ASSP Safety 2023: A Look at the 3 Keynote Sessions
Speakers for this year’s keynotes include a songwriter and an Army veteran and Paralympic medalist.
- By Alex Saurman
- Apr 28, 2023
We’re just a little over a month away from the American Association for Safety Professionals (ASSP) Safety 2023 Professional Development Conference and Exposition.
As you get your travel plans underway, don’t forget to plan what sessions you’ll be attending. Before we cover a few can’t-miss sessions (OH&S’ article on this is coming soon), let’s take a look at the three keynote sessions offered at Safety 2023, taking place from June 5 to 7, 2023, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.
To kick off the event, attendees will hear from storyteller and songwriter Jimmy Yeary for the keynote “5 Strategies to Songwriting: AKA Building Valuable Relationships.” If you’re a country music fan, you may recognize the name of this speaker. If his name is still unfamiliar, you can recognize some of the artists he’s written songs for: Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and Blake Shelton. Yeary has written over 2,000 songs and has been awarded Song of the Year by The Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association for “I Drive Your Truck,” sung by Lee Brice.
During the keynote, taking place on Monday, June 5 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. CT, Yeary will discuss how you can create relationships and teams that are more effective, according to ASSP’s website, which noted that “Jimmy will set the tone for our three days together with a high-energy message and a song that will stay with you long after you leave San Antonio!”
The following day, Join Andrea Baker, Founder, The HOP Mentor, Ron Gantt, CSP, CIT, ARM, Director, Health, Safety and Environment - Americas, Yondr LLC and Helen Harris, MEng, CSP Health and Safety Center of Excellence Leader, WestRock and moderator Pam Walaski, CSP, FASSP, ASSP Senior Vice President, Senior Program Director, Specialty Technical Consultants Inc for a plenary session from 1 to 2 p.m. CT.
In this session, “How We Can Lead Workplace Safety and Health in New Ways,” Baker, Gantt and Harris will discuss “how they increased their impact through a systems view and focus on building relationships as a foundation for change, rather than rules, control and discipline,” per an ASSP press release.
On June 7 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., the last day of Safety 2023, attendees can hear from Melissa Stockwell, an Army veteran and Paralympic medalist, during the keynote session titled “The Power of Choice.” Stockwell, who, while deployed in Iraq, became “the first female American solider to lose a limb in active combat,” will share her personal story of perseverance and resilience, per ASSP. Stockwell has gone on to compete in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics as a swimmer and the 2016 Paralympic Games in the paratriathlon, where she won a bronze medal, according to Team USA.
Registration for Safety 2023 is still open. Those wishing to attend can register online.
Photo credit: Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock.com
About the Author
Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.