Advertise on podcast: The Case for Safety Podcast

Chris Cain, Executive Director of CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, discusses recent convenings hosted by ASSP focused on preventing serious injuries and fatalities due to falls from height and lockout/tagout failures. She emphasizes the importance of mitigating hazards upstream and utilizing Prevention through Design concepts, implementing consensus safety standards and innovative technology applications. ASSP SIF Convenings Report

Ethan Fight, Executive Director of Operations at Medcor Safety, discusses the current landscape of safety staffing in construction, the challenges faced, and strategies for safety directors to build effective partnerships with staffing providers. He shares how to navigate the evolving demands of construction work and ensure the right safety professionals are in place.

Joe Brandel, business development manager for North America industrial safety market at Mips, shares the latest trends and regulations in head protection, emphasizing the importance of proper PPE, risk assessment and safety culture to prevent head injuries in the workplace. He discusses OSHA regulations and industry consensus standards for head protection, hazards and risks that can lead to head injuries and how to mitigate them, as well as advancements in head protection and the importance of proper inspection and maintenance of head protection equipment.

Dr. Robert Drane, Chair of ASSP’s Government Affairs Committee, shares how the committee serves as the voice of the Society and its members to advocate for regulations that will help improve workplace safety and health. He also discusses some of the latest developments in OSHA regulations and the impact they could have on EHS.

Kevin Denis, Principal and Owner of Work-at-Height, Vice Chair of the ANSI/ASSP Z359 Committee and lead of our Standards-Based User Group on fall protection, joins us to discuss the current state of fall protection, gaps that exist and how safety professionals can properly address fall hazards. He shares how the Z359 standards can help employers and safety professionals find fall protection solutions for different environments and provide workers the protection they need to stay safe at height.

Knowing the standard isn’t the same as knowing the machine. In our latest episode, Fran Sehn shares why effective lockout/tagout programs rely on collaboration with the people who use the equipment every day — and how the ANSI/ASSP Z244 standard helps guide the process. He discusses the OSHA 1910.147 requirements for lockout/tagout, alternative methods included in Z244 and how safety professionals can find the best solutions for hazardous energy sources on their jobsites.

Arianna Howard, Managing Partner and Co-founder of Syncra Group and lead of ASSP’s AI in Safety Standards-Based User Group joins us to share how AI tools can offer solutions for addressing issues in your workplace, but first you have to know which problems you’re trying to solve. She discusses the importance of using AI as a learning tool to better understand the conditions the workforce is facing and better address hazards. She also shares how AI can help EHS professionals save time and work more efficiently by improving processes and procedures.

Lauren Bauerschmidt, Senior Manager, Standards and Technical Services at ASSP, joins us to help you get up to speed on the latest developments in ANSI/ASSP Standards. She shares recent updates to A10 construction and demolition standards and Z359 fall protection standards, as well as the publication of the Z310 standard for risk management. She also discusses how these standards are developed and how you can get involved to help others improve conditions on their jobsites.

Personnel nets and debris nets play a crucial role in protecting workers and the public on and around construction and demolition sites. William Greeley, chair of the ANSI/ASSP A10.37 subcommittee and Ed McKechnie, chair of the ANSI/ASSP A10.11 subcommittee, join our latest episode to share how the A10.11 and A10.37 standards can help you properly design, test and install nets for your jobsites.

Organizations can encounter many pitfalls as they work to implement a safety management system. Greg Zigulis, President of Sixth Sense Safety Solutions, joins our latest episode to share common mistakes to avoid and how you can help get your team on the right track. He discusses how standards like ANSI/ASSP Z10 can provide organizations a framework for developing a safety management system that suits their specific needs for addressing hazards and managing risks on their jobsites.

How is AI technology impacting the construction industry? Boris Kiprovski and Whitney Williams of Skanska join us to share how they’re using these tools to input regulations and gather safety data, as well as find ways to improve conditions for workers on their jobsites. They offer advice for employers and EHS professionals as to how to effectively implement these tools at their organizations to drive positive results.

Todd Hudson, president of Maverick Safety Training, shares how AI can help EHS professionals roleplay different conversations and improve their communication skills with those in their organization. He discusses how to effectively prompt AI tools to provide feedback that will be helpful in discussions with everyone from frontline workers to C-suite executives.

Mark Katchen, managing principal of The Phylmar Group and co-author of “Ethical Decision-making in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety: A Comparative Case Study Approach,” discusses common ethical dilemmas EHS professionals may encounter, and how to address them in a way that best supports worker safety and health. He also shares the importance of understand and following the safety profession’s code of conduct, and that of your organization so that you can serve as an example to others.

ASSP President Linda Tapp and Wyatt Bradbury, principal of Health and Safety at Avetta, share how our Standards-Based User Groups (SBUGs) will help EHS professionals put consensus standards into action and improve safety. They discuss how the SBUGs will bring together industry stakeholders to share knowledge, develop best practices and offer insights into how to implement voluntary consensus standards in real-world environments.  The SBUGs will initially focus on reducing the risks of falls from height, protecting workers from hazardous energy and using artificial intelligence (AI) to anticipate and reduce risks.

Dr. Elif Erkal, associate director of research and strategy at the Construction Safety Research Alliance, shares why metrics like total recordable incident rate (TRIR) don’t tell the whole story and offers alternatives for more proactive safety management. She discusses how tools like high energy control assessments can help EHS professional identify high-energy hazards and the importance of a balanced scorecard to ensuring the effectiveness of controls.  Additional Resources The Statistical Invalidity of TRIR as a Measure of Safety Performance Moving Beyond TRIR – Measuring & Monitoring Safety Performance with High-Energy Control Assessments Construction Safety Research Alliance – Safety in the Boardroom Edison Electric Institute – The Power to Prevent Serious Injuries & Fatalities Impact of Energy-Based Safety Training on Quality of Prejob Safety Meetings and Control of Hazardous Energy in Construction