Matt McCarthy
Vice President of Safety, Kokosing
Matt brings 22 years of experience with Kokosing group of companies where he has played an important role in developing the culture of safety 24/7. Throughout the years, he has worked with all facets of the business, from heavy highway, heavy civil, underground, industrial construction and maintenance, pipeline, solar, marine, materials, and mining. Matt’s passion is the development of the team members within his department and throughout the organization. Matt is focused on learning and helping others understand human factors as well as empowering people to work together to support Kokosing’s number one core value of safety first.
Matt's sessions
Integration is the Key to Long-Term Success
Wed, Oct 21, 9:45 AM to 11:00 AM - Salon 9/
Guided by safety leader Tony Morres, SafeStart has become more than a training initiative at Kokosing—it is now embedded into daily operations, leadership practices, and workforce interactions across the organization. This interactive session will combine real-world examples, live audience polling, and Q&A discussions to take participants on the journey of how Kokosing integrated key SafeStart concepts—states, errors, CERTS, and the BIG 3—into leadership development, field observations, incident analysis, and high-hazardous-energy management (STKY – Stuff That Kills You). Participants will gain practical insight into how the adoption of SafeStart Now, Safety 24/7 Stories, SafeTrack observation concepts and their structured Safety 24/7 Conversation (Observe-Accentuate-Explore-Emphasize-Agree) helped create sustainable engagement and long-term ownership of safety at every level. The session will also explore how Kokosing continues to strengthen integration through leadership alignment, Power BI analytics, and innovations like RiskTalk (an AI-supported pre-shift meeting app). Participants will leave with practical ideas for connecting safety systems, leadership behaviors, and everyday conversations to create lasting cultural change and long-term safety success in their own facilities.
Presented by
Tony Morres, Kokosing Materials Inc.
Matt McCarthy, Kokosing