OH&S SafetyPod

At ASSP Safety 2026 in Anaheim, OH&S Executive Editor David Kopf sat down with Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Keeling for a wide-ranging conversation about OSHA's priorities and direction. Keeling discusses the status of OSHA's heat stress rulemaking efforts, the agency's renewed focus on small and medium-sized businesses, the new Safety Champions initiative, hiring efforts to rebuild agency expertise, the role of AI and emerging technology, and his vision for strengthening relationships between OSHA, employers and safety professionals. The discussion also explores leading indicators, serious injury and fatality prevention, and why safety must be embedded into organizational culture to succeed.

In this episode, Ethan Fight, Executive Director of Operations at Medcor Safety, joins the podcast to explore how strategic safety staffing can give high-risk industries such as construction a competitive advantage. Drawing on his 12 years of experience managing safety professionals across more than 100 construction accounts, Ethan shares insights into how investing in the right safety talent can reduce incidents, lower costs, and improve overall operational efficiency. The conversation covers how companies can approach staffing amid today's competitive labor market, the pros and cons of full-time versus on-call safety professionals, and why effective staffing can boost both compliance and employee morale. Sponsored by Medcor Medcor Safety provides experienced safety professionals to help businesses create safer job sites, reduce risks, and ensure compliance. Medcor's customized safety staffing solutions support projects of all sizes, keeping workers protected and operations running smoothly. With expert guidance and proven safety protocols, Medcor helps businesses build a culture of safety. Visit https://medcor.com/services/ to learn more.

Properly fitting PPE is critical for ensuring comfort, effectiveness, and safety on the job, but for women in the workforce, sourcing PPE that is designed with their dimensions in mind isn't always easy. That's why women's PPE advocacy organization The Safety Rack and the Alliance of Women's Safety Apparel Manufacturers (AWSAM) partnered with other women's groups to launch the #MyBodyMyPPE campaign last year to raise awareness about the issue. The co-founders of #MyBodyMyPPE, Amy Roosa, the founder of The Safety Rack, and Emily Soloby, founder and CEO of Juno Jones Safety Boots, join the SafetyPod to discuss why women-specific PPE is essential, how to ensure women workers' PPE needs are addressed, and what's coming up for the campaign this year.

Workers entering and working in confined spaces face a number of potentially fatal hazards such as insufficient oxygen, physical hazards including falls, and toxic or flammable atmospheres. Fortunately, new technology innovations are helping to improve their safety. Todd Connelly, Rental Sales Manager for Blackline Safety, joins the podcast to discuss why confined space entries persist as a safety concern; key considerations when evaluating CSE approaches; and how smart, connected safety solutions can help manage confined space hazards. This episode is sponsored by Blackline Safety. Over 2 million workers in the United States conduct permit-required confined space entries per year and can face life-threatening challenges. The threat of toxic and explosive gases, oxygen deficiency, and extreme temperatures mean working conditions can quickly turn deadly. But thanks to innovations in smart technology, times have changed—and safety has improved. Learn more at www.blacklinesafety.com.

Certifications in the fire, life, and electrical safety fields play crucial roles. Daniel Pickel, the Director of Certification and Accreditation at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), joins the podcast to discuss topics such as how certifications help safety professionals stay up-to-date, how is technology influencing the certification landscape, and recent trends in certifications and emerging certifications that should professionals be aware of. Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a global self-funded nonprofit organization, established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. NFPA delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering their mission. Visit www.nfpa.org to learn more.

In this episode of the OH&S Safety Pod, OH&S Content Editor Robert Yaniz Jr. speaks with OH&S Executive Editor David Kopf about his experience at the 2024 NSC Safety Congress & Expo, held in Orlando, Florida, from Sept. 16-18. They discuss key highlights from the event, including the scope of this year's edition, OSHA's 10 most frequently cited standards, new workplace fatality data, and the new partnership between the National Safety Council and Avetta.

The American Society of Safety Professionals held its 63rd annual Safety conference and expo August 7-9 in Denver last week, and Occupational Health & Safety's Robert Yaniz, Jr. and David Kopf discuss Safety 2024's highlights, including its record-breaking attendance, the offerings on the expo floor, the conference, and the compelling opening keynote address. For anyone who couldn't make the show, this episode is jam-packed with details on what made Safety 2024 event so compelling. Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a global self-funded nonprofit organization, established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. NFPA delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering their mission. Visit www.nfpa.org to learn more.

Various kinds of disasters pose a wide spectrum of respiratory hazards for first responders, so how can they be kept safe? Dennis Terpin, Ph.D. joins the SafetyPod to discuss key topics related to this issue, such as the elements of hazard and risk assessment for those types of disasters; how health and safety planning vary in terms of the type of disaster and how this impacts respiratory safety; the key components of a respiratory protection program in disaster scenarios; and how the RAIN model applies to protecting responders' from respiratory hazards during disaster response. Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a global self-funded nonprofit organization, established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. NFPA delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering their mission. Visit www.nfpa.org to learn more.