Executive Q&A: The Business Value of Building a Proactive Safety Culture -- Occupational Health & Safety

Executive Q&A: The Business Value of Building a Proactive Safety Culture

Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 2:00pm ET - 1:00pm CT - 11:00am PT

No matter where your organization stands in its EHS journey, moving toward proactive risk management can help protect your workforce and strengthen business performance. But what does that shift look like in practice, and where should you focus next?

Join Occupational Health & Safety for an Executive Q&A with Marc Juaire, Senior Director at VelocityEHS, exploring practical ways EHS managers and directors can advance their safety programs. Learn how to move beyond incident reporting by strengthening near-miss reporting, identifying potential serious injuries and fatalities (pSIFs), applying the hierarchy of controls, and embedding management of change into everyday operations.

The conversation will examine how workforce engagement, risk assessments, and trend data support earlier intervention and how technology can help turn insights into preventive action. Attendees will gain practical approaches for connecting EHS maturity to financial and operational outcomes, communicating the business value of prevention, and recognizing the costs of poorly managed change.

Discussion topics will include:

Moving from reactive to proactive safety. Understanding where your organization stands today and identifying practical steps toward a more mature safety program.
Looking beyond incident reporting. Using near misses, risk assessments, and leading indicators to identify hazards before injuries occur.
Recognizing serious injury and fatality potential. Understanding how pSIF identification can help organizations prioritize higher-consequence risks.
Putting risk controls into practice. Applying the hierarchy of controls to address hazards and strengthen prevention efforts.
Managing change before it creates new risks. Incorporating management of change into everyday operations and avoiding the costs of overlooked hazards.
Demonstrating the business value of prevention. Connecting workforce engagement, safety performance, and risk reduction to financial and operational outcomes.

About the Moderator:

David Kopf, Group Publisher & Executive Editor, Occupational Health & Safety

A career business media leader, David Kopf has led OH&S since January 2023. He has been with OH&S's parent company 1105 Media since 2007, previously publishing and editing titles for the post-acute healthcare market. Prior to that, Kopf has served in various editorial capacities in the telecommunications, data communications, banking and power sports industries. Kopf is committed to reinforcing and expanding OH&S's value and range of services for workplace safety professionals, and the Executive Q&A webinar series is the latest example of that initiative.

About the Speaker:

Marc Juaire, Senior Director, Head of Product, Safety, Operational Risk, Contractor Safety, and Permit-to-Work, VelocityEHS

Marc Juaire combines deep EHS experience to define the vision and strategy and deliver solutions that make workplaces safer and more sustainable. Prior to joining VelocityEHS, Marc was the Corporate Director of Environmental, Health, and Safety for a diverse manufacturing company, where he provided strategic direction and EHS leadership. He has more than 30 years of experience as an EHS professional including environmental consulting, environmental management, process safety management, auditing, behavior-based safety, leadership, and developing EHS talent. Marc earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Carlson School of Management. He is a Certified Process Safety Auditor with the Board of Global EHS Credentialing.

Duration: 1 Hour

VelocityEHS empowers organizations to simplify compliance, manage risks and improve workplace safety with innovative EHS software and AI-powered solutions. Explore its platform today and discover smarter ways to protect your people, strengthen compliance and drive better safety outcomes. Learn more at https://www.ehs.com/

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