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    Category: Spotlight Article

    Scott Lyall’s Safety Storytelling: Bringing Humanity to High-Tech Workplaces

    Scott Lyall transforms traditional safety training by blending storytelling with scalable technology, creating buy-in, boosting engagement, and turning compliance into culture, He champions “omni-training” for today’s learners, infusing humanity into safety protocols, and aligning safety with company-wide efficiency.

    Redefining Ergonomics with Linda Miller

    Linda Miller helped make ergonomics a workplace standard, now she’s designing jobs around people, not forcing people to fit the job, her approach blends tech, empathy, and prevention, reshaping how we think about safety, productivity, and human-centered design.

    ASTEC Safety Named Member of the Year by Utility Safety Partners

    Home Blog ASTEC Safety Named Member of the Year by Utility Safety Partners Recognition like this doesn’t come easy. By DanAdminCAD Facebook LinkedIn Each year, Utility Safety Partners (USP) honours the people and organizations raising the bar in damage prevention and utility safety. This year, ASTEC Safety, led by COO Jeff Mulligan, was named 2024 Member of the Year, jointly recognized alongside Global Training for their industry leadership, advocacy, and commitment to safety excellence. Why It Matters ASTEC’s approach to safety training isn’t just about compliance, it’s about real-world impact. From their field experience to the systems they help shape, ASTEC has earned a reputation for showing up, speaking up, and backing it all with action. They’re also a long-time training partner in the BIS network, with their expertise playing a role in the development of some of our most widely used safety content, including courses approved by USP. This recognition from USP, the very organization that governs utility safety training in Alberta, is a testament to the quality and integrity ASTEC brings to everything they do. Congrats to Jeff and the entire ASTEC team, this award reflects not just a moment of success, but years of meaningful, boots-on-the-ground work in making Canadian job sites safer, which is definitely something worth celebrating. Follow us! Stay up-to-date with the latest spotlight articles, podcasts, the SafetyNET Magazine, or our book on Leadership for Safety Excellence. All updates will be shared on our social channels, click below to follow us. 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    Shaking Hands with Einstein’s Legacy

