Coia Safety and Consultative Services, LLC

08/31/2026

😷 A respirator is only one piece of respiratory protection.

Do you know what your employees are actually breathing? Identifying airborne hazards, evaluating exposure, controlling contaminants at the source, and selecting the right respiratory protection all matter.

Don’t just hand out respirators. Build a system that protects people.

EHS SafetyManagement

08/31/2026

𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦.

Tomorrow is NIOSH's Respiratory Protection Day, making this a great time to ask an important question: Do we actually know what our employees are breathing?

Last week, OSHA announced nearly $500,000 in proposed penalties against a Pennsylvania brick manufacturer following an inspection involving employee exposure to respirable crystalline silica. What stands out isn't simply the size of the proposed penalties. OSHA identified concerns involving exposure controls, respirator use, annual fit testing, regulated areas, exposure assessments, and medical surveillance.

That is an important reminder for all of us. Respiratory protection isn't just about handing an employee an N95 or half-mask respirator and checking a box. It's a system designed to identify an airborne hazard, understand the level of exposure, control that exposure, and then properly protect employees from the risk that remains.

🫁 OSHA estimates that approximately 2.3 million U.S. workers are occupationally exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Activities involving concrete, brick, stone, mortar, ceramics, and other silica-containing materials can generate extremely small particles capable of traveling deep into the lungs.

And silica is only one example. Welding fumes, dusts, mists, v***rs, gases, paints, solvents, and other airborne contaminants may all require employers to look more closely at employee exposure.

Before we reach for a respirator, we should be asking some basic questions.

- What is being generated?

- Who is exposed?

- How much are they exposed to?

- Can we eliminate or control the hazard?

- If respiratory protection is still necessary, have we selected the right respirator and completed the medical evaluation, fit testing, training, inspection, maintenance, and other required elements?

🔎 Here's something you can do this week: Pick one process in your facility that creates dust, smoke, fumes, mist, v***r, or another airborne contaminant. Go watch the work and talk with the employees performing it.

Then pull out your written Respiratory Protection Program and compare the two.

Does the program describe what is actually happening on your floor?

If you're not sure what employees are being exposed to, don't guess. That may be the indication that an exposure assessment or industrial hygiene evaluation needs to be your next step.

Respirators can save lives, but they should be one component of a larger risk-management system, not the entire solution.

💬 When was the last time your organization evaluated what employees are actually breathing instead of simply checking whether respirators were available?

08/29/2026

💰 Ohio employers: Your BWC dividend is coming. The question is……what will you do with it?

It’s great to see the Ohio BWC approve a $1 billion dividend for Ohio employers. That’s welcome news for businesses across our state.

But here’s a thought: What if we reinvested some of those dollars back into the people and programs that help make our workplaces safer?

This could be the perfect opportunity to finally complete that facility safety assessment, update outdated programs, strengthen your safety management system, bring in fractional safety leadership, or give your team some fresh, engaging training.

At CS2 Safety, we can help you turn a portion of that dividend into an investment that continues paying you back through stronger programs, better engagement, and safer workplaces.

The dividend is coming. How will you invest yours?

Let’s put some of it back to work for safety. 👷‍♂️🦺

08/26/2026

🎤 100+ ATTENDEES. ONE BIG CONVERSATION.

Today I had the opportunity to host “Finding Facts, Not Fault” in conjunction with National Interstate Insurance Company and Vanliner Insurance with more than 100 attendees joining us online!

The message was simple: What if workplace investigations focused less on finding who was at fault and more on understanding why the event happened?

That shift changes everything.
🔎 Better information
🔎 Stronger corrective actions
🔎 Operational improvements
🔎 Greater employee participation
🔎 A culture focused on learning, not blame

Finding Facts, Not Fault doesn’t eliminate accountability. It makes accountability more credible.

A huge thank you to National Interstate and Vanliner for the opportunity to partner on this program, and to everyone who joined us!

🔥 Want to bring Finding Facts, Not Fault to your organization?

CS2 Safety can help develop and implement your investigation process and provide onsite training for your leadership, safety, and operations teams.

📩 Contact us to schedule a workshop or onsite training event.

Find the facts. Learn from the event. Improve the system.

08/21/2026

08/19/2026

Not every company needs a full-time safety manager. But every company needs someone paying attention to safety.

That’s where fractional safety support can make a difference.

