Podcast: Insights from Southern Glazer on building a people-first safety culture in modern manufacturing
Key Highlights
- Strong safety culture starts with employee engagement, giving workers ownership through feedback, leadership visibility, and peer-driven programs.
- EHS is shifting from compliance to culture, emphasizing empathy, communication, and proactive leadership across industrial operations.
- Automation and AI reduce manual risks but introduce new system-level hazards, requiring strong change management and risk assessment.
- Future safety roles demand hybrid skills—EHS expertise combined with data analytics, technology, and cross-functional collaboration.
In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Kay Yoder of Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits describes the evolution of EHS into a people-centered, technology-enabled discipline, emphasizing inclusive leadership, employee engagement, sustainability, and continuous learning as key drivers of safer, more proactive workplace cultures.
Below is an excerpt from the podcast:
Adrienne Selko: Let's start with your EHS journey. As you have had several experiences at different companies and industries, how would you say your role has evolved with respect to being a woman in this field?
Kay Yoder: When I entered the EHS world, I often found myself as one of the few women in the room. Instead of seeing that as a limitation, I saw it as a chance to bring a different lens to the work environment. So I learned early on that influence and EHS is brought through consistency, showing up prepared, knowing the data inside and out, and then forming genuine relationships with people who make our operations come to life every day.
As my career progressed I watched the field transform in very powerful ways. EHS is no longer just about compliance and checklists and regulations. Today, it's really about shaping a culture where people feel valued, heard, supported. It's about communication, empathy and helping teams make safer choices because they want to, not because they have to. These are the areas where diverse experiences across genders, backgrounds and different leadership styles really, truly evaluate the impact we have.
What inspires me now is how inclusive and human-centered EHS leadership has become. Being a woman is just one part of my journey, but the real evolution has been embracing a leadership approach that's rooted in being your authentic self and having, courage and connection with people. EHS today isn't about fitting into a mold. It's about helping define what modern people-first safety leadership looks like, and being part of that transformation has been one of the most energizing and meaningful experiences of my entire career.
AS: What advice would you offer to young women who are entering this field?
KY: I love seeing everyone get into this field, but particularly young women, because it has been a more male-dominated career. Enter this field with confidence. Your voice matters and your perspective drives progress, and your leadership can shape the future of EHS. So stay curious, speak up, don't be afraid to take your seat at the table.
And second, I'd say keep growing both your technical expertise and your leadership capabilities. Don't stick with the status quo or become stale. Today’s safety landscape is really dynamic. Communication, influence and understanding that people are just as important as knowing the regulations.
And then lastly, I'd say seek out mentors, both men and women alike. The right mentors will champion your growth, expand your perspective, and help you navigate challenges with confidence. One of my own mentors taught me that some leaders will just never really understand our perspective. And in fact, you cannot teach people to care, but you can show the people that you're doing the work for that you care. And so if you connect with the people you will be successful. And then, speak with confidence and conviction. Ask questions, share ideas, and just join the conversation because your authentic insight can spark meaningful change. And the field will be a better place because of it.
AS: We're going to move into some operational issues. And as you're talking about the culture and how things have changed with regard to women's safety, safety culture in general is changing and employee engagement is a metric that most people use to manage that. So as you're looking at employee engagement, what processes or programs have you found to be successful?
KY: You know what? Employee engagement is truly the backbone of a strong safety culture. So when employees feel they have a voice and an active role, safety becomes something they champion, not something they just have to comply with, and so they can be your voice if you engage the worker. So empowering employees to lead the safety initiatives, such as serving as safety champions or safety ambassadors, it adds credibility and helps initiatives resonate at the ground level so people naturally listen to their peers and it sparks conversation, ensuring that there's regular leadership safety walks for employee engagement, it just demonstrates that safety is a shared value, not just a KPI and not something that's expected of everyone else, that the leadership owns it as well. It's just this kind of visibility helps build trust and clearly reinforces to the employees that safety is a top priority.
I think providing structured feedback channels where the employees have a voice, things like safety committees, safety suggestion boxes, mobile apps where they can enter incident reporting or near misses, or even open forums where the employees can feel heard, whether it's a town hall that it accepts Q&A or if it's a private session, that can really reinforce their ability to come forward with whatever they want to talk about.
I know a lot of leaders. I've done this also in my past as sort of a coffee with Kay, just setting up structured times where everyone and anyone can come in. You're going to be there whether someone shows up or not. And I think this is one of the places I really learned that the voice of the customer matters most because you can write procedures and SOPs and put regulatory requirements out there and expect the employees to participate, but it's something that's on paper. And unless you connect with the people who are doing the work and get their perspective and their buy-in, you're not going to be successful. And so that is just a really big piece of employee engagement. You start there and it just builds from there. So just giving them an outlet to where their voice is heard.
AS: On the issue of labor, most companies are having issues finding labor. There's shortages, there's talent gaps. Are you seeing this in the safety sector? And if so, are companies changing or adjusting education requirements to get more people into the company?
KY: I think as technology advances and operations are becoming more complex, the demand for safety professionals who can blend traditional EHS knowledge with data analytics, systems thinking and digital tools will continue to grow. For the future, I think education will need to focus on a mix of really strong foundational safety expertise like risk management, industrial hygiene, human factors, and then combine that with the company's competencies in emerging tech, data analytics, AI supported safety systems and organizational leadership. That's where people will be successful. The certifications that we all try to get as safety professionals being, the CSP or CIH or an advanced degree in safety, public health or engineering, those will remain important, but so will continuous learning in technology and cross-functional collaboration so that you're setting all teams up in any business for success. Everyone is trying to leverage expertise for the betterment of every organization.
