Podcast: Employee engagement is key to a successful safety culture
Key Highlights
- Empower workers as safety leaders with stop-work authority to strengthen accountability, engagement and safer decision-making.
- Build safety culture through continuous training, field coaching and trust—not just compliance with rules and procedures.
- Effective EHS leaders earn credibility by understanding jobsite realities and partnering with workers to solve safety challenges.
- Address skilled labor gaps with mentorship and hands-on training to safely prepare new workers entering the trades.
In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Jennifer Ferdinand-Stong, corporate safety manager at construction firm Gaylor Electric and recently named Health and Safety Professional of the Year by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) for 2026, shares her thoughts on how to create a realistic and sustainable safety culture.
Below is an excerpt from the podcast:
Adrienne Selko: Can you summarize your overall safety philosophy as an EHS professional?
Jenny Ferdinand-Stong: Well, that's kind of a broad question and it's hard to put in a couple of words. But what I can tell you is that when I look at my philosophy on safety, it is meshing so many different disciplines and thought processes into that. It's not just about the book. And you'll hear me say that all the time out in the field. It's about the processes, how we're doing work, the individual doing the work and where we're at. It's about coaching and it's about empowering our people to know that they are a safety leader, no matter what their position is.
And I think that when we give that empowerment and we talk about stop-work responsibility and those types of things that I think it's more when we give the people the empowerment saying that you are a leader and that you are responsible for your own safety and that you have the duty for your brother and sister next to you to make sure that you're doing everything and you want to educate everyone. I think that's the basis of everything. And I believe that wholeheartedly, that you need to empower each person, give them the tools that they need, and embrace it and understand people.
AS: Can you talk about your holistic approach to a safety culture?
JFS: When we talk about holistic, it's basically looking at everything, the whole thing, just not about the book, as I just mentioned. It's about our processes, how we're doing work, what part of the job we're in the work. You have to look at the whole chess match, the whole playing field of that.
And look at all those different parts, because they change each and every day. When we look at construction, it's a very interesting thing when you come down to safety, because in general industry, if you're in a manufacturing plant, you're doing widgets that are going down an assembly line. So you're doing the same thing exactly the same way. But when it comes to construction, it's not a set process. There are things that can change minute by minute, and you have to know how to adapt with those things, and have a plan for it, whether it's a plan B that you already have in your mind or it's something that you have to come up with right then. And when you look at that whole process and you're planning your work, but you just know that things are going to happen and you have to be prepared for that.
AS: Okay, now training, I'm sure, is one way to help you prepare for that. Can you talk about how your training programs affect the culture?
JFS: Oh, definitely. Well, here at Gaylor Electric, we have a great learning management system and we have a Gaylor University that we have pathways for each of our employees, whether you're in accounting or you're a first-year apprentice. So we have different training and pathways, and it's about day one training. So when you get to the job site, you are immediately starting to train, whether it's a site-specific orientation for Gaylor or it's the job task that you are doing. There's continuing education, continuing training on every aspect of our jobs. There's so many different things that we do as far as training goes.
AS: Given the recognition you recently received with your award from ABC [Associated Builders and Contractors] in terms of your ability to foster employee engagement, can you talk about how you were able to achieve this?
JFS: I would say actually how I was able to achieve the majority of what employee engagement was when I was hired at Gaylor Electric. I was hired as a safety technician. And being a part of a team in the field, that is the best way that you can foster employee engagement because you're with them day to day. You're watching them work, you're helping them learn, you're coaching them, you're working side by side. You become a family. So once you give everyone that responsibility and let them know that they are the safety leader, as I keep saying, and give them that empowerment, they will take that to other job sites. And so when they give that to another job site, those people will say, “Hey, I just worked with Jenny and this is what I know.” And they're passionate about it because they feel important that they're doing more. They're taking care of each other and watching out for each other. So that's what's really great about it.
I just had a gentleman call me yesterday that I hadn't spoken to him for years. And he was concerned about the heat and he was concerned about some things that he was seeing with other trades going on in the job site. And he was like, what do I do? I don't want to step on anybody's toes and so forth like that. And I'm like, hey, you can always share your water. You can ask somebody, do you have water? Do you have ice? So forth like that. And that's just a really neat thing that someone would reach out and say, hey, I'm noticing these things. What can I do to do that? And again, I haven't talked to that person in three or four years. So that's what's it's about engagement, 100% engagement and they recognize you immediately. And sometimes it's hard because every, you know, you'll come across 5,000 people in the field, but when they recognize you and they see you and they have that employee engagement, they're like, hey, I'm doing this or I'm doing that or I remember when you told me this. That's what makes it very special.
AS: Since you've been in the field for a while, can you talk about what barriers or challenges you have faced over the years as an EHS professional and how you were able to overcome them?
JFS: Gosh, there's so many different facets of that, of course. We can talk about the scheduling of a job that could be a challenge. We could talk about the budgeting of the job that'd be a challenge. But some of the barriers that I personally have faced is if you don't have that relationship with the audience that you are dealing with. A lot of times it has been that trust factor. Do they trust me with my knowledge and my experience on what I am telling them? Instead of being a type of person that's saying, hey, this is what my book says, or this is what the policy says. It's going in and saying, hey, I see that we have to do this. This is not safe, but let's make it as safe as possible. It's not going to be perfect, but we're going to make it as safe as possible and understanding the challenges that they're facing in that situation or why they feel like they have to do it a certain way and you have to circle around and say, no, we need to do it that way.
