The Accidental Safety Pro

Our host, Jill James, sits down to have a conversation with Linda Martin, 2018 President of the Board of Certified Safety Processionals, chair of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals Foundation Board, and recipient of the 2018 Marion Martin Award recognizing influential women in safety.  Together they talk about their shared Midwest origins and accents. Linda talks about getting starte...

In this episode of the podcast, series host Jill James reconnects with Dr. Amy Orders, Managing Director of Emergency Management Mission Continuity, with North Carolina State University.  Dr. Orders got her start as a radiation safety officer, in the healthcare industry. Today, she’s making her professional safety mark in higher education, yet remains close to radiation safety research. With...

Podcast series host Jill James connects with filmmaker Dave DeSario, an unlikely workplace safety champion and outspoken reform advocate.  Dave, a lifelong temp worker, is founder of the Alliance for the American Temporary Workforce. His 2015 film A Day’s Work—a must-see for any occupational safety and health leader—spotlights the plague of serious injuries and workplace fatalities (SIFs) amo...

Jill James, Chief Safety Officer and show host, talks with Justin, a VP of Safety, with an oil and gas company in Texas–live from the Expo floor of the NSC Congress.

​This episode features John Dony, Director of the Campbell Institute and Director of EH&S at the National Safety Council. He sits down to talk with host and Vivid’s Chief Safety Officer Jill James, live on the Expo floor of the NSC Congress, about the work and research taking place at the Campbell Institute.

Series host Jill James sits down with the President and CEO of the National Safety Council, Debbie Hersman. Together they discuss safety legislation, being a “worst case scenario mom”, and the new mission of the NSC - eliminating preventable deaths in our lifetime.

Russell, a electrical safety pro from Texas, joins us live on the floor of the NSC to talk with our Chief Safety Officer and host Jill James.

Our host Jill James sits down with the Safety Training Ninja, Regina McMichael from the Learning Factory, live from the floor of the NSC Expo.

Podcast series host Jill James connect with Paul, a safety professional of 26 years.  Paul’s interest in safety took root as an undergrad, and grew after taking advantage of an internship.  For Paul, occupational safety proved to be the ideal professional combination: risk management, law, economics, and engineering. He started his career with the technical writing of lockout-tagout and...

Podcast series host Jill James catches up with Mark, who’s got 36 years of professional industrial hygiene experience, with never a dull moment. While Mark was orienting his undergraduate studies for a career in environmental science, a chance encounter with a federal OSHA inspector opened his eyes to possibilities involving occupational safety and health. You’ll learn how Mark’s blue-collar upbri...

Podcast series host Jill James speaks with Scott, a safety engineer in the telecomm industry, and published author. An 18-year professional safety veteran, Scott started his journey as an undergraduate psych major when a summer job at the local factory gave him his first taste of occupational safety. From there, Scott went on to graduate-level education in the safety discipline, making him a rarit...

Ever wonder what occupational safety looks like for a Hollywood studio? This episode of the podcast finds series host Jill James talking with Carolina, a safety leader at Pixar. Her fascinating journey to occupational safety included a pit stop in franchise motor vehicle service, aviation electronics, emergency medical technician (EMT) certification, and a decade with the municipal police departme...

This discussion covers Cheryl’s 10-year journey of safety leadership in the pipeline industry, where she’s writing confined-space entry programs, and is responsible for the wellbeing of thousands of employees across 12 states. Also, she talks about what it’s like to work along with 100 other safety professionals in thesame organization. And if you’re interested in high-level incident investigation...

Todd explains the moment that moved him away from the academic pursuit of chemical engineering, which led him to interviewing with OSHA and a career that involved working some of the same investigations as our own Jill James. Bonus? Dr. Todd talks about OSHA’s “$1000 poster”, OSHA’s Field Operations Manual, and other secrets known to OSHA investigators (the “drive-by”).

Over the course of this conversation between two of Minnesota’s finest, Michelle shares her experiences managing safety across multiple facilities, talks about the importance of building relationships with the workforce to resolve real safety issues, starting over in the wake of the recession and working her way back to the top of the profession.

Series host Jill James caught up with EHS Specialist Brandy while she was in the midst of studying for the Associate Safety Professional (ASP) exam, and just before attending ASSE’s SAFETY 2018 conference in San Antonio. After earning her bachelors in biology, Brandy got her start in safety doing industrial hygiene, where she “was excited to get in to asbestos”, to pay the bills after college. Thi...

To pay his way through school, Jeremiah started working in agriculture. Today, he’s the Director of Occupational Safety & Environmental Risk Management for a prestigious organization in the zoo and aquarium industry.  While studying animal science and planning to attend veterinary school, he began a career in safety to support his young family, eventually moving on to larger leadership ro...

Series host Jill James speaks with ‘Philly Joe’ Kaufmann, Director of Occupational Health Services for the Inspira Health Network.  Joe discusses making the leap from 12-hour shifts in refinery production to the safety and occupational health role, and how his father’s severe occupational injury impacted his childhood, ultimately shaping his approach to the safety job. The conversation covers...

Series host and Chief Safety Officer Jill James talks to her good friend Brandy, a 10-year veteran safety professional from the mid-west. The conversation shares tips for earning credibility with employees (hint: recipe cards), the challenge of proving yourself to management in new environments, and how good it feels to finally get the win that helps. You’ll hear the word “trust” a lot, and learn...

True to the show, podcast host and Chief Safety Officer Jill James retraces her career-long journey in safety. Jill tells the story of how her professional aspirations changed in college, the internship that landed her a job as an OSHA investigator, and describes her mentors along the way. And if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a woman in the safety field circa 1990, this is the brief,...

We’re launching a brand new safety-focused podcast, The Accidental Safety Pro.  Vivid’s Chief Safety Officer Jill James will be hosting the show and having conversations with safety professionals across the country. We’ll hear the stories of how each safety career began and share the unique struggles and victories of the occupational safety job.  Subscribe in the podcast player of choice...