The Safety Spotlight

Most crews can name a dozen ways they might get hurt on a given day. Far fewer stop to ask which hazard on site could actually kill them. In this episode of the Safety Spotlight Podcast, we sit down with Chris Vienneau, Director of Health, Safety and Environment at Clark Builders. Chris didn't set out to work in construction. A bouncy castle delivery to the home of Clark's Calgary health and safety manager turned into a job offer, and he went on to run safety for 14 projects at once before becoming director. In this conversation: - Clark's Absolutes, and the question crews are asked during pre-task planning about what on site could kill them - The mountain-climbing analogy he uses to explain critical controls, and why the goal is anchors that make sure a fall is never fatal - Why Clark wants its safety professionals acting as coaches and facilitators instead of officers - How to keep complacency out of a program that's already performing well, because "safety doesn't work if it's not relentless" - Why leadership's response to failure decides how much bad news you'll ever hear - The one thing he wishes someone had told him in his first year as a safety manager: if you want people to use a system, it has to be simple If you lead a safety team or you're moving from the field into management, this episode is worth your time. Find Chris Vienneau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-vienneau-49821490/ Learn more about Clark Builders' approach to safety: https://www.clarkbuilders.com/safety See Chris Vienneau's story and many more at https://bissafety.ca/safety-spotlight-podcasts/ See all that BIS Safety Software has to offer at https://bissafety.ca/

Six years ago, driving out of a northern Manitoba job site in a snowstorm, Jason Ross thought he was having a heart attack. It was a panic attack, and it put him on the path to talking openly about mental health with construction crews across Canada.Jason is a health and safety manager at Bird Construction with about 25 years in the industry. He chairs Bird's mental health employee resource group (ERG) and spends half his time on job sites talking with crews about mental health. In this episode of the Safety Spotlight, he tells Marc Hurtubise what happened on that drive, what has helped him on the hard days since, and why crews respond to someone at the front of the room who looks and talks like them.He also explains how Bird's ERG works, how it helped get more than 150 people trained in Mental Health First Aid, and where to start if you want to build a group like it at your own company."It doesn't matter if I'm talking to 10 people, or if I'm talking to 200 people, if I can connect with one, two, three people in that room, then I know that that conversation is going to continue." - Jason RossIF YOU'RE STRUGGLINGThis episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health. In Canada or the US, you can call or text 988 any time, day or night. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.Jason and Marc are not mental health professionals, and this conversation is not a substitute for professional support. In Jason's words: "I'm definitely not a professional. I'm just somebody that's passionate about mental health."CONNECTJason Ross on LinkedIn: / jason-ross-9b672063 Bird Construction: https://www.bird.ca Bird Construction on LinkedIn: / bird-construction-inc BIS Safety Software: https://www.bissafety.ca ABOUT THE SAFETY SPOTLIGHTThe Safety Spotlight is a podcast from BIS Safety Software. Host Marc Hurtubise sits down with safety leaders to hear what has worked for them and what they have learned along the way.

"If the people you work with don't like who you are, the message you send will never get out."Garrett Hill, Regional Safety Manager at EquipmentShare, started his safety career on high-rise demolition sites in Houston. Ten years later, he looks after safety across about 106 offices on the Gulf Coast and teaches the same OSHA 10 and 30 courses he started out with.In this episode of the Safety Spotlight podcast, Garrett and Marc talk about why the best safety professionals sell themselves before they sell the message. They also cover how Garrett went from living by the book to supporting operations teams, and why you should never go to a mentor empty-handed.In this episode: Why engagement comes before the message, and what changes once crews know who you are Being the "pair of glasses" that spots what a fill-in-the-blank JHA misses Keeping a new-hire safety orientation engaging for 200 to 350 people at a time What separates a moderate safety culture from a strong one: consistency and follow-through Avoiding burnout in a job that doesn't stop at five o'clock How to ask a mentor for help the right way, and the advice he'd give his younger self CHAPTERS 00:00 Sell yourself first 00:15 Welcome, Garrett Hill of EquipmentShare 01:01 From the Navy to safety: Garrett's start 02:57 "36 more chapters": finding out how much there is to learn 05:20 From a means to an end to a real passion 07:55 Finding your niche (it wasn't behind a desk) 10:02 106 offices: know who you're investing in 14:45 Avoiding burnout: hobbies, the gym and a phone on silent 18:49 What makes an excellent safety professional 21:58 A word from BIS: the Training Matrix 23:15 Why engagement changes results on the job 25:15 Being the pair of glasses on site 28:38 Building a safety culture takes time 32:27 No magic trick: the basics, done consistently 35:02 Where Garrett learns: mentors, networks and ASSP 38:13 Never come empty-handed 40:21 His first incident, and what it taught him 45:42 Advice to his younger self 47:29 Where to find GarrettABOUT THE GUESTGarrett Hill is a Regional Safety Manager at EquipmentShare, a technology company that rents construction equipment. He is a Navy veteran and an ASSP member, and he speaks at job sites across the country on topics from MEWPs to building a strong safety culture.LINKSConnect with Garrett on LinkedIn: / garrett-hill-32900521b EquipmentShare: https://www.equipmentshare.com BIS Safety Software: https://www.bissafety.com ABOUT SAFETY SPOTLIGHTSafety Spotlight is a podcast from BIS Safety Software, hosted by Marc Hurtubise, where safety professionals share the stories and lessons behind their careers. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. #SafetySpotlight #SafetyCulture #ConstructionSafety #SafetyLeadership #EHS