And a lot of things also is going to be, sometimes it's going to be your knowledge. You know, you're a woman, you're not an electrician, or you haven't been in the trades. And you have to tell them that you do have that experience and give them answers to their questions. And that leads back to also being a face in the field and getting to know your team and the individuals that you're working around also that helps you build that. But that's a big thing too. It's just making sure that they trust you and that they trust your knowledge and that they believe in you because that's essentially what it's about is that you're telling somebody to do something and you want them to trust that you had that knowledge base to have them execute that.
I think that's the biggest thing because when we set aside budget, you know, budget money is always going to be something, you know, people always make the safety fund a little skinny at times or if it's the schedule, that's a big challenge, but those arenthings that are constant. But when it comes to you telling someone that's been in the trade longer than you or has more experience on what to do, they need to trust you and understand that you understand where they're coming from too and the challenges that they have. Because it's not as simple as this is what the policy says, or this is what OSHA says, or this is what the GC says. It's how are we going to get this done due to design or it's the loose end that we forgot about and we have to go back and our whole environment has changed and we have to work around that.
So those are the big things is to get into making sure that people trust your knowledge and that you come from a place of care and concern, but also you come from a place of I'm here to help you. I'm not trying to fight against you. I'm not the enemy here. I've said that before. Hey, I'm not the enemy here. I'm here to help you. Let's get this done. What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? And you hear all these different ideas and sometimes you're like, that's brilliant. Or sometimes you're like, hey, I like where you're coming from, but there is no way we're ever do that. That's amazing, but no, that's not going to work today. So that's one of the biggest challenges is going to be having a team trust your knowledge, for sure.
AS: What advice would you give to those EHS professionals who are at the beginning of their careers?
JFS: Well, there's different facets of that. There's going to be the ones that are beginning their career straight out of school, obviously, with that great degree and that knowledge, and they have it in their pockets, and they've taken the test, and they can recite what page and paragraph that comes off. And then there's the path of the people that have been in the field that transition to the EHS side of things. Now, the ones that I would say that are wanting to get into safety, hey, get that construction job to where you are working as a helper or a laborer or something in the field so you can see those challenges.
Because a lot of times you don't know the challenges that the daily craft persons or the daily trades persons faces on a daily basis because you're just looking at how it should be, you know, how we should be working and how this is the task and these are the remediations that we put down on our JSA or JHA or whatever you want to call it, our pre-task planning, safety planning paperwork. This is how it should be, but real life happens. There's different things that happen that's not even close to that. Yeah, we're putting this peg in this shape over here, but when you get out on the field, it's a square and you can't put that peg in the square. How do we adapt that and how do we work safely and how do we plan out that work?
So I do believe, and I tell everyone, especially when we have younger people that say, hey, I want to get into safety. I'm like, hey, I think that's a great path for you, but I would like you to finish your apprenticeship. I would like you to become an excellent electrician, you know, become a master of your craft and work your way up through that way and become a safety advocate in the field for me, because you're better, you know, you can do better for me as being a safety advocate and a worker, then you could be being on my team because then you have that hands-on experience to where it's like, hey, I've had these situations to where we can't reach that, or I've had this situation to where people are working on top of us and these are different things and experiences, in how we can handle things. And I think that that's very important that if you can possibly get a job or an internship, being a laborer or a helper, and then that way you kind of get what these guys and ladies go through on a daily basis. And these are the challenges that they're faced with. Because again, just because it looks perfect on paper, real life construction isn't always, it's not set like that. So definitely, and it is a beautiful career. It is a beautiful career to get into.
AS: So looking ahead to the next few years, which of course is hard to predict these days, but as much as you can, what do you feel are the safety trends that companies will have to consider?
JFS: Oh my gosh, I wish I had that crystal ball, because if we had that crystal ball, I think you and I would be making a kajillion dollars, wouldn't we, Adrienne? For sure. I believe, and this is just my opinion, is that, as we all know, there's an age gap currently when we talk about construction, and what we have as far as our workers that are aging out and who's coming in. It's getting better, but there is still a huge age gap. There is a generation that did not go into the trades. So I think that one of the safety trends that we're really going to have to consider is new to construction and new to the trade world. And there might be some people that have never even picked up a tool that's coming into the workforce. And it's not a bad thing, but what makes it a challenging item is that we don't have the mentorship for those individuals to be doing those one-on-ones.
But that's what's great about the ABC. And we have our apprenticeship where they can get that mentorship. Having companies that are participating in the ABC group and having the ability to send their people through apprenticeship, through the ABC, and having those different type of services that are available. But I believe that it's going to be the mentorship and the knowledge of our workers. So when you have a lot of unskilled or unknowing workers that are coming into the workforce, that's going to affect your safety for sure, 100%.
So we just have to kind of blend maybe the old way of doing things. We're going to have to change how we look at safety for these individuals coming in there. I mean, we can't wrap people in bubble wrap either, but we can't expect them to know everything. So we're going to have to adapt most definitely on how we treat those and how we look at individuals coming into job sites.
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.