Sponsored by DEKRA

Catastrophic occupational and process safety incidents usually occur after a series of early warning signals, often subtle, are overlooked. Some organizations have been successful in avoiding catastrophic events, even in environments with high risk factors and complex operations. Known as high-reliability organizations, these operations have developed cultures that embrace the concepts of anticipation, questioning, diligence, resilience and learning, blending them with a focus on human performance reliability. This leads to significant improvement in the detection of, and response to, early warning signals.

Based on more than three decades of experience, DEKRA organizational process safety expert Mike Snyder and human performance reliability leader Rajni Walia will explore practices that improve HRO culture and human performance reliability. These approaches drive a new way of thinking about how to identify and respond to early warning signals, reduce human error, and enable improved decision-making. Participants will be made aware of key interventions that can be used to guide an organization toward a culture that promotes high-reliability thinking and a reduced exposure to catastrophic incident potential.

Speakers

Mike Snyder
Vice President of Operational Risk Management, DEKRA North America

Mike Snyder serves as Vice President of Operational Risk Management at DEKRA North America. He previously was the Global Director of Safety and Loss Prevention for Dow Corning Corp., responsible for leading the company’s occupational and process safety programs. Mike is a retired fire chief and fire marshal from the Auburn-Williams (MI) Fire District, where he developed expertise in the practical application of the Fire Code for construction and operational projects. He currently serves on the Center for Chemical Process Safety Advisory Board and is a registered professional engineer in Michigan, a Certified Safety Professional, and a Certified Fire Protection Specialist.

Rajni Walia, Ph.D.
Vice President, DEKRA North America

Rajni Walia, Ph.D., is a senior leader specializing in human performance reliability and serious injury and fatality prevention. Rajni and her teams are responsible for providing leading-edge solutions incorporating the latest in applied behavior and neuroscience to help organizations achieve “right first time” results in safety performance, reduce serious injuries and foster greater human performance reliability. Rajni is a sought-after thought leader with more than a decade of experience leading performance management, organizational assessment and development, and providing human error-reduction consultations.

Moderator

Kevin Druley, Associate Editor, Safety+Health magazine

Kevin is associate editor of Safety+Health and serves as co-host of the magazine’s “On the Safe Side” podcast.