The Safety Leadership Collective
The Safety Leadership Collective is a podcast by the Portage County Safety Council, bringing people together to elevate workplace safety, leadership, and well-being. Based in Ravenna, Ohio, we spark meaningful conversations with safety and leadership experts from across the nation—sharing insights, inspiration, and practical ideas that help build stronger cultures and safer workplaces for all.
Episodes
Episode 319: What becomes possible when leaders stop looking for someone to blame and start looking for people who can solve problems?
In Episode, Andy Barker explores how trust, recognition, and better storytelling can transform safety performance and business results. He shares real world examples of organizations that moved from serious safety challenges to zero fatalities while also improving productivity, profitability, and co...
Episode 318: Former pro athlete Josh Young joins the Safety Leadership Collective to explain how leadership, environment and belief shape behavior and organizational culture. He connects lessons from high-performance sports to workplace safety, arguing leaders must demonstrate values, create psychological safety, and prioritize people to drive safer outcomes.
The episode highlights practical steps—shift from punitive accounta...
Episode 317: Justin Deflumeri, the CEO of Optimal Safety Inspections, shares his harrowing story of a botched lumbar puncture that caused a CSF leak, leaving him bedridden for months before finding expert treatment and reclaiming his life.
He discusses the physical and emotional challenges of recovery, the power of perseverance—"keep digging"—and previews his book Leaking Strength while offering hope and resources for o...
Episode 316: Jake Mazulewicz joins hosts Nic Coia and Mike Thompson to explain shifting from a control-based, blame-focused approach toward a learning-based safety culture. He outlines his seven practical steps including building psychological safety, leading after-action reviews, transforming investigations into non-punitive event reviews, applying classic defenses, improving systems, and building resilience.
Episode 315: In this episode, we are joined by Brenna Erjavec, Senior Manager of Safety & Security at the Akron Zoo, to talk about balancing animal care, public protection and employee safety.
Highlights include combating complacency with monthly trainings and live drills, using a two-person lock-and-key system and spotters for high-risk tasks, and aligning leadership to make safety a priority.
The episode also covers trauma-aw...
Episode 314: In this episode, Mike Thompson sits down with Executive Coach, Gary Fowler, to explore why EQ is one of the most important skills for building safer workplaces, stronger leaders, and healthier organizational cultures.
Together, they break down what emotional intelligence really means and why it directly impacts communication, trust, performance, and employee well being. Gary shares compelling research showing that ever...
Episode 313: In this episode of the Safety Leadership Collective, Merle Heckman joins hosts Nicholas Coia and Mike Thompson to discuss the overlooked art of listening and how it shapes leadership, safety culture, and trust. Merle shares practical techniques—asking questions, pausing, and putting ego aside—to influence others and create real change.
They explore examples from sports, business, and frontline work, and end...
Episode 312: This explores the alarming rise in distracted driving—over 3,200 deaths and 315,000 serious injuries in 2024—and discusses practical steps employers and drivers can take to prevent crashes.
Host Nicholas Coia and guest Tracy LeMaire from the National Safety Council share data, real-world examples, policy and training solutions, and free resources to help organizations protect employees on and off the road.
Episode 311: In this episode, Nicholas Coia and Tim Brewster examine the growing crisis of distracted driving. They break down the visual, cognitive, and manual causes and share striking statistics and real-world examples that highlight how dangerous even brief distractions can be.
They also explore practical solutions for fleets. These include hiring standards, clear policies, targeted training, telematics, video-based cameras, an...
Episode 310: In this episode, host Nichloas Coia talks with Lori Fisher of the Systems Thinking Standard Institute about applying systems thinking (DSRP) to safety and health management. They explain the four core elements of systems thinking and the six practical moves organizations can use to uncover hidden structures, align perspectives, and turn broad safety statements into measurable systems.
The conversation includes real-wor...
Episode 309: When leaders prioritize safety over production and speed, employees follow procedures and report hazards. This episode emphasizes the "tone from the top" and the importance of clear, consistent leadership to drive real safety culture.
Justin DeFlumeri, CEO of Optimal Safety Inspections, joined us to discuss keeping safety simple, engaging frontline workers with practical activities like "find it, fix it," and using mea...
Episode 308: Fatigue and burnout aren’t just personal challenges—they’re workplace safety risks. Dr. Michael Atta and Dr. Xuan-Lan Griffith of Summa Health break down the key differences between the two and explain how each can quietly undermine safety, decision-making, and productivity.
Through real workplace examples, they highlight what happens when warning signs are missed.
This episode delivers practical step...
Episode 307: In this episode of the Safety Leadership Collective Podcast, Nic Coia, Mike Thompson, and Ralph Suppa from Cervitas Solutions explore servant leadership in safety roles. They discuss how trust, vulnerability, and leading by example strengthens teams, prevent incidents, and create value within organizations.
Listeners will hear real stories from fire and special operations experience, practical steps for middle managers...
Episode 306: Clinical therapist and Mental Wealth Consultant, Kelly Younkins, explains how trauma and stress responses—fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—show up at work, why these reactions depend on individual capacity more than the event itself, and how they drive burnout and disengagement.
The episode offers simple, practical guidance for leaders and coworkers: be curious and compassionate, invest time in regular check...
Episode 305: In this episode, Chuck Marting, author of Mastering the Impairment Code, discusses how legalization of marijuana and psychedelics, increasing medical treatments like ketamine, and evolving workplace policies affect safety and impairment. He shares real examples from law enforcement and employers to show why testing, supervisor training, and compassionate intervention can prevent accidents and help employees get treatme...
Episode 304: Join the Portage County Safety Council as they relaunch the podcast under the new Safety Leadership Collective brand. After humble beginnings in 2017 and 2018, the show has grown to 303 episodes, 141 experts, over 87 hours of content, and listeners in more than 81 nations.
This episode outlines the relaunch goals for 2026, the focus on safety, leadership, and well-being, and invites safety professionals and listeners t...
Episode 303: Bernie Torrance, the International Director of the La Red Business Network and Founder of Global Priority Solutions, joined us to talk about values-based leadership and the roundtable model that transformed prisons, courts, and workplaces across Latin America and the U.S., cutting violence and turnover dramatically.
Bernie explains how short, weekly roundtables build trust, create measurable behavior change with simple...
Episode 302: Ruth Bowdish of On Demand Occupational Medicine and Dave Constantino joined us to chat about the 2025 NE Ohio Safety Expo! This event will take place on Thursday, September 25, 2025, 9am-4pm, at the Holiday Inn in Boardman, OH.
Now available on your favorite podcast app!
For more info on the 2025 NE Ohio Safety Epo, visit the website at: https://ondemandoccupationalmedicine.com/neo-ohi...
Episode 301: Martin Franchi & Shelly Meadows, Co-Founders of Navigation Consulting & Training, joined us to talk about the importance of mental health and psychological safety at work. They will be presenting on this topic at the 2025 Ohio Safety Congress in April at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Now available on your favorite podcast app!
Episode 300: Merle Heckman, a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, joined us to talk about the importance of relationships when it comes to leadership & safety. He will be presenting on this topic at the 2025 Ohio Safety Congress in April at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Now available on your favorite podcast app!
For more info on OSC25, visit the website at: https://www.ohiosafetycongress.c...
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