Jacqueline Handy took a marketing job at a construction safety firm in New York City and had no idea what site safety was. Then she sat through her first board meeting, watched a room of tradesmen in Timbs and jeans start talking about projects and plans and mechanisms in words she'd never heard, and decided that was where she wanted to be.That was the front door. Almost nobody walks through the one you'd expect.She's now Manager of Environment, Health & Safety at Haugland Group, with an MBA, a master's in occupational safety and health, a stack of credentials, and a PhD in progress. In this conversation she walks through the path — the MTA subway system, the years of night classes, the certification that actually moved her career — and gets specific about the craft. Why her training room walls are covered in photographs of her own company's job sites. Why she'd rather let a tradesperson teach her their job than pull rank. What happened when she walked down to a flagger the crew had given up on and just let him talk.And the part she keeps coming back to: she speaks at career days where people tell her they had no idea safety was a career at all.Links: LinkedIn: / jacquelinehandymba Haugland Group: https://hauglandgroup.us/ ASSP Hudson River Valley Chapter: https://hudsonrivervalley.assp.org/ NAWIC: https://www.nawic.org Nontraditional Employment for Women: https://www.new-nyc.org/ All episodes: https://bissafety.ca/safety-spotlight... Want to be a guest? Apply through the link above.

Bill Hart is a fifth-generation miner from West Virginia. He watched his grandfather die of black lung when he was sixteen, and later watched the same disease take his father. He now starts work at a gold mine in South Carolina alongside his son, the sixth generation in the family to go underground.In this episode, Bill makes a case that most safety programs get backwards: safety isn't a priority, it's a value. Priorities shift with the quarter. Values don't. He walks through what that means in practice, from the cultural curve that runs from safe-by-luck to safe-by-design, to the "death letter" exercise he used after a lock-out tag-out violation, to why he thinks a near miss should really be called a near hit.Connect with Bill HartLinkedIn: / bill-hart-aa00a012 Mentioned in this episodeAllan James Moore on The Safety Spotlight: • Party Crashing the Safety Status Quo | Saf... Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introductions 01:56 Growing up in the Appalachian Mountains 04:34 "I didn't find mining, mining found me" 05:29 Watching black lung take his grandfather and father 07:52 Why people come before production 08:03 Tribal knowledge and earning a crew's trust 12:37 Relaxed purposefulness, and the authority to shut a job down 15:05 Safety is a value, not a priority 16:28 The one habit that makes safety communication work 17:06 Asking one question, then listening 20:41 The Bradley curve: from safe by luck to safe by design 23:02 First moves when a site is running on luck 25:18 Non-complacent eyes: what new miners see that veterans miss 27:36 Visible felt leadership in practice 29:56 The death letter 33:28 From the rehab room to prevention 36:14 Near miss or near hit? 37:22 Work as intended, work as normal, work as done 40:41 Drones, AI cameras, and the "gotcha" problem 46:34 Mentors50:48 One piece of advice for his younger self52:49 Where to find Bill

