Keith Barnett is Health and Safety Advisor and a trainer at Vertical Horizonz. His starting point for any work at height or in a confined space is the plan for getting back out.
Keith came into safety through transport and logistics in the army, where the job was getting soldiers to where they needed to be in a fit state to do their work. A bout of heat exhaustion that put him on the ground changed how he saw it. We talk about loading ammunition ahead of the first Gulf War, why every team needs the person who keeps asking what if and why he calls training an investment in people.
What we cover in this episode
- How military standards shaped his approach to risk
- Preparation, planning and being ready to respond when it goes wrong
- Working at height: plan how you get down before you go up
- Confined spaces: don't go in if you haven't planned to get out
- What happens when you assume and don't check
- Training as an investment and where organisations get it wrong
- Advice for new trainers
- Why you shouldn't pigeonhole yourself as a practitioner
Episode chapters
- 0:00 Meet Keith Barnett of Vertical Horizonz
- 1:01 From the army to safety training
- 3:03 The heat exhaustion incident
- 5:04 Risk, preparation and planning
- 7:08 Loading ammunition before the Gulf War
- 9:10 When an assumption went wrong
- 11:12 Working at height and confined spaces
- 14:00 The what-if person who finds the gaps
- 17:19 Training is an investment
- 19:20 Advice for new trainers
- 21:22 Don't pigeonhole yourself
Connect with Keith Barnett
Connect with Keith on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keith-barnett-3a473546
Free tool for this episode
SWMS Checklist
Check your SWMS against what's happening on site.
Open the SWMS ChecklistBook a 15-minute call with MattMore from Health & Safety Unplugged
This episode sits in the Critical risk on the ground collection. Browse every episode or follow the show on Spotify so you don't miss the next one.
About the host
Matt Jones is the founder of Advanced Safety and a HASANZ-registered health and safety consultant. He's a Professional Member of NZISM, holds a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health and founded the New Zealand Health and Safety Professionals community. His book is Raise the Standard: Why Good Organisations Go Blind and How Leaders Restore Visibility.
Guests share their own views and experience. This page is general information, not legal advice. Latest update: 13 November 2026