    Home Blog Shaking Hands with Einstein’s Legacy Why Ignoring Injuries Leads to Bigger Problems How Danny Sellers wired his way to the edge of space-time, with safety at every step By RDadiz Facebook LinkedIn High Voltage, Black Holes, and Building a Culture of Safety Danny Sellers started in the deep South. Wiring up petrochemical plants, wrangling high-voltage power systems. Now? He helps humanity hear the universe. Space science.  Growing up in Louisiana, Danny was surrounded by heavy equipment, industrial know-how. His family members who worked with their hands. One of those family members owned one of the largest electrical instrumentation contract companies in the southern United States.  This gave Danny a front-row seat to the world of high-risk, high-skill trades. “Spending summers at the shop helping out, I kind of was determined I was going to go in that field anyway,” he says.  By the time he graduated high school, he had already completed parts of his electrical training. He was working in petrochemical plants at 18, and he was learning. About power distribution, process control, instrumentation. “You learn quick in that kind of environment,” he says. “You’re working around systems that can kill you in a second if you don’t respect them.”  He spent years traveling from site to site across the United States. “I’ve worked at, you know, the Big Dig in Boston, Eli Lilly Pharmacy, you know, just all around. You see a lot of different practices out there. You learn real quick the importance of staying sharp, especially when you’re working around high voltage or confined spaces.“ Daniel Sellers  –  Founder Eventually, the constant travel gave way to something else: a desire to settle down. He joined Dow Chemical, working on high-voltage distribution and cogeneration systems. But even in that more stable role, safety was never an afterthought.  “A lot of your large petrochemical industries actually generate their own power,” he says. “It’s just cheaper for them to do that. So we have Cogen plants, natural gas turbines and stuff.” He added that working in those environments meant managing both the energy systems and the safety risks that came with them.  But the routine wore thin.  “Plant work didn’t really suit me. It was just kind of the same thing every day,” he says.  So he changed course again.  Lasers, Gravity, and a New Way to See the Universe In 2002, Danny took a contractor job at a relatively obscure facility in Livingston, Louisiana: LIGO. His first task? Helping control the HEPI system, a complex hydraulic isolation setup. It keeps the facility’s delicate instruments undisturbed by vibrations from the outside world.  “I was actually working on what we call here our HEPI system, a hydraulic isolation system, doing controls for that,” he says. “Probably after about two years, I was invited into the director’s office… they slid a piece of paper to me and said, ‘How would you like to come here and do this?’”  And just like that, he was in.  LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, isn’t your average workplace. It’s where Danny went from contractor to full-blown cosmic detective. His job? Help run a machine so precise it measures changes in space smaller than a proton.  “We shoot a laser beam down two 4-kilometer arms and measure differential length of space and time,” he explains. “The wave we’re looking for? It changes that distance by about 1/1000th the size of a proton. It’s pretty much the finest measurement ever made by man.”  That wave isn’t just any ripple. It’s a gravitational wave from massive cosmic collisions. Black holes smashing into each other, neutron stars spiraling to their deaths.  And the system to detect them? It’s safety-critical on every level. “When you’re dealing with that kind of sensitivity, everything matters. The procedures, the lockouts, the calibrations. There’s no winging it. Everything has to be documented, verified, and double-checked.” Daniel Sellers  –  Founder Einstein Said It Couldn’t Be Done Einstein predicted gravitational waves in his theory of general relativity, but even he didn’t think we’d ever detect them.  “Even then, he said, ‘No one will ever be able to build a detector or a machine that could pull this off,’” Danny says.  But LIGO proved him wrong. After years of fine-tuning, upgrades, and grueling testing, LIGO made its first official detection of gravitational waves in 2015. That ripple in space-time confirmed a key part of Einstein’s theory and helped win a Nobel Prize.  Danny was there for it. Running shifts. Locking the detector. Helping keep the whole system stable enough to make the most precise measurement in human history.  “Training here is constant,” he adds. “Everyone gets trained on operating the detector, understanding hazards, and following procedures. We don’t just read manuals, we live them.” Working With Giants, and Lasers This isn’t a desk job.  Danny trained on locking the detector, ran night shifts, and worked alongside Nobel laureates like Rainer Weiss. Weiss, an MIT physicist, conceptualized LIGO.  “This is a man that… only took on one or two students a year,” Danny recalls. “I’ve spent, Lord knows how many hours, 2:00 in the morning with him, personally working on the side.”  At LIGO, knowledge flows freely. It’s a place where someone can go from a petrochemical plant to collaborating with the brightest physicists in the world. Want to learn something? “There’s a specialist or somebody here who has done their thesis or PhD in that subject… and it’s free,” Danny says. “Whatever you want to know, someone here knows it. You just have to ask.”  His role expanded beyond electrical work. He dove into optics and lasers. He ran operations on the detector floor. He learned how to lock, align, and monitor sensitive systems. These systems can pick up passing trucks on the highway, or earthquakes on the other side of the planet.  And through it all, safety remained central.  “We’re not building widgets. We’re listening to the universe,” Danny says. “But we’re doing it with protocols and systems designed to protect the

