Jon Hillis COHSProf, MRMIA, MAIES
I’m Jon Hillis, known as Safety Jon. I’ve worked across safety from multiple angles, as a regulator, a national safety leader, and on the frontline in high-risk operational environments.
My background includes time as a WorkSafe Victoria Inspector, leading workplace inspections and enforcement activity, as well as senior health and safety roles within transport and logistics operations, defence environments, corrections, manufacturing, and emergency management operating across all Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand.
Alongside this, I remain an active CFA firefighter and have worked in emergency and remote environments where decisions are made under pressure and consequences are real.
That combination matters. It shapes how I think about risk, accountability, and what actually prevents harm.
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Professional Memberships
My perspective
I’ve spent a significant part of my career working in environments where serious harm, fatality, and trauma are not abstract concepts. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when systems fail, when risk is normalised, and when early warning signs are missed or ignored.
That exposure has shaped how I approach safety. I'm cautious about simple explanations, sceptical of paper controls that don't translate into practice, and focused on how people actually behave under pressure, fatigue, and competing priorities.
It’s also why I’m careful about how incidents are discussed. Behind every investigation, prosecution, or coronial finding are real people dealing with loss, injury, and long-term consequences. The goal of learning must always be prevention, not performance.​
Straight-talking safety, risk, and leadership from the frontline.​
Analysis of incidents, prosecutions, and the decisions that shape real safety outcomes.