On Tuesday, September 26, and Wednesday, September 27, Appalachian State University’s annual Safety Summit welcomed 130 in-person guests and nearly 30 virtual guests. As Covid begins to wind down, we are delighted to see over double the amount of in-person guests when compared to last year’s meeting. Decorated industry veterans, outspoken advocates, and aspiring students were some of the many people that had gathered in the Plemmons Student Union to discuss the research and current state of workplace safety, and where safety can go in the future. From looking at the work design’s influence on the worker experience to exploring the nuanced and often underrepresented importance of psychological safety, our speakers dived into the nuanced but vital topics that govern our modern-day employee work environment. Our own Dr. Tim Ludwig and Dr. Shawn Bergman challenged the preconceived notions of how we handle safety on a psychological level. They contested the perceptions of behaviors of workers and the intuition of safety professionals.
However, it was not only the seasoned professionals that were sharing their wisdom; our students also presented their findings. Two members of the HR Science’s Safety Team, Jacob Leslie and Nick Granowsky presented the results of their examinations of safety observations and hazard identification on the probability of an injury or near miss. “Presenting in a breakout session at the Safety Summit was a great experience for me.” says Nick. “Prior to this I had never presented more than a poster in a conference, so taking on a full presentation was an exciting challenge.” “The Safety Summit was a phenomenal opportunity to share our research with a group of professionals outside of the classroom.” says Jake. “This experience was exciting, informative, and fulfilling as I got to demonstrate the skills and convey the knowledge I have been gathering from my classes and the HR Safety team.”
The summit was also featured in the Chancellor's email to the university, where she wrote: "Last week, it was my pleasure to welcome more than 120 participants in the eighth annual Appalachian Safety Summit. For nearly a decade, this summit has been an important resource for business leaders, employees and communities, offering the most current research and training on workplace safety by some of the top researchers and practitioners in the world. I am so pleased that App State could provide both a venue and the expertise these professionals could draw upon to further develop workplace safety cultures in their organizations. Proceeds from participant registration support graduate students in the university’s Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management program — more than $45,000 has been invested in our students to date. Thank you to Dr. Tim Ludwig for leading the event, and thanks to all who made it a success!"
We congratulate Dr. Tim Ludwig on the success of the conference and we thank everyone who contributed to making it happen!