CS2 Safety works alongside local businesses to provide experienced safety leadership without the cost or commitment of adding another full-time position. Whether you need support a few days each month, help strengthening an existing program, or an experienced resource to keep safety initiatives moving, we can build the level of support around your operation.

Our fractional safety services can include:
🔹 Workplace safety assessments and OSHA compliance support
🔹 Safety committee development and leadership
🔹 Employee safety training and new-hire orientation
🔹 Written program development and review
🔹 Incident and near-miss investigation
🔹 Corrective action tracking and follow-up
🔹 Safety metrics, trends, and risk analysis
🔹 Ongoing onsite safety leadership and employee engagement

The goal isn’t to hand you another checklist or binder.

It’s to become an extension of your team and help build a safety program that actually works in your workplace.

If your company could use additional safety expertise but isn’t ready for a full-time safety position, let’s talk.

08/18/2026

𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭?

The 2027 edition of NFPA 70E – Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace brings several important changes employers should start paying attention to now.

And it’s about much more than arc-flash clothing.

One of the most talked-about changes is a new requirement for an additional trained person during certain justified energized electrical work when an Energized Electrical Work Permit is required and shock or arc-flash PPE is specified.

But that’s only part of the story.

The 2027 edition also strengthens or clarifies several other areas of electrical safety, including emergency-response planning, qualified-person requirements, lockout/tagout auditing, verification of an electrically safe work condition, arc-flash risk assessment, PPE requirements, and the use of insulated tools.

There are some practical changes employers should notice.

For example, NFPA 70E now more clearly recognizes that a worker may be qualified for certain equipment and tasks but not others. LOTO program and procedure audits are also separated, with different audit intervals. New language addresses situations where testing for the absence of voltage alone may not prove equipment is de-energized.

The PPE side is evolving too. Thermal hand protection is specifically addressed where contact thermal hazards exist, and revisions were made to PPE conformity-assessment requirements.

What does all of this mean for employers?

Don’t wait until someone needs to perform energized work to figure out whether your electrical safety program is ready.

This week, sit down with your maintenance, engineering, safety, and electrical teams and ask:
When was the last time we actually reviewed our electrical safety program against the current NFPA 70E requirements?

Then look beyond the binder. Review your energized-work practices, LOTO procedures, employee qualifications, arc-flash assessments, PPE, emergency response expectations, and how your team establishes and verifies an electrically safe work condition.

Electrical safety should begin long before someone puts on an arc-flash suit.

It begins with planning the work, understanding the hazard, eliminating exposure whenever possible, and making sure the system is prepared when energized work truly cannot be avoided.

💬 For those managing electrical safety programs: which 2027 NFPA 70E change do you think will have the greatest impact on employers?

08/15/2026

I’m so excited to be part the National Interstate Insurance Company and Vanliner Insurance webinar series this year. National Interstate & Vanliner Insurance Companies are doing some amazing things to keep drivers safe and leading the way in risk management for transportation.

08/13/2026

🏀 What can a professional basketball career teach us about safety leadership? More than you might think!

In Episode 318 of the Safety Leadership Collective, former pro basketball player Josh Young takes us from the hardwood to the workplace, sharing powerful lessons about leadership, behavior, culture, and trust.

Josh brings a unique perspective on how leadership, environment, and belief shape behavior and culture.

Great safety leadership isn’t just about policies or outcomes. It’s about what leaders demonstrate every day.

🎯 Demonstrate the values you want to see
🤝 Create an environment where people feel safe to speak up
👥 Put people at the center of decisions
🔎 Pay attention to daily behaviors, not just results
💬 Build trust by encouraging honest conversations about risk

The connection between the court and the workplace may be stronger than you think.

Every team has a culture. Every leader helps shape it. And every decision can what happens next.

🎧 Tune in to Episode 318: “Beyond the Court: What Basketball Teaches Us About Safety Leadership.”

Now available on most podcast apps! 🎙️

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-court-what-basketball-teaches-us-about/id1348428983?i=1000783057044

🎵 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/31jkCM52HhW5iS1KMQfaiF?si=Z0KVsrVjRA6tr2TXcIrtmg

📻 Listen on Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-safety-leadership-collective/beyond-the-court-what-basketball-teaches-us-about-safety-leadership/PE:1325338887?part=ug-desktop&corr=92675638229468826

🏀 What lessons from sports have shaped the way you lead?