With Hazard Assessments. The ASBPE awards recognise the best business-to-business media, and is a highly competitive award, with more than 800 entries.
To read the winning article click on the image above.

Trish Kerin named Women in Safety's Leader of the Year

I won the inaugural Leader of the Year award from Women in Safety in 2022. The award recognised my outstanding leadership and contributions to driving change in process safety internationally.

Trish Kerin received the Trevor Kletz Merit Award

At the 2018 Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center International Symposium, I received the Trevor Kletz Merit Award. The award was established in 1998 to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of education, research, or service activities related to process safety concepts and/or technologies. I received this award for my commitment to improving process safety internationally.

Trish Kerin received John A Brodie Medal from Engineers Australia

I received the 2015 John A Brodie Medal from Engineers Australia for my peer reviewed paper on Process Safety Competency. The award was made as part of the Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineers Congress (incorporating Chemeca).

Superstars of STEM

I was named a Superstar of STEM for 2023/24 by Science and Technology Australia. I am excited to be part of the program and looking forward to engaging with organisations as a role model for the next generation.

#SuperstarsOfSTEM

Find out more

Leadership Actions

Here are some key actions that we all need to practice as leaders. For more information on these actions, including some fun poetry to help remember them, check out my book Let’s talk about your leadership: learning through the art of storytelling. You can order a signed copy here.
All illustrations by Louise Kerin (Instagram @lkerin)

Be Yourself

Genuinely be yourself, people see through an act and they want to be around authentic people.

Be Consistent

It is a waste of energy and time if your team need to keep trying to predict your mood.

Seek Out Information

As a leader you won't have all the answers, so don't pretend to, learn from others.

Set Direction

You cannot take people on a journey if you don't know where you are going.

Speak Up

Speaking the truth can be hard and lonely, but a leader must always speak up.

Reflect

Think about what you did - what worked and what can be improved - reflect on your performance.

Look After People

Put people first in your decision making, look after their best interests.

Have Fun

They say laughter is the best medicine - so have some fun and a good laugh. It relieves tension and stress.