A broken door handle nobody fixed will tell you more about your safety culture than your incident numbers will.Michael Bassey has spent two decades in process safety across Nigeria, Qatar, the UAE, Argentina and North America, leading high-risk, high-consequence investigations. In 2010 he ran one that was thorough, detailed, and well received by leadership. Eight months later the same facility tripped again. Different shift, different people, same outcome. That gap is what he has been chasing ever since, and it is what led him to write Beyond Blame.In this conversation he unpacks why "human error" as a root cause stops the learning, why culture is "the soil that helps behaviors to germinate," how trust erodes over things as small as an unfixed door handle or a meeting you start fifteen minutes late, and what changed for him when a mentor sent him around every facility in the business unit for two months before he started the job.Michael Bassey, D.Eng, CSP, is an asset process safety advisor at Chevron in Houston and the author of Beyond Blame: A Human and Organizational Performance Approach to Incident Investigation, Learning, and Leadership.CHAPTERS0:00 "Trust is key and trust is fragile"0:25 Welcome to The Safety Spotlight1:34 From physics teacher to process safety at Chevron4:54 Leading across cultures: "people are people everywhere"8:53 The mindset you carry into a new country9:55 Beyond Blame: the incident that happened twice14:21 Why blame is a dead end15:36 Culture is the soil behavior grows in15:59 The broken door handle problem19:11 Why small unkept promises show up on the front line22:01 Operational discipline is for leaders too25:40 Closing the gap between the office and the field26:53 From "I Care" observations to real coaching30:44 The procedure step nobody follows32:05 What mentorship actually is34:09 The mentor who sent him around every facility37:43 Finding a mentor and building real competency39:29 Advice to his younger self42:40 Where to find Michael and Beyond BlameCONNECT WITH MICHAELLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaelbassey/Michael's book on Amazon:Beyond Blame: A Human and Organizational Performance Approach to Incident Investigation, Learning, and Leadershiphttps://www.amazon.ca/Beyond-Blame-Organizational-Performance-Investigation/dp/B0GRBVQWYHABOUT THE SAFETY SPOTLIGHTLong-form conversations with the people doing the work in workplace safety. New episodes regularly. Subscribe so you don't miss one.The Safety Spotlight is produced by BIS Safety Software.

Ask a room full of employees whose job safety is, and plenty of hands will point at the safety department. Brian Fielkow got that answer when he bought his own trucking company, and he calls it the wrong one. Brian did not arrive in safety the usual way. He started out practising business law in Milwaukee, where meeting clients across a range of industries taught him to look for patterns. He went to work for his favourite client, a three generation recycling company, helped grow it, and sold it to Waste Management. After leaving Waste he bought his own trucking company and built it into a trucking, freight brokerage, and logistics business, and it was there that the role of safety came into focus for him, not as a compliance exercise but as the business itself. He has since written three books on the subject, most recently Making Safety Happen . In this episode of The Safety Spotlight, Brian makes the case that there is no safety culture sitting separate from company culture, and that the safest companies have an advantage precisely because they are not spending their time cleaning up messes. Safe outcomes, in his view, are a reflection of leadership quality. He is careful to add that the best run company can still have a bad day, and that every organization he has led or advised is a work in process.

Ask most organizations how safety is going and they will hand you their incident numbers. Cody Woolf would rather know what happens on site when the senior leaders aren’t there. Cody didn’t come to safety the usual way either. He went to school for law enforcement and criminal justice, then spent his early career in commercial vehicle enforcement with the Alberta government, pulling vehicles over on the highway and learning to have difficult conversations quickly. A friend moved into the safety world in 2008 and made it sound interesting enough that when a company offered to train him, he took the job with a plan to return to policing if it didn’t work out. Seventeen years later he has worked across civil and commercial construction, industrial, and now oil and gas and petrochemical, and he still says he has learned more from the workers in the field than from any course he has taken or book he has read. In this episode of The Safety Spotlight, Cody makes the case that a clean record and a strong culture are two different things. He carries a line from his current mentor, that the absence of an incident doesn’t mean the presence of safety, and he is blunt about the alternative explanation: sometimes an organization is getting lucky. What closes that gap, in his view, is presence. Leaders in the field, conversations instead of emails, and follow-up that workers can actually see.

