“Leadership is your number one priority. If they don’t buy in, nobody will.”
Dallas Schneider started his career as an electronics engineer. Born and raised in Wetaskiwin, he earned his Electronics Engineering Technology diploma from NAIT and spent over a decade with IBM before deciding it was time for a career change.
“I wanted to do something that made a bigger difference,”
The career shift took him to Saipem Construction and ultimately to his current role as the Health and Safety Manager at Sang Co-Op Ltd., where he’s steadily advancing his education; first earning his OHS certificate, then his NCSO, and now pursuing his OHS Diploma.
Building a Program That Works
For Dallas, an excellent safety program is built on three foundations:
- Leadership Buy-In: Safety must start at the top. Without management’s visible commitment, programs stall before they ever reach the field.
- Solid Hazard Assessments: “Everything on your safety program is built off your hazard assessments,” Dallas explains. Know your risks, then build controls and procedures to manage them.
- Documentation and Auditing: A program isn’t just a plan, it’s a cycle of tracking, auditing, and continuous improvement.
He points to COR (Certificate of Recognition) certification as a powerful framework: “If you follow that guideline, you should be successful.”
Safety Made Simple
When Dallas’ organization shifted from paper to digital, the results were immediate.
“People used to spend 15–20 minutes every morning filling out their field-level hazard assessments. Now it takes 30 seconds.”
Digital tools have improved completion rates, streamlined audits, and even strengthened the company’s disaster resilience. With cloud-based systems, Dallas says, “If our building went down tomorrow, we could work from anywhere the next day.”
And the cost savings are real: fewer binders, fewer reprints, and no more lost pages in the field.
Honest, Transparent Leadership
Dallas also has advice for new safety managers:
“You don’t have to know every answer. Be honest, tell them you’ll find out, and then follow through.”
He cautions against falling into the trap of weekly meetings that lose impact over time. “Sometimes a meaningful, well-prepared monthly meeting is more powerful than a quick weekly one.”
Focusing on What Matters
Dallas is passionate about advancing Human & Organizational Performance (HOP) principles.
“You can’t always prevent incidents 100%,” he says, “but you can design your program to make them less serious, instead of something life-altering.”
He’s also adopting Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) prevention strategies, focusing first on the hazards that matter most.
Lessons Learned
Dallas’ career is proof that safety isn’t just about compliance, it’s about building systems that protect people, empower teams, and make work less stressful.
“A good safety program isn’t something you set and forget. You test, you adjust, and you keep going until it works.”
Work intentionally
Lead transparently
Focus Deliberately
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