The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management

Hosted by YellowBird

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Hosted by Michael Zalle, Founder and CEO of YellowBird, The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management features the sharpest minds in risk management and workplace safety. Each episode dives into bold, real conversations that challenge outdated safety models and cut through compliance theater. You’ll hear from guests who bring a powerful mix of tech-driven insight, human-first experience, and hard-won lessons from the field. Ideal for those leading safety initiatives in construction, logistics, manufacturing, or looking at safety from within the insurance industry, this podcast delivers the insights you need to stay ahead. Tap into real world case studies, stay on top of emerging technologies, and get field-tested strategies that are redefining how safety programs are built and scaled. Real experts. Real outcomes. Your playbook for the future of safety starts here.

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60 recent

October 22, 2026Episode 6744 min

Why Curiosity Is the Foundation of Better Safety Leadership | Jake Wenmark

"Be curious, not judgmental. And as a safety professional, that's so key. Because as soon as we're judgmental and we assume that we know or have all the answers and we don't understand the whole backstory, we're going to lose that all day, every day." - Jake Wenmark Safety leadership starts with understanding people, not judging them. When safety professionals approach incidents with curiosity, listen to frontline workers, and build trust across teams, they create a stronger workplace safety culture. Jake Wenmark, VP of Risk and Safety at Knobelsdorff (KE), brings a unique perspective shaped by his experience in law enforcement and public service. His journey offers valuable lessons for safety professionals navigating rapid organizational growth, complex operations, and the challenges of protecting employees across multiple states. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Jake to explore why curiosity should guide safety leadership, how to integrate acquired companies without losing their culture, and why practical field experience matters when building an effective safety team. They also discuss mental health in high-stress industries, including the importance of addressing trauma and PTSD, reducing stigma, and creating meaningful support systems. Jake shares how consistent communication, strong relationships, and patience can strengthen safety management as organizations grow.

October 15, 2026Episode 6629 min

Why Incident Investigations Need More Curiosity and Less Blame | Joseph Bachi

"It's not just about making sure that you're checking boxes and being compliant. It's deeper than that. It's about caring for people and creating that environment where it is safe to speak up." - Joseph Bachi Safety investigations should help us understand what happened and make it easier to prevent the next incident. But when investigations focus on blame, they can shut down the very conversations that could reveal what really went wrong. Joseph Bachi, Division Safety & Health Manager of the Gypsum Division at Georgia-Pacific, brings years of experience across manufacturing, automotive, and mining safety, along with a deep understanding of Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Joseph to explore how shifting from blame-based interrogations to curiosity-driven conversations can uncover the operational challenges traditional investigations often miss. Joseph shares how asking better questions, listening to frontline employees, and designing systems that make it easier to do things right can transform incident investigations. They also explore near-miss learning, engineering controls, decentralized safety leadership, and the value of independent observation in identifying blind spots.

October 8, 2026Episode 6545 min

Why Safety Starts With How We Respond to Mistakes | Chris Murphy

"If that traditional mindset's going to work, then people have to be perfect. And we know, and Safety Differently teaches us, that we all make mistakes. We're all fallible because we're human." - Chris Murphy Safety culture does not change by adding more rules. It changes when people at every level are given the ownership, context, and confidence to make better decisions. Chris Murphy, Executive Director of Safety at Aldridge Electric, brings a unique perspective shaped by his journey from juvenile probation officer to construction safety leader, as well as his experience applying Safety Differently and Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Chris to explore why errors should be treated as opportunities to learn rather than reasons to assign blame, and how moving beyond compliance can strengthen serious injury and fatality (SIF) prevention. Chris shares practical strategies for turning frontline supervisors into safety champions, deciding when training needs to happen in person, navigating multilingual workforces, and protecting company culture during rapid growth. Together, they explore how building capacity and effective controls can create genuine psychological safety and a stronger safety culture.

October 1, 2026Episode 6447 min

From Safety Compliance to Safety Ownership: How Leaders Transform Culture | Paul Espenan

"Safety is a keystone habit. You show me a safe company, I'll show you a well-performing one and vice versa. You cannot separate safety performance from company performance, period." - Paul Espenan Safety leadership is not about adding more rules or another compliance checklist. It is about helping people understand risk, take ownership, and make safer decisions when it matters. Paul Espenan, Senior Vice President of EHS&R at Diversified Energy Company, brings a practical perspective shaped by his career progression from environmental compliance into safety leadership and his experience of turning underperforming operations into safer, more effective workplaces. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Paul to explore why safety can become a keystone habit that drives both safety performance and overall business performance. Paul shares how asking better questions can coach leaders toward safer operations, why vulnerability and storytelling can accelerate cultural transformation, and how an advice-then-ownership approach can build genuine ownership of safety. He also explains how finding more efficient ways to manage hazards can align operational excellence with incident prevention, rather than treating safety and efficiency as competing priorities.

