John Newquist, CSP, is a safety consultant and expert witness with over 35 years of boots-on-the-ground experience in accident investigation and safety training. John brings a unique, behavioral approach to understanding safety compliance and severe injury prevention. He develops and teaches highly sought-after safety courses for Northern Illinois University (NIU), the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), and the Construction Safety Council. Throughout his career, John has dedicated himself to reshaping industry standards and equipping safety professionals with the practical tools needed to eliminate catastrophic hazards.
\"Identify how structural racism, ableism, and normative competency standards contribute to psychological and workplace harm.
Explain why psychological safety is essential to creating truly inclusive and accountable safety cultures.
Apply equity-informed strategies to reframe provider accountability and foster environments that honor lived experience and reduce structural exclusion.\"
This talk explores how professional exclusion, structural racism, and ableism shape prevailing definitions of “safety” in healthcare and mental health workplaces. I examine how normative models of competency exclude providers with lived experience, reinforcing a culture that prioritizes conformity over care. Psychological safety is not a soft or secondary concern—it is foundational to physical and institutional safety. Through this session, participants will gain practical strategies to reframe provider accountability, recognize the impact of structural harm, and build equity-centered safety cultures that protect and include those historically marginalized by the very systems meant to support them.
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.