Real Leadership Stories From
Real Safety Professionals
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...
My Big Safety Challenge- Michael Langston, Clean Earth
For Michael Langston, Vice President of ES&H at Clean Earth, safety boils down to one simple premise: Make sure the employees know the rules. Make sure the rules make sense. Make sure they’re applicable.
It seems easy enough, but as Michael quickly discovered as a young Industrial Hygienist at a steel factory, updating policies and procedures designed to protect the worker i...
My Big Safety Challenge- Sandra Merritt, Moog
Would a workplace tragedy fundamentally alter your perspective on your career? For Sandra Merritt, CSP, ASP, a workplace fatality became a pivotal moment that redefined her career—and her purpose.
In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, Sandra recounts how the loss of a colleague, which left a four-year-old child fatherless, stirred her to shift her career from environmental...
My Big Safety Challenge- Autumn Crum, Xylem
For most people, witnessing a chemical spill would be a harrowing experience—but for others, it ignites a passion. We tend to call those people safety professionals. Autumn Crum is one such person who, after witnessing a lab spill while shadowing a safety professional at West Virginia University, instantly knew she had found her calling. The intricacies of managing risk and protecting peo...
My Big Safety Challenge- Michelle Gladieux, Gladieux Consulting
Communication. Its importance is a common theme in the safety industry, but how to properly communicate eludes so many of us—on and off the job. Michelle Gladieux is here to fix that. Founder of Gladieux Consulting and author of Communicate with Courage, Michelle is the go-to communication expert for everyone from NFL players to C-suite executives who want to improve how they communicate....
My Big Safety Challenge- Andrew Wehr, T. Marzetti
What does it take to thrive across industries as diverse as healthcare, automotive, and food service? For Andrew Wehr, CSP, it’s all about building—whether it’s safety departments, cultures, or relationships. In this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, A...