AS: OK. We're going to switch gears a little bit. And I know you personally have a lot of experience in sustainability initiatives. So can you talk about some of those and talk about the strategy and how you implemented them, and then how you measure them?
KY: Southern Glazer established its first dedicated sustainability division two years ago. We were doing a lot before that, but we actually put in an independent function and I'm really proud to be the inaugural leader of that function. And since its creation, I've worked to embed environmental sustainability throughout the organization, engaging employees, leadership, suppliers and customers so that sustainability is aligned with our business objectives rather than being treated as a stand-alone program.
We've launched a wide variety of innovative initiatives across our energy, fleet, water and waste, and some of the things we've done like in fleet and transportation, we really focused on reducing vehicle idle times to lower our greenhouse gas emissions. We've been transitioning as much as our fleet as possible to electric vehicles. We are limited with the available technology for the business that we do do, but we are continuously evaluating those options. From a water conservation standpoint, we've installed low flow faucets and toilets across multiple sites. You have to remember that since we don't manufacture, we don't have the same ability to influence that as other companies that manufacture.
From an energy standpoint, we've upgraded our facilities to LED lighting, paired with smart energy efficient controls. We've conducted energy efficient assessments across a number of warehouses and offices to where we could take action. From a waste reduction and circularity perspective, we've partnered with companies like NuCycle and Parallel Products to convert our discarded materials and expired goods into alternative biofuels. We've partnered with a company called Procuri to ensure and secure a sustainable disposal of our technology hardware and our IT assets. We've enhanced our recycling programs across all divisions, including pallets and plastic shrink wrap which we've always done, but we've just really enhanced from a total recycling standpoint and we do have some markets where they're going zero waste to landfill certifications in different cities.
And then from our employee and community engagement back to the employee engagement piece we've established green teams across all divisions. So they're employee-led volunteer groups focused on education, engagement and grassroots sustainability improvement. And each one of those teams has several things that they do every month for employee engagement, but some of their things have included organizing community cleanups at local parks and beaches, tree planting, collaborating with our suppliers on initiations such as a white oak reforestation, supporting the long-term sustainability of key supply chains within our industry. So I can go on about so many things that the different across the nation 37 green teams have done, but they're making impacts in their local community.
AS: Technology is something that in the safety sector I have been writing about recently and it'll certainly increase. But how is your company using technology and do you see any future innovations that you would either like to bring into your company or that you're working on looking forward.
KY: Technology is really transforming the safety landscape and we're already leveraging a wide range of digital tools to improve prevention, visibility and decision-making. Today we're already using mobile apps for facility inspections and incident reporting. We're using real-time dashboards that track leading indicators and highlight trends. We've used in five markets wearable exosuits that support safe lifting, reduce strain and improve ergonomics and high demand tasks.
Our fleet uses dash cams and telematics to strengthen our driver safety, analyze behavior and reduce motor vehicle accidents. Autonomous forklifts keep team members safe by performing hazardous material handling tasks. We have automatic case dispensers and palletizers to reduce manual lifting and repetitive motion injuries, Symbotic robotics and other advanced automation systems to increase the precision and significantly reduce human exposure to hazardous processes.
So looking ahead, I see even more automation of high-risk tasks, deeper integration of predictive analytics to anticipate incidents before they occur, and virtual reality for immersive training and competency development. So we're working with all of these technologies to enhance our processes and reduce risk.
AS: As AI becomes more important and is integrated into more safety processes, do you see the role of change management becoming an important element of how these programs are implemented and ultimately how successful they are?
KY: I do believe that change management is critical when introducing any new processes into an existing process or situation. I think when you introduce automation into a process that didn't previously have it, it reshapes the risk profile, particularly for instance for us, our warehouse distribution centers, so traditional hazards such as ergonomic strain, repetitive motion, manual handling risk, those decline as manual tasks are automated. However, the automation introduces new hazards as workers operate in close proximity to high energy equipment governed by software sensors, control logic, right. So it also creates some cyber vulnerabilities if you look at it from that perspective as well.
So change management to look at a total risk profile for what you're doing inclusive of automation and AI is critical and overall the risk shifts away from the individual behavior and more toward the system design, software reliability and really technology maintenance in my opinion.
AS: As you look across your career, what accomplishments are you most proud of?
KY: I'm most proud of helping transform safety from a compliance requirement into a true part of organizational culture across multiple companies and industries throughout my career. Just knowing that I've played a part in creating environments where employees feel empowered to speak up, leaders consistently model safe behaviors, and the metric shift from reactive to proactive has been incredibly rewarding. No matter what company I'm with, I'm still continuously striving for a zero injury workplace. Haven't gotten there yet, but I keep putting programs and pushing for them because one injury is one too many. I will continue to push and I love the fact that I'm getting the support and collaboration from my peers and leadership.
About the Podcast
Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast offers news and information for the people who make, store and move things and those who manage and maintain the facilities where that work gets done. Manufacturers from chemical producers to automakers to machine shops can listen for critical insights into the technologies, economic conditions and best practices that can influence how to best run facilities to reach operational excellence.
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About the Author
Adrienne Selko
Adrienne Selko is senior editor at EHS Today and Material Handling & Logistics. Previously, she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. Adrienne received a bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Michigan.