Described by attendees as the Super Bowl of safety shows, the 2017 NSC Congress & Expo will host over 15,000 health and safety professionals and SafeStart is sending some of the best presenters from their starting lineup.
Here is an outline of some of the most dynamic presentations at the conference—if you can only attend one or two sessions at the NSC, be sure the catch the ones below. And to help prepare yourself to navigate the chaotic conference experience, download this free guide on attending safety conferences.
“Racing to Zero – Safety that Works” is the theme this year for the largest annual safety gathering in the world, and SafeStart’s main focus is providing insight to safety professionals who are on the path to achieving or maintaining zero injuries.
When trying to achieve zero injuries, the first step is to assess the risk involved and how human factors affect them—and SafeStart has two presentations on that exact topic.
Rethinking Risk Assessment “JSE” (session 71) will show attendees how to re-evaluate risk assessments by including human factors to get a more accurate calculation of risk—presented by Gary Higbee and Danny Smith on September 26 at 1:30 p.m. Gary is a past NSC Distinguished Service to Safety Award recipient and Danny’s past performance at the NSC Congress & Expo had 100% of survey respondents agreeing that his session was valuable.
Unlocking the Code to Human Error (session 2) reveals how human error can affect workers in any industry. From assessing primary causation to getting people to admit their own role in injuries to reflecting on how unintentional behavior and error should be reflected in the behavior model, Larry Wilson will demonstrate how unlocking this code will improve the efficiency of overall safety on September 25 at 11:15 a.m. For further insight, read Larry’s article on the topic here or take a look at his speaker video.
There are 15 times as many off-the-job fatalities as on-the-job fatalities. As two engaging sessions at the NSC will discuss, providing training that only focuses on the workplace could stop your journey on the road to zero.
Buried Alive: A Survivor’s Story (session 35) on September 25 at 3:30 p.m. presenter Joe Tantarelli recalls an event from 1983 when he was nearly buried alive as he was installing pipe in a trench that suddenly collapsed on him. The importance of on- and off-the-job safety training, critical error reduction techniques, and how human factors training addresses the cause of over 95% of all acute injuries. To get a sneak peek at Joe’s presentations style, check out this video of how Joe became a consultant with SafeStart.
Who Really Cares About Workplace Safety? (session 65) demonstrates how safety managers need to appeal to everyone’s own personal agenda and understand common elements that everyone can relate to in order to make safety a priority. The session will share how to get buy-in, commitment and engagement from all organizational levels, and it will also discuss the importance of off-the-job safety. Don Wilson will present this session on September 26 at 1:30 p.m.
Training is another big proponent of eliminating injuries in the workplace and personal safety skills training. The following presentations will offer unique insights into training approaches and tactics that can further engage employees in safety and reduce workplace injuries.
Humor in Safety: From Blah Blah Blah to Ha Ha Aha! (session 76) will unveil how to get through to participants in a subject as dreaded as safety training. Injecting humor in safety lessons (and using a few other proven techniques that Tim will introduce in this session) will ensure trainees are engaged, motivated and actually retain the information after the training session. This will be presented by Tim Page-Bottorff, one of the Congress & Expo program’s Top 10 Speakers, on September 26 at 2:15 p.m. If you can’t attend the session live, check out a free online version of it in his on-demand webinar.
Ten Feet Tall and Bullet Proof (session 84) will explain how it is very common for people to believe that bad things only happen to other people. Explore why adults think they are “safe enough” and learn new ideas on how to advance your safety culture by getting people to think differently about their own personal safety. Jack Jackson, one of the Congress & Expo’s Top 10 Speakers, will deliver this session on September 26 at 3:30 p.m.
The Luck Factor – The Mistakes That (Sometimes) Get Us Hurt (session 39) discusses how performance follows a predictable pattern that can impact injuries, quality and productivity. Without personal safety skills to interrupt the pattern, whether or not a major incident occurs is largely dependent on luck. Learn how these skills can be acquired through this presentation delivered by Danny Smith on September 25 at 3:30 p.m.
Managing Complex Change: The Challenge of Implementing a Significant Safety Improvement Initiative (session 15) will instruct people on how to ensure a safety change initiative within their organization is successful—improving safety and reducing injuries. This session will demonstrate the steps of change (realization, serious concern, adjustment and the new norm) and discuss the keys to a smooth transition. This session will be presented by Gary Higbee on September 25 at 1:30 p.m.
SafeStart wants to help you on your road to zero, which is why some of our best presenters will be speaking at the show on a variety of urgent topics. If you’ll be at the NSC Congress & Expo in 2017, take in as many of these sessions as you can. Catch two of the Congress & Expo’s Top 10 Speakers, Jack Jackson and Tim Page-Bottorff, conduct a professional development seminar on September 28 from 8:00 a.m to 4:30 p.m. entitled: You Can be a Better Edutainer: Combining Education and Entertainment (session 218).
Another professional development seminar worth checking out is: Using Neuroscience to Achieve Safe Human Performance (session 215). It addresses ways to reduce injuries through the cognitive processing of neuroscience. People’s actions are determined by deep parts of the brain, which explains why people go on autopilot and are heavily influenced by their emotions. This fascinating seminar will be taught by Cristian Sylvestre, Founder of HabitSafe Australia, and Larry Wilson, author of SafeStart on September 24 at 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.