David Sears
Director of Safety and Security, SSAB Americas
After serving a term in the U.S. Army, David started his career in the steel industry as a mechanic/welder in the rolling mill at SSAB’s Iowa facility. David became a shift supervisor and was responsible for the maintenance items through the rolling, finishing, and shipping departments. Next, David assumed maintenance planner responsibilities before he moved to technical services as a Six Sigma Black Belt, completing several improvement projects before taking on the role of the rolling mill operations manager position. SSAB wanted to take a fresh direction with safety, and David was selected as the new safety manager for the Iowa facility. Success in that role opened the opportunity for him to take his current role as the safety director of several facilities. David is a member of AIST, SMA, and AISI and serves on the Don B. Daily Memorial selection team, awarding scholarships and grants to those enrolled in college safety programs.
David's sessions
From Complacent to Courageous: How to Build an Unstoppable Safety Culture
Oct 28, 3:30 PM to 4:45 PM - Bluegrass AB
If we all want everyone to go home safely, why do accidents still happen?
Safety rules, policies, and procedures are essential, but they don’t always translate into real-world behavior. Even the best protocols won’t prevent accidents if they don’t align with how people think, act, and interact. A courageous safety culture doesn’t happen by accident. It is intentionally designed to shape how employees think about safety, act in critical moments, and interact with one another to create a shared sense of responsibility. This session will introduce a proven framework—The 4 Dimensions of Culture—that magnifies SafeStart’s principles into a deeply ingrained mindset and how each dimension influences safety behaviors and transforms passive compliance into active safety ownership. Participants will hear case studies from organizations that have successfully transformed their safety cultures using this framework. This isn’t just another lecture. This interactive session will be about engagement and thought-provoking questions, opening the floor to have a conversation at certain points, and providing perspectives that may challenge leadership and cultural ideologies. Learn how well-intentioned organizations with a high focus on safety can unintentionally drive complacency into their safety culture. Participants will also leave with actionable steps to design a high-performing safety culture.
Presented by
David Sears, SSAB Americas
Greg Cagle, Author