Video Highlights from SLC 2020: Does Your Safety Culture Have a Virus?

May 3, 2021

The workplace has been changed by the pandemic in ways that will continue to influence safety culture into the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape for safety in a number of ways that will have lasting impact, says Terry Mathis, long-time columnist at EHS Today as well as founder and CEO of consulting firm ProAct Safety. “The world may return to something resembling its previous condition,” he predicts, “but the people in it will not do so completely. They will have been changed in ways that will continue to influence the culture into the future.”

In this presentation from last fall’s Safety Leadership Conference 2020, Mathis explains that safety cultures can change over time, particularly after a significant event like a global pandemic, which requires periodic assessments. “Unlike the usual safety culture assessment,” he notes, “post-COVID-19 assessments need to also address specific areas with a high likelihood of being impacted by the pandemic.”

Some of those areas include: social distancing, working from home, virtual meetings, an increase emphasis on precautions, and less direct supervision of workers.

Click on the video below to watch Mathis’s full presentation on “Your Safety Culture Has a Virus!”

About the Author

Dave Blanchard | Editor-in-Chief / Senior Director of Content

During his career Dave Blanchard has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeek, EHS Today, Material Handling & Logistics, Logistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. Prior to joining Endeavor/Informa/Penton, he spent a decade covering the artificial intelligence industry. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.