How Safety Skills Scale Across Industries with Matt Shaffer
The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management · 2026-03-12 · 32 min
Episode notes
What if the secret to better safety wasn't stricter policies, but smarter ones? In this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management , I sit down with Matt Shaffer, Director of Vision Technologies, to unpack the leadership philosophy that has transformed safety programs across airports, construction sites, and critical infrastructure. We explore: Why eliminating "safety vs. operations" language changes worker engagement immediately How a return-to-work program became a competitive advantage at Swissport The audit philosophy that measures leadership quality, not just compliance Why fresh eyes from different industries solve the blind spots veterans no longer see How to build safety cultures where near-miss reporting actually happens What "celebrating the 100%" looks like and why it sustains culture long-term Matt Shaffer started his career in insurance and financial planning before being pulled into safety consulting at Dulles Airport. What followed was over a decade of leading programs across aviation, construction, and critical infrastructure.