Cole Wadsworth is a cowboy who never thought he’d work outside the agriculture field. His plan was always to teach agriculture — until his wife applied for a compliance job at Ben E. Keith, a food and beverage distributor, on his behalf.

“I had no idea. She just used my consultant references and some friends of ours that let them know what I did,” Cole says. “I thought Ben E. Keith was somebody who wanted me to ride a horse for him.”

On this episode of the No Accident podcast, presented by TRUCE, Cole explains how his dad’s background as a commercial vehicle enforcement officer helped prepare him for that job and his current position as Vice President of Health Safety Environment at Smart Chemical Solutions.

Cole discusses the importance of testing new safety technology, how a good safety program helps retain employees, and why his approach to safety is to avoid the “gotcha” mentality.

The first thing John Goodpaster does every morning is make his bed (sometimes even when his wife is still in it). As a retired commander in the U.S. Navy, he thrives off of routine and structure, and those character traits have served him well in his post-military career.

“The hardest thing [about transitioning into corporate safety] was when you're an officer in the Navy, you expect certain things to go a certain way,” John says in this episode of the No Accident podcast, presented by TRUCE. “In the service, they do things without having to be repeatedly told stuff. Whereas in the corporate world, sometimes you’ve got to spend more time to educate.”

Currently, John is the Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Briggs Equipment, where he’s drastically improved safety conditions. In this episode, John discusses the importance of getting out in the field and listening to the employees doing the dangerous work to gain a new perspective on safety. He also shares how it’s possible to make “Safety first” a way of life rather than just a slogan.

John Horne serves as the Vice President of Safety and Health at Nutrien, the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services. He originally planned to become an environmental engineer, but during his second semester at East Tennessee State University, he took a human ecology course that was part of the environmental health and safety program — and got pulled in.

After more than 14 years in the industry, John has learned how to effectively spearhead safety efforts at a major company. In this episode of the No Accident podcast presented by TRUCE, he discusses the value of keeping safety in the foreground, maintaining a culture of care where everyone’s concerns are listened to and finding a balance between quality, efficiency and safety.

“Our purpose is to make sure that, in everything we do, we do it safely,” John says. “We do it with integrity, but we also do it from the lens that we want to make sure that we're doing our part to make the world a better place.”

On this episode of No Accident, Justin Overstreet, the Vice President of Safety at Wildcat Oil Tools, shares about how he uses his background in sales and operations to look at safety from a unique perspective.

Justin began his career working for his dad’s oilfield service company. There, he was tasked with duties on both the safety and business side of things, kickstarting his atypical yet well-rounded career path.

He discusses why it’s OK to work outside traditional safety rules, why sending local safety reps into the field can be counterintuitive and why he prefers to use the term “safety-always culture” rather than “safety-first culture.”

“If your company is not a safety company like you're not going out and providing safety services … safety should not be first in your company — making a profit should be first,” he says. “By [instead] saying, ‘safety always,’ what you're saying is ‘We also understand that in order for us to continue being in business, we've got to make sure that our employees and those people that we affect and touch are protected.’”

Mike Letters took on the role of East Division Safety Manager at pest control company Terminix more than 12 years ago. His background is in transportation safety, so one of his main priorities has been instilling the mindset that pest controllers cannot do their job if they don’t safely drive to their destination.

In this episode of No Accident, Mike describes how technology has helped to promote safe driving practices and why company leaders should genuinely value safety — as opposed to simply thinking of it as a way to save money.

Most importantly, he argues, safety is something that will never be achieved if employees don’t take it into their own hands.

“What are you going to do to ensure that you sit at the dinner table that night? It's not about the safety manager, it's not about the safety team. … It's a personal responsibility,” Mike says. “If safety is all about the safety department or all about the driving, the bulletin board or a training program, then you haven't solved for safety at all. … It's about creating a passion within the culture of your company.”

Kay Yoder didn’t know what field she’d end up in when she started college, but she knew she wanted to help people. Two universities and a couple of degrees later, she found a career that used both her healthcare and engineering knowledge.

For the past four years, Kay Yoder has served as the Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety at Miami-based alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. There, she uses a simple yet effective strategy to communicate safety procedures: focusing on the “why” behind them.

“If the employee doesn't understand the ‘why,’ then to them, it's just something else you're telling them they have to do versus something they want to do,” Kay says in this episode of the No Accident podcast, presented by TRUCE.

Kay looks at safety as much more than being compliant. To her, safety is protecting assets, speaking the same language, and working toward a common goal of zero accidents.

Regina McMichael is the president of The Learning Factory and founder of Peace, Love & Safety, a leadership and training catalyst elevating organizations’ SH&E programs.

After losing her husband to a work accident in 1986, Regina felt the need to prevent as many future accidents as possible. Now, her humanistic approach to safety is also being used in HR and other departments across a wide range of industries.

In this episode of No Accident, Regina explains why her approach to safety is unique: she recognizes everyone is human. There will be days when employees won’t follow the rules. But if you take the time to understand why they’re breaking protocol (e.g., they’re behind schedule, they’re picking up the slack for someone homesick) and what might motivate them to follow it (e.g., explaining all the potential hazards of using shortcuts), you can help employees find their own motivation to remain compliant.

“If I acknowledge that there might be external factors that help you make a decision [that’s] opposite of what I would want, what can I give you to help you make the best possible decision as frequently as possible?” Regina says.

On this episode of No Accident, host Kathleen Finato talks to Joseph Kopalek, who’s worked various safety jobs in the energy industry since 1995. For the past year, he’s served as the Vice President Environmental, Health, and Safety at natural gas and electric utility company UGI Utilities, based in Denver, Pennsylvania. The role requires him to utilize his experience in both operations management and consulting to create an effective safety culture.

In the episode, Joseph explains his belief that safety is the responsibility of every employee, UGI’s participation in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program, the company’s soon-to-be new training facility, and why a fatality in 2017 caused the company to completely change its approach to safety culture.

Joseph shares one of his biggest lessons — that if employees aren’t involved in discussions regarding safety, they’re less likely to comply.

“That's what it comes down to, is if you’ve got an engaged workforce, the trust level goes up between labor and the management,” he says. “And once you become part of the solution, you feel a lot more comfortable in how that decision was made.”

Dr. Timothy Ludwig is a professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina as well as the author of dozens of scholarly articles and several books, including “Intervening to Improve the Safety of Occupational Driving.”

After several years worth of research related to motivation and safety, Dr. Ludwig continues to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses, organizes the annual Appalachian Safety Summit and consults with companies on how to improve safety culture using behavioral psychology.

In this episode of the No Accident podcast, presented by TRUCE, Dr. Ludwig explains why companies need to stop focusing on zero accidents, why observing employees at work is a great tactic for leadership and how simply promoting communication and improving workers’ environment can help improve safety.

“Once you get them talking, they know the right answers,” he says. “The smartest people in the room are the employees. They're on the front line doing the work. They can tell you what the risks are.”

Brent Sanger is the newest member of the safety team at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based transportation company Western Flyer Express. In March, he began his position as compliance safety manager, a role that is primarily responsible for the vetting of applicants and evaluations of employed drivers to make sure they meet the company’s safety standards.

In the episode, Brent describes how his experience in the military and fire service led him to trucking and eventually safety, and how this past has made him better at communicating the importance of safety to employees. Safety can become a core value of a company rather than an ever-changing priority, Brent says, especially when employees feel as if their employers value them as more than just replaceable entities.

It’s also crucial, he argues, to explain what’s in it for them.

“If you are a safe driver, you're going to be a successful driver, because … if the tires are turning, you're making money. Same thing applies at the company level.”