What can safety leaders in construction, oil and gas, and manufacturing learn from a workplace where you can't pause an emergency to fill out a hazard assessment?In this episode of Safety Spotlight, we sit down with Nicole Wetsch, Manager of Occupational Health and Safety for the Edmonton Police Service. Nicole started her career in medical microbiology and nanotechnology research before moving into policing, and she brings a scientist's discipline to one of the least prescriptive safety environments there is. She calls her team "safety unicorns," OHS professionals in a world with no ISO standard for the work in front of them.We talk about what it takes to protect people who are wired to look out for others before themselves, why functional beats thorough when a patrol officer's hazard assessment could run 200 pages, and how putting people ahead of paperwork built the credibility that shifted the culture.Topics include:Why traditional hazard assessments don't fit emergent work, and what replaces themHow EPS applied research-lab control banding to its early fentanyl and naloxone responseDesigning PPE that fits, and why building for women tends to benefit the whole teamForward-rotating shifts, sleep hygiene, and the long-term health cost of shift workMoving incident reporting from blame to root cause, and getting stronger corrective actions as a resultMaking the data-backed business case that earns leadership buy-in and resources

Ask most leaders if they have a good team and they'll say yes. Ken Larson's answer is that they have no idea what a real team is.In this episode of The Safety Spotlight, executive coach Ken Larson explains why most "teams" are really just a roster of talented people working near each other, not with each other. We get into interdependence, the misfire vs. the mishire, why you get what you tolerate, and why a leader's behavior matters more than any core value carved in bronze on the lobby wall.

What happens when a safety professional stops writing policies and starts walking the floor instead? In this episode of the Safety Spotlight Podcast, we sit down with Erin Heimbecker, Workplace Safety Specialist at the Saskatchewan Association for Safe Workplaces in Health (SASWH), to explore what it actually takes to build a safety culture that people believe in, not just comply with. Erin's path is one built on hands-on experience. Starting out in construction and manufacturing before crossing into healthcare, she has worked across provinces, adapted to different regulations, and learned firsthand that what works on one site will never work on every site. One principle has carried through every role: you cannot earn respect without giving it first. This conversation breaks down: Why PPE compliance fails when you skip the conversation and start with the policy How walking the floor changes everything about how workers receive safety guidance Why safety professionals will never know it all, and why that is their greatest strength How to build a professional network that actually shows up when you need it Why culture change has to start at the top, or it does not start at all How to communicate safety to managers in the language that makes sense to them What it means to have tough skin and still be the person workers want to call Erin explains why safety professionals who stay in the office lose the trust of the people they are trying to protect. Real culture is built by being present, asking questions, and understanding that a procedure written without seeing the work is just paper. You will also hear how Erin approaches the harder, quieter parts of this work, the calls that come in after an incident, the workers who are afraid to report, and the difference between reacting with frustration and responding with empathy. If you are early in your safety career, managing a team that has stopped listening, or simply looking for a reminder of why this work matters, this episode delivers.

What does it take to keep millions of kilometers of road safe when 80% of everything we use every day depends on the people behind the wheel? In this episode of the Safety Spotlight Podcast, we sit down with Mario Da Silva, Fleet Safety and Risk Management Leader at Manitoulin Transport, to explore what it really means to build a lasting safety culture inside one of Canada's most complex transportation operations. Mario's path is anything but straight. Starting in 1995 with a background in computer programming and loss prevention, and expecting to stay only a couple of years, he has spent over 30 years in transportation, growing from the ground up into one of the industry's most experienced voices in fleet safety and risk management. This conversation breaks down: Why technology in modern trucks has become a game-changer for safety, and what carriers risk if they have that data but don't act on it How telematics, outward-facing cameras, and electronic logging devices are reshaping driver accountability Why incident data is like a black box in a plane and what companies must do to protect it The shared responsibility between professional drivers and the everyday motorist on public roads How to build a safety culture that starts at the top and spreads through genuine respect and consistency Why mentorship and coaching compatibility matter just as much as technical driver skill What the next generation of safety leaders needs to hear before they take the wheel Mario explains why the biggest safety challenge in transportation right now isn't the technology itself. It's making sure organizations understand what they have, train their people to use it properly, and don't leave that data sitting idle when it could be driving real decisions. Carriers that harness telematics and act on what it tells them are the ones that will lead on both safety and their bottom line. You will also hear why the relationship between a new driver and a seasoned mentor can make or break retention, and why choosing the right person to pass knowledge down to is as important as the knowledge itself. Mario shares candidly about the two mentors who shaped his career, and what he hopes to pass on before he steps back. If you work in fleet safety, transportation operations, or are simply trying to understand how professional safety culture gets built and sustained over decades, this episode delivers.

