Real Leadership Stories From
Real Safety Professionals
My Big Safety Challenge- Anthony Dohmann, OccuMedX Group, Inc.
Anthony Dohmann joins My Big Safety Challenge to share his unexpected journey into the safety profession and the experiences that shaped his leadership style. He discusses early career challenges, the shift from authority to influence, and how mentorship and relationships became central to his approach to safety.
My Big Safety Challenge- Shannon Overland, Dekra
Season 6 kicks off with hosts Merle Heckman and Shelly Baber as they talk with Shannon Overland, a seasoned safety leader whose journey began in the rugged forests of Western Canada. What started as a college job in tree planting evolved into co-owning a contracting company—and ultimately discovering what real safety leadersh...
My Big Safety Challenge- David Musgrave, Dekra
This week on My Big Safety Challenge, we sit down with David Musgrave. With a background in psychology, specifically in autism spectrum disorder and neurodiversity, David brings a human-centered lens to the safety world. Now serving as the Senior Vice President of DEKRA North America, he helps companies move beyond outdated thinking and platitudes to create lasting cultu...
My Big Safety Challenge- Shelley Baber, Eaton
Shelley Baber, CSP, began her career chasing perfection. She wanted to make an immediate impact and thought that if something wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t right. But after 25 years in the field, now serving as EHS Director for Eaton’s Electrical Engineering Services and Systems Division, she’s learned that real progress is made through bab...
My Big Safety Challenge- Heather MacDougall, Lawyer / Advisory Board Member, Trio Mobil
Heather MacDougall, a lawyer and advisory board member, was in Washington, D.C., when an offer to join the National Labor Relations Board under the Bush Administration changed her career trajectory forever.
A lawyer? On a safety and leadership podcast? It makes perfect sense, just trust us.
While she didn’t get that position, she did shortly thereafter become the...
My Big Safety Challenge- Marty Lalick, ESPN
One of the more admirable, yet often overlooked, qualities of the safety profession is the spirit of camaraderie that exists even among industry competitors. As Marty Lalick, CSP, Associate Director at ESPN, shares in this episode of My Big Safety Challenge: “There are no trade secrets [in safety].”
This mindset of partnership is woven througho...
My Big Safety Challenge- Will Hewett, Genii Earth LLC
How many people is it acceptable to hurt at work?
That’s a question Will Hewett, Co-Founder & Director of Genii Earth LLC, learned from a colleague and incorporated into his own consultations. In 20 years of safety leadership consulting, where he reshapes the way people think about safety leadership, he’s never heard any other answer than zero
My Big Safety Challenge- Alaina Ziegler, Lewis Services
Alaina Ziegler, CSP, wants you to become a listener.
In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, Alaina, Vice President of Safety & Human Performance at Lewis Services, unpacks why listening is much more effective when you’re listening to understand, not to respond.
Overseeing the safety of a dispersed, multilingual workforce across mul...
My Big Safety Challenge- Lisa Brooks, Nexus HSE
In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, we sit down with Lisa Brooks, Principal at NexusHSE and a pioneer in the field of ergonomics, to explore what she calls “operational intelligence.” For Lisa, it’s not just a buzzword, it’s a philosophy that bridges leadership and the front-line worker through active listening, relationship-building, and a willingn...
My Big Safety Challenge- Sammy Davis, Papa Johns
To begin the season, we sit down with Sammy Davis, PhD, CSP, Gr.IOSH—Vice President of Safety & Security at Papa John’s International. Like many safety professionals, Sammy’s path to safety wasn’t a straight line. Originally setting out to become a trauma surgeon before working as a paramedic and eventually in the construction industry, Sammy received a letter from I...