Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews Jennifer McNelly, CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals, about her wide-ranging safety career, the ASSP publishing the first U.S.-Based standard on risk assessment and management, the ASSP's Standards-Based User Groups, and how safety practices are not about worker behavior but overall organization system safety improvement. Jennifer shares her excitement about National Safety Month and the upcoming Safety Conference + Expo 2026, from June 15th through 17th in Anaheim, California. Listen for inspiration on closing the safety gap in your organization.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. We are releasing this episode ahead of National Safety Month in June, and our special guest is Jennifer McNelly, the CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals, but first…

[:43] RIMS Virtual Workshops. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held on June 9th and 10th. The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on June 16th and 17th. Links to registration are in this episode's notes.

[:58] Webinars. On May 21st, GRC returns to present "Is Your Fire Protection Strategy Outdated? Emerging Risks Are Changing the Rules."

[1:10] On May 28th, Zurich returns with "From Underwriting To Risk Management: What To Expect From The Growing Demand For Data Center Construction." Register for webinars at RIMS.org/Webinars or through the links in this episode's show notes.

[1:25] Folks, RIMS is back on YouTube. Our handle is @RIMSOfficialChannel. We've got plenty of videos there, including RIMScast, RIMScast Canada video podcasts, and other informative and entertaining content from RIMS. Subscribe to the channel today!

[1:43] If you plan to submit a session for the RIMS Canada Conference 2026, today, the air date May 19th, is your last day to do so. Visit RIMS Canada to submit your session. We hope to see you in Quebec City, October 18th through the 21st.

[2:02] On with the Show! June is approaching, and that means National Safety Month. That is also observed in several parts of the world. Who better to speak about safety than Jennifer McNelly, the CEO of The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP)?

[2:20] Jennifer is an accomplished executive with more than 35 years of leadership experience in associations, government, and industry. She has been the Society's CEO since 2018, leading the global organization of more than 36,000 occupational, safety, and health professionals.

[2:36] Jennifer has some new risk management standards to discuss, under the safety umbrella. I also thought we would benefit from hearing her philosophies on safety and how the ASSP encourages its members to embed safety into their organization's culture. Let's get to it!

[2:55] Interview! ASSP CEO, Jennifer McNelly, Welcome to RIMScast!

[3:29] Jennifer McNelly and Gary LaBranche, CEO of RIMS, run into each other often at ASAE. They have talked about connecting. Jennifer is excited to be here on RIMScast to talk about collaboration, partnership, and keeping everybody safe at work.

[4:04] Jennifer asks every safety professional she connects with, "Tell me your story." She says she is an amalgamation of many stories that have led her to be the CEO of ASSP. She started in the political world. She says you've got to build strong partnerships to move things forward.

[4:26] That is the foundation of the mindset Jennifer brings to the ASSP. After politics, she spent time in the U.D. Department of Labor in the capacity of public-private partnerships. That's how you move things forward.

[4:41] This was followed by a deep commitment to the people in this nation who make things through leadership at the Manufacturing Institute and Global Stages. All of Jennifer's career has been at the intersection of people and the world of work, and making the world a better place.

[4:58] Jennifer says now she gets to do that with unbelievable honor for those who get up and run the world's economy every day, ensuring they get to go home as they were and better than when they walked in the door.

[5:11] Jennifer says that's about economic contribution, keeping everybody safe, and the commitment and heart of every safety professional. Safety brought her in the door, with a very unique lens of how we need to work together to send everybody home.

[5:32] Jennifer has been with ASSP for eight years, moving into her ninth year. She brings energy, passion, and connection to what ASSP is doing. She likes to think of herself as the catalyst for impact, to make workers' safety, health, and well-being an inherent right for everybody.

[6:11] Jennifer says everyone's got a safety story. Often, the thing that hits the headline is the "Somebody did …" and there was a whole set of events.

[6:23] Hence, today's conversation, anchored in the importance of risk identification, risk management, and integration into thinking every day by everyone.

[6:33] It's not just one thing that starts it. It can be the mindset of someone who's had a bad morning and lost childcare for their family. It can be about a system in process. It can be about a bad piece of equipment. It can be a bunch of other things, but what we hear is the headline.

[6:53] Jennifer says our goal is to unpack the story and get to the root cause and improve it, for everyone.

[7:00] Jennifer says the ASSP has over 35,000 members globally. A lot of the membership is in the industrial space. They have partners in insurance, and those who service as well as those who produce. ASSP calls this the Safety Ecosystem.

[7:26] Justin says RIMS sees that Enterprise Risk Management is leading the way for the future of the profession. Justin asks how Jennifer sees safety risk integrating more deeply into ERM frameworks.

[7:42] Jennifer said in 2019, early in her career at ASSP, her pitch to the Board of Directors was for moving safety professionals and workers from basic compliance to a complete integration of human capital, total worker health, and principles like prevention through design.

[8:10] Risk Enterprise Systems are critical to that objective. ASSP just released a new standard, "ANSI/ASSP Z310.1 Risk Management — Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Risk."

[8:34] It's about management systems, operating in an organizational context, and creating and documenting a comprehensive approach. It's about stakeholder engagement, culture, and inclusivity.

[8:49] It also has an important mindset: Change always happens. Therefore, it's about dynamic operations, not static operations; about how you use clear and available information to lead forward, and consider culture and human factors, always with continuous improvement.

[9:11] Jennifer says we can't move forward without all those factors integrated into Enterprise Risk.

[9:18] The ASSP's Z310.1 Committee is comprised of 28 organizations. ASSP plays an important role in the marketplace. Its logo is a shield, and its members are guardians of workplace safety. Every one of them is a workplace superhero.

[10:05] Jennifer loves all superheroes because she loves the potential of hope that each one of us has that power.

[10:12] One of the things that is unique about ASSP's market position is its global-based standards. It brings companies together around the table to flesh it out. It's not a single company.

[10:34] Jennifer says injuries, serious incidents, and fatalities happen in an environment that's complex, dynamic, and always changing. By bringing together those who are doing the work, we gain consensus.

[10:49] Justin says there is a link to the press release in this episode's show notes. The press release mentions how ANSI/ASSP Z310.0 builds off the ISO 31000 standard. There's a lot of value in it for RIMS members. Please check out the link in this episode's show notes.

[11:17] Justin notes that ANSI comes with a lot of heft. The RIMS-CRMP is ANSI-accredited. RIMS is the only globally recognized risk management program through ANSI.

[11:37] Jennifer says that early in her career, she sat on ANSI's 17024 PCAC, the group that approved those kinds of standards. She is a firm believer in business driving business outcomes. They know what works.

[11:54] The workers doing the work and the business conducting the business know what works. Jennifer talks about cross connections and says we should be talking and doing more together. Each of us has a critical role.

[12:42] A Quick Break! There are so many other wonderful RIMS events coming up in 2026. The 2026 Florida RIMS Educational Conference will be held from July 28th through August 1st at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. A link to the event is in this episode's show notes.

[13:04] Register now for the Second Annual RIMS Texas Regional Conference, to be held from Augus...