    Jody Young vs. Workplace Tragedy

    Home Blog Jody Young vs. Workplace Tragedy A Career Spent Fighting for Safer Jobs Young on cultures of “top-down safety”. By RDadiz Facebook LinkedIn “Every worker should go to work and come home in the same shape they left.” Jody Young has spent 35 years in health and safety. She has shaped policies. She has enforced compliance. She has made a real impact on workplace safety in Canada. Her career spans both public and private sectors. That gives her a unique depth of experience. Now, she leads Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS). Over the years, she has watched safety regulations evolve. She has seen the challenges companies face in protecting their workers. And she knows what happens when they fail. She has witnessed the ripple effects of unsafe workplaces. The long-term consequences don’t just impact injured workers. Families suffer. Communities feel the loss. A single lapse in safety can lead to lawsuits, financial ruin, and immeasurable grief. For Young, this is more than just a job. It’s a quest to make a difference through prevention. From Environmental Science to Safety Leadership Young was an environmental science student at the University of Toronto. She took a summer placement in a mining company’s environment and health and safety department. That experience changed everything. She saw how safety could mean the difference between life and death. She started out in industrial hygiene testing, both underground and in surface plants. WHMIS was just being introduced, and she helped with surveys and training. Over time, employers sought professionals who understood both environmental and safety compliance. That demand worked in her favor. She landed key job opportunities and spent years in the private sector. Mining. Abrasives manufacturing. Construction. Waste handling. Paint manufacturing. Each industry had its own risks. She saw workers injured. She saw how preventable incidents disrupted lives. When safety failed, workers – and their families – paid the price. Then she moved into the public sector. She worked for labour ministries in Ontario and Alberta. That’s when she saw how big an impact compliance and enforcement could have. “I felt that I could actually make a bigger impact in safety. The results were immediate, and you could see the difference.” Jody Young She saw it firsthand, investigations, fines, court cases, and families left broken by a single moment. Every injury, every fatality, reinforced her mission. Her work didn’t stop at enforcing laws. She worked with businesses to help them improve safety practices. She connected employers with best practices. Following regulations wasn’t enough. They had to build safer workplaces. She connected businesses with government agencies. Together, they built a stronger safety culture. A Personal Mission For Young, safety isn’t just a career. It’s personal. “My own father suffered a life-altering accident in his workplace. I’ve always only known my father with one leg,” she says. That reality shaped her perspective. She understood what workplace injuries did to families. Her work as an investigator made her passion even stronger. She has sat with families who lost loved ones. She has guided them through investigations and court cases. She has been in their homes, held their hands, and seen their grief up close. These moments fueled her mission. No worker should suffer because an employer cut corners or simply lacked awareness. No child should grow up without a parent because a company ignored basic safety measures. Young has also worked with injured workers. She has seen the physical and emotional toll. People who once thrived in their jobs now struggle with pain, disability, and financial instability. These stories stay with her. She believes the best way to prevent tragedies is to foster a culture where safety is valued from the top down. That means pushing for strong leadership commitment. Encouraging open dialogue about risks. Creating policies that go beyond the bare minimum to truly protect workers. The Role of WSPS in Ontario’s Safety System Today, Young leads WSPS, a key player in Ontario’s health and safety system. She describes WSPS as part of a three-legged stool. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) handles compensation and return to work and supports prevention. The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development sets, communicates and enforces occupational health and safety requirements. WSPS’ role is to focus on providing training and consulting services to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. “We have an important mandate set out in legislation,” Young explains. “We are part of the prevention system funded by employer premiums collected through the WSIB.” WSPS works directly with businesses. They help develop safety programs. They conduct risk assessments. They offer hands-on training. The goal is simple, stop accidents before they happen. WSPS provides guidance on everything from machine safety and robotics to workplace violence and harassment and mental health. They help small businesses create safety programs that are legislatively compliant. WSPS’ sector specific training programs and onsite services teach employers and workers to spot risks early. The goal: stop tragedies before they happen. Young emphasizes that WSPS doesn’t just offer services, it builds relationships. Companies that work with WSPS get expert assistance in building their safety programs. Safety isn’t just a checklist. It becomes part of how they operate. She sees it firsthand. Companies that embrace safety run better. Workers stay longer. Morale improves. Productivity rises. A Moral Obligation Young has one core belief: Every worker should go to work and come home in the same shape they left. She sees safety as a duty, not a burden. “It’s not just about avoiding fines. Employers must protect their workers. The cost of failure is too high. People’s lives are at stake.” Jody Young Safety isn’t just about compliance. It’s about culture. Workers need to feel safe speaking up. Leaders need to act before accidents happen. Companies that invest in safety see fewer injuries. But they also see higher morale and better productivity. She knows that some businesses still resist safety measures. They see them as costly. Time-consuming. Bureaucratic. But she also knows that one accident can