Brittany Sussman is a safety professional and author of Understanding the Personal Side of Safety. She has extensive experience working with organizations such as Cargill, Caterpillar, and Qnity, bringing a practical, real-world perspective to her work. Brittany is passionate about helping organizations move beyond compliance by focusing on the human side of safety — building trust, strengthening relationships, and creating cultures where people feel empowered to speak up. She helps leaders bridge the gap between systems and people, showing how safety performance improves when both work together.
1. Understand the Role of Trust in Safety Performance
2. Identify Gaps Between Systems and Human Behavior
3. Apply Practical Tools to Integrate Systems and the Human Side of Safety
Safety systems don’t fail because of a lack of procedures — they fail when trust is missing at the shop floor level. In this talk, I explore the critical connection between trust, relationships, and sustainable safety performance. While many organizations focus on strengthening systems, this session does not dismiss them — it shows how to make them work better by understanding the human side of safety.
Drawing on real-world experience and insights from my book, Understanding the Personal Side of Safety, I share practical tools to integrate systems with trust, communication, and engagement. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to strengthen culture, improve how systems are used, and create an environment where safety is not just followed, but truly owned.
SAFETY CONFERENCE
HEALTH CONFERENCE
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE
SAFETY CONFERENCE
HEALTH CONFERENCE
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE
Each year, the conference brings together 450-500 professionals from 29 states, 142 Illinois communities, and 3 countries, representing 465 companies across 26 industries all with a shared goal: advancing environmental stewardship, workplace safety, and public health
If you are, or
if you know of someone
who is an excellent presenter,
please consider our
2026 conference.