On November 10, 2022, CGA’s Young & Emerging Professionals Committee hosted a webinar titled, Critical Leadership Skills for a Safety and Health Focused Culture. The webinar attracted attendees from across the industry and capped a robust schedule of Young & Emerging Professionals events in 2022.

CGA was fortunate to have David Sarkus, Chief Servant Leader and Founder of David Sarkus International, Inc., as the keynote speaker of this event. David gave a presentation titled “Leading from Your Heart.”

David’s presentation discussed how to encourage employees to be safety leaders and champions.  David highlighted the importance of being a safety coach, rather than a safety cop, and reinforcing examples of employees who are exhibiting safe behavior. David also stressed the importance of creating an atmosphere where employees will feel comfortable voicing their concerns about safety.

After the keynote address, the event continued with a panel discussion featuring leaders from the 4 CGA member companies who won the 2021 CGA Fleet Safety Awards and Leonard Parker Pool Awards.  The panelists included:

• Garry Sears, President, Eleet Cryogenics, Inc.
• Adam Peters, CEO, Air Liquide North America
• Tony Wallace, Vice President Global Safety Health Environmental Quality (SHEQ), Linde
• John Gurcsik, Vice President of Operations, Roberts Oxygen

The panel discussion, moderated by Robin Jussila of Roberts Oxygen, took the broader safety concepts that David presented, and discussed how those are being implemented in their companies. There was also discussion about how this industry’s young and emerging professionals play an essential role in contributing to a healthy safety culture. The panel concluded with breakout sessions that allowed attendees to talk to the panelists and ask their own questions about leadership and promoting a culture of safety.

CGA would like to thank the sponsor for this webinar: Weldcoa. Weldcoa has generously sponsored all of the 2022 CGA Young & Emerging Professionals events, and CGA is grateful for their continued support.

CGA and its Young & Emerging Professionals Committee are hard at work planning a full schedule of events for 2023!  If you would like to join the committee, or if you are interested in information about future Young & Emerging Professionals events, please contact Tom Deary at tdeary@cganet.com or 703-788-2716.