September 24, 2026Episode 6350 min

Why Perspective and Not Compliance Creates a Stronger Safety Culture I Justin Hinks

“In our career field, we can't be in cruise control. Right? Safety matters too darn much to put it in cruise control." - Justin Safety leadership is not about adding another checklist or sending another reminder. It is about helping people see risk differently and giving them a reason to make safer choices. Justin Hinks, Director of Safety at Furniture Mart USA, brings an unconventional perspective shaped by his journey from farm kid to high school principal to safety leader. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Justin to explore how the “Safe 2 Home” mentality can move safety beyond compliance and connect it to what matters most: getting people home to the people they love. Justin shares why visiting 70 locations in four months can build more trust than generic safety communications, how a simple perspective exercise can help teams spot hazards they have become blind to, and why coaching and relationship-building are critical to changing behaviour. He also explains how innovative waste-reduction initiatives can turn an environmental challenge into a business opportunity.

September 17, 2026Episode 6235 min

Turning Frontline Safety Leaders Into Professional Risk Managers with Devin Woods

“My goal is to make our frontline leaders, the foremen, the superintendents, the general foremen, to make those folks professional risk managers.” Devin Woods, Director of Safety at ArchKey Solutions. Safety leadership is not about chasing perfect outcomes. It is about giving frontline leaders the tools to identify hazards, assess risk, and make better decisions when conditions change. Devin Woods, Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Bruce & Merrilees Electric, an ArchKey Solutions company. Devin brings experience across oil and gas, drilling operations, and electrical construction to a conversation about building practical risk management into everyday work. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Devin to explore how Human and Organizational Performance can strengthen an HSE management system, why TRIR alone may not reveal high-potential risks, and how SIF potential can provide another view of exposure. Devin also shares a powerful lesson from a drilling rig fatality about why a focus on corrective actions must cut across the organization and explains how EHS technology can free safety teams to spend more time where they have the greatest impact.

September 10, 2026Episode 6128 min

Building Safety Into Systems, Not Onto Schedules with John Kanyan

"Never be afraid of what the three most terrifying words in our business are: 'I don't know’. Because if you don't know, you can find out." - John Kanyan, Director EHS PepsiCo Safety leadership is not about adding more rules to the schedule. It is about designing safety into the way work gets done. John Kanyan, Director of EHS at PepsiCo, brings more than 15 years of frontline experience across steel mills, power generation, manufacturing, and large-scale fleet operations to a conversation about making safety stick. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with John to explore how system safety and behavior safety work together to strengthen culture, why safety belongs inside SOPs rather than beside them, and what it takes to manage risk across 19 geographically dispersed facilities. John also shares a practical perspective on using AI in safety, the importance of human oversight, and why being willing to say “I don’t know” can lead to better decisions and stronger safety programs.

September 3, 2026Episode 6037 min

How to Move Your Safety Teams from Reactive Firefighters to Proactive Fire Marshals: Insights from Jesse Marano

One of the things I always say to my team is, how can we move from firefighters to proactive fire marshals?”Jesse Marano, Director of Global EHS at EVAPCO. Safety leadership isn’t about responding faster when something goes wrong; it’s about preventing the fire before it starts. Jesse Marano, Director of Global EHS at EVAPCO, explains how to shift safety teams from reactive firefighters into proactive fire marshals while building programs that can scale across global operations. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Jesse to explore managing EHS across 28 facilities in 13 countries, balancing corporate standards with local autonomy, and getting real stakeholder buy-in. Jesse also shares why safety professionals need to speak the language of operations, demonstrate business value, and package their initiatives effectively. Because safety isn’t about citing regulations or creating more rules. It’s about building practical systems that prevent risk, strengthen operations, and help people work safely.

August 27, 2026Episode 5947 min

Stop Being the Safety Cop - Build Trust with Psychological Safety: Insights from Jeffrey Bowers

"A strong safety culture lives at the intersection of psychological safety, lived experience, and consistency across people, backgrounds, and shifts." - Jeffrey Bowers, Owner/Consultant of Dream Bay Services LLC. Safety culture doesn’t start with more rules; it starts with trust. Jeffrey Bowers, Owner/Consultant of Dream Bay Services LLC, explains how to transform safety in a high-risk, heavy-industrial environment by asking the right questions and building psychological safety within teams, rather than playing the role of "safety cop.” In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Jeffrey to explore truly building safety in one of the most hazardous environments. Jeffrey also shares how to break risk into processes, uncover blind spots through perspectives, and build consistency across shifts. Because safety isn’t about checking boxes, it’s about creating an environment where people speak up, leaders listen, and everyone can go home safe.

August 20, 2026Episode 5822 min

Building a Safety Culture That Holds Up Under Pressure with Jeff Schmitt

"If the system really works, the employees are doing the right thing. Their leaders are doing the right thing and committed to health and safety as well." Words of wisdom from Jeff Schmitt, CSP, Director of Corporate Safety and Health at Kyndryl. Scaling safety across 60 countries is not about adding more rules or hiring dozens of EHS professionals. It is about building structured playbooks that teams can actually execute when conditions change. In this episode of The Canary Report, host Michael Zalle sits down with Jeff Schmitt to explore how to build operational safety systems across a distributed global workforce. With over 20 years of experience, Schmitt shares practical lessons on managing risk across employees, contractors, customer sites, and high-risk data centers. We discuss rebuilding safety systems after a corporate spinoff, aligning with ISO 45001 standards, and why true safety ownership belongs to the frontline.