Canary in a Coal Mine

I discuss workplace safety and food safety management with Laura McCready to understand how risk management protects the inner body. We look at the intersection of compliance and regulations where machine guards intended for protection can accidentally harbor bacteria. I learn about the massive complexity of the modern supply chain through the journey of a single bag of lettuce. This conversation...

I recently spoke with James Ferrell about Safety Leadership and Perdue Farms Risk Management strategies. We talked about his transition from flying the V-22 Osprey in the Air Force to leading safety for twenty thousand people. James explained why traditional safety campaigns often fail to change behavior. I found his focus on fixing systems rather than blaming people very insightful. We explored h...

In this talk about workplace safety culture and EHS leadership, I talk about vulnerability transforming high-stakes environments. I host Lori Elam from Takeda Pharmaceuticals to discuss her twenty-five year journey in pharmaceutical manufacturing and why she believes in leading with human connection. We discuss the power of being present in the field and why she encourages her teams to speak up ab...

I talk with Todd Thams about how a workers compensation insurance experience mod score functions as a credit rating for your business risk management strategy. We discuss why a score above one point zero can stop you from bidding on contracts and how managing workers comp claims management effectively saves hundreds of thousands of dollars. Todd also explains the financial levers that drive insura...

I discuss workplace safety and construction safety management with Derek Cox to see how safety leadership and site safety improve through human connection. We talk about how risk management and safety culture evolve when you focus on building relationships. I find his story of moving from the tools to the office shows why authentic experience matters in our industry.

In this episode, I talk about workplace safety culture and how energy-based safety drives incident rate reduction. William LePage from Posillico Civil Inc. details why his safety professional career focuses on what truly hurts people rather than useless checklists. I learn how he manages risk for 1,200 employees by building project-specific programs instead of generic manuals. We discuss why he pr...

I explore workplace safety and construction safety management with Jim Ruggiero to understand how real risk management involves more than just procedures. Jim brings 40 years of experience from the steelworkers union and state OSHA to discuss why our industry needs a deeper focus on the human element. We talk about the personal tragedies that drive his mission and how he builds a safety culture at...

Chris Braamse, VP of DH Pace and I explore how workplace safety leadership and risk management strategy apply across any industry, from trash trucks to pharmaceutical labs. Chris explains how he manages 60 locations using a smart hub and spoke model. We also talk about why a safety professional's career development path is more flexible than you might think.

Workplace safety leadership and roofing company safety strategies require a shift in how we view control. In this episode, I speak with Robert Hudson, VP of EHS at Baker Roofing, to explore EHS risk management and construction safety across 28 locations. We discuss why 18 years of experience taught him that hoarding knowledge is a danger to the team. I love how Robert shares his journey from chemi...

I sit down with Mike Place to discuss how a workplace safety culture and safety leadership drive incident prevention through a safety mindset. We discuss the reason we prioritize occupational health and safety, i.e. the "silent stakeholder.” Mike shares how Dakota Supply Group managed safety scaling in growing organizations while maintaining employee safety programs across 64 locations. I learn wh...

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Seider to discuss how workplace safety culture and safety leadership lead to incident rate reduction. We explore why your safety professional career depends on building a risk management strategy that outlasts you. Chris shares how he transformed a massive shipyard by shifting from safety compliance to employee safety ownership. I learn why doing everything y...

In this episode, I discuss EHS leadership, workplace safety programs, safety culture, risk management, and Scotts Miracle-Gro with Jason Johantges. I am fascinated by how his team achieved zero COVID deaths by monitoring regulatory changes and scientific data months in advance. We also dive into his "Kickoff for Safety" program, a football-themed gamification strategy that led to their safest fisc...

“If you're being paid to do safety, why don’t you call yourself a professional?” In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with Michael Dupont who shares why safety is not just a role, but a mindset. He says that the scope extends from redefining professionalism to building systems that prevent injuries and its impact. In this conversation, we look at safety and ow...

“I don’t ever want to have to give that speech in this job.” In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with Thomas Lippert, Senior Vice President of Safety & Quality Assurance at Higley Construction, to talk about how to build a safety culture that goes beyond compliance. Drawing from his military background and years in construction, Tom shares how discipline and...

“Blue collar, the roughest and toughest, yet the most emotional, they want to be cared about too.” - Justin Short, Safety Director, Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company I sat down with Justin Short, Safety Director at Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company, for a conversation that goes beyond compliance and into what makes safety work on the ground. Justin’s journey from the trades to the Air Force...

Most safety leaders think about job-site hazards first. But what if one of your biggest risks isn’t on the jobsite at all? In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with Zac Elliott, Safety Director at Mead & Hunt, to talk about one of the most overlooked risks in modern operations: driving. With employees logging more than 5 million business miles per year, Zac sh...

"Once you hear that rack of that shotgun, if you take another step forward, we all know the outcome of that. When we ignore these so-called near misses, we lead ourselves down the road to having an incident." – Reginald Shubert, Director of Safety, Barr & Barr Reginald Shubert didn't set out to be a safety professional. He was a union ironworker, happy in the field, until three people saw somethin...

"Everybody buys into safety. They just don't know how." Matt Shaffer, Director of Vision Technologies Most safety programs fail because of bad relationships, not bad rules. In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I speak with Matt Shaffer, Director of Vision Technologies, to explore why ditching the "safety versus operations" mindset is the single highest-leverage move any...

“You're not going to be successful in spite of your disability. You’re going to be successful in many ways because of your Disability.” Diego Mariscal, CEO of 2Gether-International Most people still frame disability as a limitation. Diego Mariscal sees it as a training ground for entrepreneurship. In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with Diego, Founder and CE...

"It's not me, it's the people that work around me. If you have a good, strong team and everyone's focused on the same goals, it makes everything a lot easier." Eric Yates, VP EHS at Balfour Beatty US Most organizations say they want to scale safety. Fewer are willing to scale accountability, trust, and the right expertise along with it. That’s where things break down. In this episode of The Canary...

"What we're trying to do is prevent (protect) the most precious cargo, the people. Right? And that's what the systems are designed for. That's why we're really proud to have some of those top safety ratings in the industry.”- Jennifer Morrison, Director, Vehicle Safety Strategy at Mazda Most of us don’t think about vehicle safety until something goes wrong. That’s a problem. Because the real work...

"There are five aspects to a safety program that if you align to these five elements and you connect them, the more connection points that you have between them, the better and stronger your safety program will be.” Steve Davis, VP of EHS at Forbes Brothers Companies Most organisations I work with are investing heavily in safety, but still not getting the results they expect. That’s exactly why th...

"Brennan's really looking to take a different approach with employee safety. We're gonna start looking at bringing people on who have the personality for it and who are trainable." Victor Buhr, Director of Safety at J.F. Brennan Company OK everyone, this is one of those conversations that really reframes how we think about safety leadership. In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Mana...

"One of my phrases is make it easy for people to follow the rules. And I understand that if we've got a trade going from one general contractor to another, you want it to be as consistent as possible.” Kathryn Prus, EHS Director at Skanska OK, everyone, this one hits at the heart of what actually makes safety work at scale. The secret sauce isn’t stricter rules, but making it easier for people to...

"I've been and seen 400 page safety manuals. I'm like, dude, nobody reads these. If we can make it relatable, if we can make it consumable for the people so that if you don't have to think as hard, it makes sense.” Josh Brown, VP of OHS at B&S Site Development In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with Josh Brown, VP of OHS at B&S Site Development, for a ground...