The Tuesday keynotes at NSC are sure to impress. The morning motivational keynote focuses on “The Human Side of Injury Prevention,” where two of the most powerful and dynamic speakers in the country team up to teach interpersonal dimension of occupational safety. The experts are E. Scott Geller, PhD, senior partner at Safety Performance Solutions, which specializes in behavior-based safety training, and Charlie Morecraft, president and CEO of Phoenix Safety Management.

Geller has been a regular columnist for ISHN for years. In his most recent article, published this month, he discusses humanistic behaviorism. He says that empathy is a key principle of humanism: “Decisions regarding the details of a BBS process, from initial design and implementation to ongoing refinement should be based on both objective observations of behaviors and subjective evaluations of feeling states. Employ empathy imaging yourself going through a particular set of intervention procedures. Then, ask yourself, ‘How would I feel?’”

Morecraft speaks to thousands of people all over the world through motivational speaking on safety. He has worked for Exxon, and after a severe workplace accident that left him burned over more than 50 percent of his body, Morecraft now dedicates his time to traveling to events and creating motivational safety videos.   

Tuesday afternoon’s occupational keynote will address challenges and solutions to “The Burden of Occupational Illness.” Occupational illness is a serious workplace issue affecting thousands of workers. While illnesses are subject to reporting challenges due to latency periods associated with the onset of illness, estimates indicate that deaths due to occupational illness are more than 10 times that of injuries, with thousands more suffering from debilitating illness. In addition to the human suffering, there is also a significant economic burden estimated to be over $50 billion annually. This session will explore what some of the most significant issues are and what can be done to better protect workers.

The occupational speakers are Thomas John Bender, MD, PhD, occupational physician and epidemiologist at the Dow Chemical Company; John Howard, MD, JD, MPH, director of NIOSH; David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor at OSHA; and Peg Seminario, Safety and Health Director at AFL-CIO.

Wednesday morning’s leadership keynote is entitled “Safe 4 the Right Reasons,” featuring Dale Lesinski, QSSP, vice president of DiVal Safety Equipment. Getting employees to value their personal safety is the key to eliminating accidents both on and off the job. Lesinski says, understanding our basic human instincts and appealing to what comes natural to us makes Safe 4 the Right Reasons a powerfully effective message. This message addresses why employees must value their personal safety. Lesinski’s style and presentation offers a fresh approach that will be both informative and entertaining.