As the Vice President of Health and Safety at Mortenson, a leading construction company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Marni Hogen has worked to create a safety culture that emphasizes personal connections, open communication, and employee empowerment. Marni believes that everyone in an organization, regardless of role or job title, has a responsibility for safety, and to truly create an effective safety culture, you must “make safety personal.”

In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, Marni shares her journey into the safety field, highlighting the critical role of mental health within the construction industry. She discusses how building personal relationships with the workforce, engaging in meaningful conversations, putting people over metrics, and sharing stories that may be tough to tell contribute to a culture of inclusion that makes the workplace more fun. Plus, you’ll hear how she delivers tough news using the “sandwich technique,” and who doesn’t love a sandwich?