What does it really take to transform workplace safety from a compliance requirement into a deeply embedded culture? In this episode of the Safety Spotlight Podcast, we sit down with Tom Fitzgerald, founder of Safety Fitz LLC and a former foundry supervisor with over 50 years of experience in operations, HR, and safety leadership. Tom brings a rare perspective, having worked directly on the production floor before moving into safety and consulting. Tom shares how he helped reduce a plant's total incident rate from nearly 20 to zero by shifting responsibility from one safety manager to an entire workforce. In this episode, we cover: Why safety cannot be owned by one person and must be driven by culture The role of leadership, accountability, and peer influence in preventing injuries How lean manufacturing principles can transform safety performance Real-world strategies for building engaged, high-performing safety teams The importance of observation, communication, and leading by example Tom also shared powerful lessons from his early career, mentorship experiences, and consulting work, offering practical insights for safety professionals at every stage. Whether you're managing safety programs or working on the front line, this conversation will challenge how you think about responsibility, culture, and what it really means to achieve zero injuries.

Psychological safety is often treated like something you install with a policy. But is it really a systems issue, or a leadership one? In this episode of Safety Spotlight, we sit down with Joan McMillan, Canadian Registered Safety Professional and PhD candidate in developmental psychology, to explore the human side of safety culture. With more than 20 years in health and safety, Joan brings a perspective grounded in behavior, emotional intelligence, and organizational development. We discuss why fear quietly undermines psychological safety, how emotional intelligence shapes leadership effectiveness, and why checklists alone cannot build trust. Topics include: • The five components of emotional intelligence • Warning signs of low EQ in leaders • Why judgment and defensiveness damage culture • The limits of systemizing psychological safety • How trust and connection drive real performance If you’re responsible for safety, culture, or leading people, this episode challenges you to look beyond compliance and into behavior. See Joan’s story and many more at https://bissafety.ca/safety-spotlight-podcasts/

A lot of companies say “safety first.” Darren Varga, Director of EHS at Aecon Group Inc., argues that misses the point. If people do not trust the system, they stop talking, and that is when risk quietly stacks up. In this episode of The Safety Spotlight , Darren shares how an ergonomics and biomechanics background, along with time as a Ministry of Labour inspector and global consultant, has shaped a practical approach to safety: quantify risk, design work that makes sense, and treat workers like the experts they are. We also get into what “safety culture” actually means in real life. Darren’s answer is blunt: there is no magic KPI or slogan that fixes it. Trust is the lever, and trust is built through listening, giving workers a voice, and following up every single time, even on “small” issues. We discuss: Why “layered skills” make safety pros more effective, and how Darren built that stack across industries and roles How to spot risk faster by walking the floor with workers and asking one question: “What’s the worst part of the job?” How ergonomic redesign becomes a business case when you quantify risk and tie it to efficiency gains Why change management gets easy when the tool is simple, useful, and worker-approved The one thing “safety culture” is really built on: trust, plus follow-through A practical voice-of-worker system: QR codes on hard hats feeding safety and the Joint Health and Safety Committee What happens when workers have no voice, and why complaints, conflict, and cost explode Leading on high-profile, first-of-a-kind projects: emergency readiness, clear communication, and relationships with real decision-makers Mental health in construction, the Ambassador Program approach, and why “tough-guy culture” is a liability Leadership that actually works: servant leadership, Maxwell’s five levels, and treating dignity as a daily practice Looking for an all-in-one compliance platform? See all that BIS Safety Software has to offer at https://bissafety.ca/

Silica exposure is one of the oldest known occupational hazards in the world, yet it remains widely misunderstood, under-prioritized, and routinely mismanaged across modern industries. In this episode of The Safety Spotlight , we sit down with Nayab Sultan , an occupational and environmental health specialist with decades of international experience, to unpack why silica continues to pose such a serious and often invisible risk to workers today. Drawing on real-world cases from construction, mining, infrastructure, and global health settings, Nayab explains how respirable crystalline silica behaves in the body, why there is effectively no safe level of exposure, and how silicosis can develop silently over years or, in extreme cases, within weeks. He also explores why silicosis is frequently misdiagnosed as tuberculosis, the long-term consequences of that failure, and how gaps in professional training and risk anticipation continue to put people at risk. The conversation goes beyond compliance checklists to address deeper system issues, including inconsistent education standards for safety professionals, the lack of long-term exposure tracking for transient workers, and the false sense of safety created by familiarity and routine. We also discuss how emerging AI tools are beginning to change early detection and diagnosis, particularly in resource-limited environments, and what lessons Canada still needs to learn from global silica hotspots. This episode is a clear reminder that silicosis and silica-related diseases are entirely preventable, but only if risk is recognized early, controls are taken seriously, and uncomfortable conversations are not avoided. What You’ll Learn Why silica exposure is fundamentally different from many other workplace hazards How silicosis develops, including simple, accelerated, and acute forms Why silica is often misdiagnosed as tuberculosis and why that matters How low-level exposure over time can be just as dangerous as short-term high exposure Where current safety training and awareness fall short Why “getting the job done” culture quietly drives long-term health outcomes How AI is starting to improve diagnosis and what that could mean for worker health

