Sessions

The safety profession is entering a decisive phase. For decades, improvement has been incremental, built on compliance frameworks, injury rates and structured governance. However, advances in engineering, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure are transforming how ...

This session will detail the process for developing an environmental, health, safety and security strategy to support the business strategy. You’ll learn how to synthesize the business strategy and vision – and connect the dots between internal and external data to inform a “current state” ...

Believe in Safety is more than a presentation – it’s an unforgettable experience. Brandon Schroeder will take you on a gripping journey that began the day of his life-changing arc flash accident. With full transparency about his pre-accident mindset, Brandon illustrates how safety ...

One of the best ways organizations can reduce the risk for injuries, especially work-related musculoskeletal disorders, is to avoid introducing the risk in the first place. Engineers are educated on designing robust processes, equipment and products, but they often lack training on ...

This session will introduce actionable strategies to shift organizations from blame to engagement, enabling sustainable safety outcomes. We’ll explore how leaders can demonstrate true safety commitment through daily decisions and behaviors that align with corporate values while ...

Organizational structure is one of the most powerful, yet least examined, forces shaping the success of occupational health and safety departments. The reporting line, departmental location and communication pathways of OHS functions directly influence their visibility, authority ...

Technology has greatly improved safety, but its use can also impact wellbeing and culture. How systems are measured and applied affects morale and trust. In this presentation, Bryan Shelton shares a case study of AT&T’s “Presence Report” system, designed to monitor return-to-office ...

This discussion will bring together the National Safety Council and the U.S. Small Business Administration for a timely fireside chat on how organizations can prepare for, response to, and recover from disruptions of all kinds. In this conversation, NSC CEO Lorraine Martin  and SBA ...

Stories are one of the most overlooked resources for shaping culture and influencing people. Let’s explore why stories stay with listeners long after slides are forgotten, and how they can cut through resistance to safety messages. Drawing on research conducted at Emerson Electric, the ...

Physical fatigue is one of the major contributors to elevated serious injury risk, performance decline and long-term musculoskeletal disorders. In this session, you’ll learn about an AI-driven physical fatigue assessment framework that analyzes physiological and kinematic signals ...

In this session, we’ll explore Toyota’s safety journey, grounded in its core philosophy of respect for people and continuous improvement. We’ll highlight the evolution from a compliance-driven approach to a more mature safety culture focused on frontline engagement, leadership ...

In this session, Highline Warren shares its transformation from a compliance-based safety program to a learning organization grounded in Human and Organizational Performance. We’ll share how adopting HOP principles – learning from normal work, focusing on systems rather than blame and ...

The Pepsi Denver/Pecos beverage warehouse set out to better understand the conditions driving increased risk among warehouse pickers due to seasonal pressure that created operational drift as capacity became constrained. In this session, you’ll learn how the team combined employee ...

Blame suffocates safety culture. But it’s not always easy to see why. For many people – leaders and workers alike – blame is tangled up with accountability: If you can’t point a finger, how do you even fully recognize a mistake, misjudgment or error? The key is to acknowledge, take ...

It’s a common complaint from safety professionals and supervisors: “I can't get employees to follow safety procedures.” We often fail to recognize the two sides to safety: technical skills and soft skills. Selling is one of those critical soft skills. It’s about influencing employees’ ...

Active shooters, property destruction, assaults, bullying: Workplace violence of all kinds is now common in workplaces – including yours. Research shows that the great majority of perpetrators are people we know – and who signal their intent to shoot, destroy and assault before they act. In ...

This session will cover AstraZeneca's external quality approach to sharing Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) and our Human Performance Event Learning (HPEL) training/tool with external suppliers. Like many companies, we partner with commercial manufacturing organizations ...

Dave Madaras, affectionally known as “Coach Dave,”  is president of the Chesapeake Region Safety Council. During this session, he’ll share three simple concepts that will help elevate your team’s safety efforts. Coach Dave brings his experience as a combat Marine, football coach, ...

Join Randy as he shares his personal story of how complacency and distractions at work almost cost him his life. He’ll share the impacts on family, work and community when an employee gets hurt. Randy has shared his message – everything you do impacts somebody – with more than 1.5 million people. ...

As every day passes, you have more and more options to incorporate AI into safety training. There are benefits – and pitfalls – that every safety professional should know about. Come to this exciting session to learn more about how AI could be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Discover how the Blue Line Simulation makes Human and Organizational Performance principles tangible. This session will use real-world scenarios to reveal how work “as done” often differs from work “as planned.” Through engaging activities, we’ll explore trade-offs, uncover hidden ...

What’s the marker or benchmark for organizational maturity? Many in the safety profession say it’s an ISO 45001 certificate –  the “gold standard” of management system certification. Others, though, may say that a reduction in injury rates or maintenance of “zero” is the marker. Still ...

One of the most potentially impactful roles you have as a safety leader – at any level within an organization – is your ability to coach and influence behavior change. However, talking to someone about their unsafe actions can be quite challenging. Despite our sincere efforts we may end up ...

  McElhattan Foundation is committed to ending death on the job by 2050 through its Ending Death on the Job (EDOJ) Program. The Foundation advances worker health and safety by funding and partnering with nonprofit organizations, researchers, and innovators—grounded in a rigorous, ...

As individuals learn basic HOP principles from the “pioneers,” quite often they leave with the question, “what do I do now?” This session will highlight Colgate-Palmolive’s journey and the tools it leverages to operationalize HOP. We’ll discuss how Colgate-Palmolive evolved into HOP to ...

