SÄKU Conference 2025, 16-17/9

At the third annual SÄKU Conference, the themes and overall topics were Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIF) Prevention and Safety Leadership. Filip Coumans and Martin Dean from Krause Bell Group were our inspirational safety tutors during these couple of days.

Just like the previous two conferences, it was workshop-based in English and filled with interactive group sessions and networking. The SÄKU Conference took place at Såstaholm mansion and conference center, located close to Stockholm and Arlanda.

In February and April of 2025, Filip Coumans was featured in two different webinars at SÄKU, touching on some of the topics that we dived deeper into at the conference. View the recording/presentation of the first webinar (Safe Decision Making® Findings) HERE and the second webinar (Safety Leadership to prevent Serious Injuries and Fatalities feat. GSK) HERE.

Filip and Martin provided actionable insights, practical tools, simulation exercises and hands on support to help participants better understand the elements that contribute to serious incidents and fatalities (SIF) and, more importantly, help to build an action plan to prevent them.

All participants received a copy of the book written by Krause Bell Group founders dr. Tom Krause and Kristen Bell, “7 Insights into Safety Leadership” and a workbook featuring slides and exercises. Filip and Martin used these two books as a framework throughout the two days. This framework outlines 7 insights, which underpin and create excellence in safety:

1. Improving safety by building a strong culture lifts business performance.

2. Improving safety starts with preventing serious injuries and fatalities.

3. Leadership sets safety improvement in motion.

4. Culture sustains performance, for better or worse.

5. Leaders need to understand core safety concepts.

6. Behaviour plays a role, but employees are the solution - not the problem.

7. Applying Safe Decision Making® principles at all levels is crucially important.

Below you can see the more detailed program over the two days.

Tuesday, September 16: SIF prevention – the foundations

• Insight 1: Setting the scene – Improving safety by building a strong culture lifts business performance

• Insight 2: Why is a focus on SIF prevention important?

  • How do you define actual and potential SIF?

  • How do you measure SIF exposure?

• Insights 4 and 5: Understanding how systems, context and culture define SIF Exposure

• Insight 6: Learn the role of behaviour.

• Insights 3 and 7: Identify how leader behaviours and decisions impact systems, context and culture.

  • Play a simulation exercise to learn how you make decisions, and how cognitive bias impacts your decisions.

Wednesday, September 17: SIF prevention – bringing theory into action

• Review your organization against the SIF Maturity Model – how do you perform against 9 key elements to be successful in SIF Prevention?

• Debrief the simulation exercise – what is the impact of how individuals make decisions on creating SIF exposure?

• Learn how to do a multi-rater review to create a decision tree

• Practice identifying SIF precursors for your organization

• Identify 2 key safety activities you need what (leadership) skills are required to make them effective?

• Prepare for implementation – the difference between transactional and transformational change.

• Create an action plan and commitments for change

A great many thanks to everyone who joined us!

Contact information

If you want to get in contact with Filip and Martin, please drop them an email at:

• Filip Coumans: fcoumans@krausebellgroup.com

• Martin Dean : mdean@krausebellgroup.com

Visit www.krausebellgroup.com for more information and material.

Scroll down to see a video and some photos from the conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5pONpJwQ_c

Photo gallery

About Filip Coumans

Filip Coumans is the Managing Director EMEA at Krause Bell Group. Filip has over 25 years of professional experience and has spent the last 15 years working in the safety field. Filip has worked with major organizations in oil and gas, pharma, chemicals, utilities, mining, construction, technology, and shipping, and with people of all levels from front-line employees to chief executive officers.

Sought after for his valuable insights, Filip has helped senior executives develop and execute strategic safety improvement initiatives based on behavioral, cultural, and leadership change, and led multiple global assessments. He has helped leaders at all levels develop not only meaningful strategies resulting in real and sustainable safety improvements, but also their individual role in supporting these initiatives and becoming stronger safety leaders through individual coaching. He is also the chair of the annual HSE Excellence Europe conference bringing together global and regional safety directors from multinationals.

About Martin Dean

Martin Dean is Executive Consultant at Krause Bell Group with extensive experience in consulting clients and businesses on culture change, exposure reduction strategies, safety management, and risk assessment needs. He has more than 30 years of exceptional experience consulting and coaching leaders at all levels on creating a culture of commitment rather than compliance. He is experienced across multiple industries including, Oil and Gas, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Food, Maritime, Transport, Ground Handling and Metals in 40+ countries. As a highly regarded international speaker on Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention strategies, culture change and safety leadership, Martin provides leaders and companies with effective leadership and personal development needs to improve business operations.