"If I don't have room to improve, the system is broken." That is the philosophy that drives Rick Sikora, CEO of Cranemasters. In this episode of The Safety Spotlight, Rick shares why he questioned the validity of a 97% audit score - and why questioning what we do is the only way to fight complacency.Rick breaks down the critical difference between "common sense" and "common knowledge," especially for the new generation of workers entering the trades. He shares powerful stories from the field, including why he challenges his instructors to let students lead the conversation and why he believes "tickets" are just the beginning of the learning journey, not the end.Cranemasters Website: https://cranemasters.ca

In this episode of Safety Spotlight, we sit down with Tyler Foley, a former stuntman turned safety consultant and the founder of Total Buy-In HSE Consulting. Tyler shares his unique backstory, moving from performing six-story high falls into cardboard boxes to managing safety in high-risk industries, revealing how the principles of stunt work - like engineering controls and redundancy - directly translate to the job site. Throughout the conversation, Tyler challenges the traditional "zero incident" mindset, arguing instead for "failing safely" - designing systems where human error is anticipated but the consequences are minimized. He discusses the dangers of siloed safety departments and explains why a true safety culture is just "culture," where everyone from the C-suite to the frontline is aligned and empowered. We also explore Tyler's practical strategies for identifying hidden influencers (the "nodes") in a workforce, transforming toolbox talks from rote reading into engaging dialogues, and the importance of the "Mentor, Peer, Student" framework for professional growth. Tyler shares a powerful story about transforming a rapidly growing construction company by making leadership personal, visible, and deeply invested in the "family" aspect of the team. Whether you are a safety professional, a supervisor, or a business leader, Tyler's perspective on human factors, authentic communication, and the reality of risk offers a fresh, practical approach to protecting your team. Tyler's Website: https://totalbuyin.com/ Tyler's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seantylerfoley/

In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Rasoul, a Top Woman in Safety and safety leader at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Sarah shares how an unexpected career path led her into occupational health and safety, and why proactive,prevention-focused work became her mission. She breaks down the power of a strong communication culture, the importance of worker engagement, and how tools like near miss analysis and the PDCA cycle drive meaningful improvements on the floor. We also explore her experience with psychological health and safety, Toyota’s approach to continuous improvement, the value of recognition programs, and how competency and confidence grow when workers are empowered to speak up. Sarah offers candid advice for new safety professionals and the role mentorship has played in her own development. See Sarah Rasoul story and many more at https:bissafety.ca/safety-spotlight-podcasts/

Safety did not start as the headline for Jeff Mulligan , it became the mission. In this episode of Safety Spotlight , Jeff, COO of Astec Safety and an early catalyst behind Utility Safety Partners , explains how risk management evolved from a back-office function into a leadership priority. He also exposes the next big challenge facing safety leaders everywhere: aging, hidden infrastructure. How does a finance and public policy veteran become a champion for prevention and safety leadership in Alberta? Jeff connects boardroom strategy with field realities, drawing on his experience in politics, banking, and early fiber optic deployments to show how business discipline and on-site insight can coexist. Jeff’s message is clear: treating safety as compliance leaves value on the table, while treating it as strategy protects people, assets, and communities. The stakes are growing as experienced hands retire and institutional knowledge fades. If organizations fail to capture and share that expertise, preventable failures will follow. He reflects on a catastrophic explosion in Sherwood Park that galvanized Alberta’s damage prevention movement, as well as Astec’s turnaround from deep losses to durable performance. His perspective is grounded yet optimistic: tough problems yield to clear ownership, good data, and consistent follow-through. What You’ll Learn: Quiet risks in rural and legacy utilities where maps and markings lag the work Why safety leadership belongs at the executive table, not buried in HR or finance How AI and digital tools can amplify expert trainers rather than replace them The coming knowledge transfer crunch as veteran tradespeople and safety leaders retire For organizations ready to move beyond audits and slogans, Jeff offers a blueprint: make safety personal, elevate it to strategy, and stop underestimating what is underground. See Jeff’s story and many more at https://bissafety.ca/safety-spotlight-podcasts .