Are you ready for a message that inspires employees to not only adopt safe behaviors, but to watch out for others? “Safe 4 the Right Reasons” helps worker understand that safety doesn’t benefit just their employer – it benefits them, too. Taking care of our loved ones is the primary reason we all ...

Contractor safety remains a critical challenge across industries, particularly in high-risk environments where serious incidents and fatalities are most prevalent. This panel presentation brings together four experienced safety professionals to explore how organizations can ...

In high-risk environments, the injury response plan is designed to guide organizations in detecting, responding to and recovering from events that threaten employee safety. But, how well are we preparing for the psychological impact of such incidents? Too often, response protocols focus ...

In 2023, nearly 5,300 workers were killed on the job – and another 3.2 million injuries or illnesses were reported to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Join Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at the National Safety Council, as he explores the latest occupational injury and fatality trends using ...

How do the limitations of current safety metrics – such as data collection practices, interpretation and use, and the pursuit of zero injury goals – impact their effectiveness in preventing workplace incidents? This session will discuss the results of a published white paper investigating ...

Traditional views often define safety as the absence of incidents, but a more progressive approach emphasizes the presence of capacity. This presentation explores the concept of safety as capacity, offering a clear definition and practical understanding of what capacity means in the ...

When it comes to safety, many industries overlook the concept of “prevention through learning.” Learning is a dynamic activity that requires the learner to be in a mode of inquiry. So, how do we move an organization that’s pretty darned safe toward become a learning organization? This session ...

Let’s explore the messy reality of ethics in safety practice. Through real-world examples, we’ll examine tough questions about acceptable risk, serious injury and fatality exposure, and what organizations really mean when they commit to “zero.” Drawing on his research on OHS ...

The ongoing need for trade contractors within manufacturing environments presents unique challenges for maintaining consistent safety standards and fostering a robust safety culture. Traditional safety approaches often fall short in effectively engaging these vital external ...

Because the vast majority of injuries and accidental deaths occur outside the workplace, many organizations are trying to determine how their current safety management system will protect their employees 24/7. For most employers, the cost of off-the-job injuries is higher than on the job – ...

As interest grows in emerging technologies for musculoskeletal disorder prevention, safety professionals often lead adoption efforts – but frontline worker perspectives are not well understood. Given the critical role of worker buy-in, their perspectives should be considered when ...

In today’s rapidly evolving safety and health environment, executive and employee engagement has become essential to preventing serious incidents and fatalities. This session explores how leadership at every level creates the conditions for a culture of ownership, learning and ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration serves many functions to ensure safe and healthful working conditions. However, at its core, OSHA is an enforcement body tasked with inspecting, regulating and prosecuting violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. ...

This session is designed to provide safety professionals with a structured, science-based approach to understanding worker adaptability before implementing corrective actions. You’ll learn how organizations can effectively differentiate between human errors and violations, ...

What really happens during an act of workplace violence? This session will help you recognize signs of troubled employees and shed much-needed light on how humans respond to potentially violent situations. You’ll learn best practices to mitigate the evolving workplace violence threat and ...

Demonstrating the “success” of HOP integrations using traditional metrics like TRIR is challenging. These metrics are poor proxies for injuries and unplanned events and are often too insensitive to show meaningful change. Ironically, the organizations most ready to adopt HOP – those with ...

Human and Organizational Performance reminds us that people are fallible, error is predictable and context drives behavior. But understanding those principles isn’t enough. The real challenge begins the moment after something goes wrong. How leaders feel and respond determines whether ...

As rising temperatures put workers at greater risk for heat-related illnesses and injuries, organizations are increasingly turning to innovative technologies to reduce risk and improve comfort in extreme conditions. Through support from the National Safety Council’s Work to Zero ...

Errors will always occur, even in high-reliability organizations. The question isn’t whether we can eliminate every mistake, but whether our systems are designed to absorb, adapt and recover when they happen. This session, full of memorable stories, reframes safety from an exclusively ...

Most of us were taught that a hazard is “anything that can hurt you” – but what if that definition is quietly blinding your crews to the few things that can really kill them? This session introduces a simple STCKY (Stuff That Can Kill You) Energy Model that changes how people see risk in the field, ...

High Reliability Organizations all share one unique trait: They’re resilient. Simply put, “The hallmark of an HRO is not that it is error-free, but that errors do not disable it.” So, how can your team actually build real-world resilience? Join us for this fast-paced session to explore the ...

Unleash EHS excellence in a globalized world. Tired of rigid EHS approaches that hinder progress? This session empowers leaders to navigate the complexities of global operations. Discover the power of standardized approaches while embracing the unique strengths of your diverse ...

Preventing Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) requires more than compliance or traditional lagging metrics such as TRIR. Effective SIF Prevention demands an integrated system that focuses organizational attention on high-consequence risks and ensures that critical safeguards ...

Most safety leaders are "Rational Drowning"—surrounded by more data than ever, yet still unable to predict the next incident or prove the ROI of their programs. We’ve spent years checking boxes and meeting minimum standards, but there is a massive "Compliance Chasm" between simply being ...

There’s still a lot of misleading, inaccurate, and incorrect information regarding selecting the proper flame-resistant and arc-rated clothing. OSHA 1910.132 makes it clear that training on PPE is required. How do you train on FR/AR clothing? What’s your responsibility for care and ...