The SafeStart Forum is taking place in Franklin, TN, October 20–21, 2026. With the same premise as previous years, the SafeStart Forum is a highly interactive conference providing a unique opportunity to share best practices in human error and safety management in any industry.
New this year, participants have the opportunity to register for a half-day pre-conference PDC workshop and arrive on the Forum’s opening day engaged, informed and well-positioned to make the most of the conference experience as a cohesive learning journey.
Designed to extend beyond foundational concepts, registrants have a choice between two focused topics—each delivering practical insights, applied learning and meaningful dialogue in a highly interactive, small-group environment.
By attending one of these pre-conference workshops, participants will:
- be given direct access to facilitators and experts in a more interactive setting (which says a lot coming from an already super interactive conference like the Forum);
- have the opportunity to engage in smaller-group discussions than a standard conference session allows;
- receive hands-on time to practice concepts instead of just hearing about them;
- gain knowledge and experience that ensures more value from the rest of the Forum;
- build stronger connections and networking before the main conference begins;
- leave with practical tools, action plans, and next steps they can apply immediately.
The first workshop is entitled Turning Principles Into Practice: Incorporating SafeStart Into Daily Conversations. It’s an interactive workshop that helps participants move beyond understanding SafeStart concepts to consistently applying them in daily work. Through practical exercises and real-world examples, attendees will learn how to integrate tools like SafeChat, Rate Your State, and other SafeStart communication strategies into Gemba walks, toolbox talks, pre-shift meetings and everyday field interactions.
The workshop focuses on recognizing human factors in real time and using routine conversations to reduce risk and improve performance. Participants will also explore how to apply SafeStart principles during operational challenges, such as downtime and production pressures, and leave with actionable strategies to embed human-centered safety practices into everyday work. Workshop presenters are SafeStart CCO Don Wilson and SafeStart Implementation Specialist Jeremy Hyde.
The other workshop option is called AI at the Sharp End of Error Reduction and Operational Excellence. This interactive, demo-driven workshop shows safety and operations professionals how to practically apply AI to real workplace challenges. Grounded in human factors and HOP principles, participants will learn how AI tools can support better decision-making, improve communication, identify system weaknesses and enhance operational performance—while reinforcing, not replacing, human judgment. Through live demonstrations and guided exercises using tools like Claude, attendees will apply advanced prompting techniques to analyze incidents and generate practical solutions using their own real-world examples. Participants will leave with hands-on experience, actionable use cases, and a clear roadmap for integrating AI into safety and operational excellence efforts. The workshop presenter is SafeStart Implementation Specialist Eduardo Lan.
Don’t just attend the Forum—maximize your experience. The pre-conference workshop takes place on Monday, October 19, from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm. The add-on workshop allows you to arrive at the Forum informed, engaged and ready to make the most of every session in the two days that follow. And if you register early for the SafeStart Forum, you can take advantage of our early-bird pricing. Opening June 1, these early-bird registration savings nearly cover the cost of the add-on workshop—making it essentially free. Spaces for the pre-conference workshops are limited, so don’t wait too long to register because they will fill up quickly.