KTL will be a featured poster presenter at the 2026 Master Brewers Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, October 22-24, 2026. Hosted by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA), the Master Brewers Conference brings together brewing professionals from across the globe to share technical knowledge, explore new technologies, and network with industry leaders. The Conference’s mission is to advance the brewing industry through education and collaboration.

KTL will be co-presenting a poster session with New Belgium Brewery on Food Safety and Regulatory Implications of Producing Nonalcoholic and Low-Alcohol Beer (NALAB):

The demand for NALAB products has increased significantly in the past few years and is projected to continue. While meeting this market demand may sound like a traditional case of new product development, breweries entering the NALAB space encounter a fundamentally different food safety and regulatory landscape. As alcohol content serves as a key control against microbial growth, its reduction or removal introduces new risks that must be managed through process design and food safety controls. Once a facility’s sale of nonalcoholic products exceeds five percent of overall sales, the facility becomes subject to additional Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls and supply chain programs. In this poster presentation, New Belgium Brewery and KTL will explore the practical realities of integrating NALAB production into an existing brewing operation.

We look forward to connecting with you in Virginia Beach!

All types of organizations and operational processes demand a variety of audits and assessments to evaluate compliance with requirements, ranging from government regulations, to industry codes, to management system standards (e.g., ISO, GFSI), to internal obligations. Audits and assessments capture regulatory compliance status, management system conformance, supplier compliance, adequacy of internal controls, potential risks, and best practices. In short, audits and assessments are essential for improving and verifying compliance performance, internal controls, potential risks, and best practices.

Having the right tool for the job can make audits significantly more efficient. This includes the protocol and templates developed as part of pre-audit preparation, as well as audit/assessments tools that may be used to conduct and manage audits more efficiently and effectively. The KTL Assessment App is a comprehensive audit management solution built on the Microsoft Power Platform and Dataverse that enables organizations to more efficiently create, manage, and execute audits, while managing and tracking corrective actions.

Functionality: What does it do?

KTL’s Assessment App supports the entire audit lifecycle. Users can conduct audits and assessments from desktop or mobile devices, record responses, capture comments, attach photos, track progress, and assign corrective actions. The app features a fully customizable framework that enables organizations to build robust audit programs tailored to their specific regulatory, operational, and business requirements.

The solution works through three applications:

• Assessment Report App: The Assessment Report App allows managers to review audit findings and manage corrective actions. The application supports PDF report generation and sharing to improve communication and compliance documentation.
• Assessment Management App: The Assessment Management App serves as the administrative hub. Administrators can create and manage assessment templates, data, and configuration settings.
• Assessment App: The Assessment App is the primary user-facing application used to conduct audits and assessments. Available on desktop and mobile devices, it allows auditors to view audits, answer questions, upload supporting evidence, and track progress. Scoring and progress tracking provide real-time insight into assessment progress.

Benefits: Why do you need it?

KTL’s Assessment App helps organizations manage audits and assessments more consistently, efficiently, and transparently. By centralizing setup, execution, reporting, and corrective action tracking, the app improves visibility into audit status, strengthens accountability, and supports better compliance decision-making.

• Program setup and administration: Add and manage users, locations, standards, audit types, assessment templates, and scoring models.
• Audit execution: Record responses, comments, and supporting evidence; monitor assessment progress and completion status in real time; and automatically calculate scores throughout the audit process.
• Reporting and decision support: Generate reports and PDF summaries that support compliance reviews and provide management with clear information for decision-making.
• Corrective action management: Track corrective actions to ensure findings are assigned, addressed, and resolved.
• Data security: Protect assessment data through role-based access controls and permissions.

With assessment management, automation, reporting, and corrective action tracking in one platform, KTL’s Assessment App gives organizations a more reliable way to manage audit programs, capture compliance status, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement.

Technology Used

• Dataverse
• Power Apps
• Power Automate

KTL will be exhibiting at the Wisconsin Correctional Association’s (WCA) 2026 Annual Training Conference in Wisconsin Dells September 20-22, 2026. WCA hosts this annual statewide conference to bring together correctional professionals, students, and leaders across the criminal justice system. The event supports collaboration, professional development, and meaningful dialogue around the future of corrections.

Be sure to stop by and visit KTL at our exhibit booth (#18). We’ll be sharing more about our EHS, food safety, and Microsoft 365 information management solutions. We look forward to connecting with you in the Dells!

Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000 is a robust Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognized food safety certification scheme based on ISO 22000 that is applicable across the food chain (i.e., food/feed manufacturing, packaging production, transport, and storage). As a certification scheme, FSSC 22000 is unique in that it comprises three separate elements:

• ISO 22000 International Standard – Specifies requirements for a food safety management system (FSMS) in alignment with the ISO Harmonized Structure.
• ISO/Sector-Specific Technical Specifications (TS) 22002 – Requires organizations to establish Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) for specific sectors.
• FSSC 22000 Scheme Additional Requirements – Provides comprehensive additional requirements that build on ISO 22000 and sector-specific PRPs.

With recent updates to the FSSC 22000 Scheme (i.e., Version 7) and ISO/TS 22002, as well as planned updates (2027) to the ISO 22000 Standard, there is a lot of confusion surrounding applicable requirements, how they are related, and compliance timelines. KTL’s Q&A with our food safety experts helps clarify some of the commonly asked questions regarding ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000.

How do ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 work together?

ISO 22000 is an internationally recognized FSMS standard for any organization in the food chain, regardless of size or role. It combines management system practices, risk-based thinking, PRPs, interactive communication, and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles to help organizations identify, prevent, control, and continually improve how they manage food safety hazards.

FSSC 22000 is a food safety certification scheme built on ISO 22000. It includes ISO 22000, applicable sector-specific PRP standards (ISO/TS 22002), and FSSC 22000 Additional Requirements. The scheme is managed by Foundation FSSC and is benchmarked by GFSI, which is why many global brands, retailers, manufacturers, and buyers recognize or require it.

ISO 22000 provides the core FSMS framework and can stand on its own. In turn, FSSC 22000 uses that framework as its foundation and adds a more prescriptive certification structure. In practical terms, a company with a well-implemented ISO 22000 system has already built much of the foundation needed for FSSC 22000, but it must still address the applicable PRP standard, FSSC Additional Requirements, scheme rules, audit expectations, and certification body requirements.

What is the main difference between ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000?

ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 are closely connected, but they are not interchangeable. The main differences between the standards are related to certification scope and market recognition. ISO 22000 defines what an organization must do to control food safety hazards across the food chain. FSSC 22000 builds on ISO 22000 by adding sector-specific PRP requirements, FSSC Additional Requirements, scheme rules, and GFSI-recognized certification used to satisfy major customer, retailer, and procurement expectations. This includes additional requirements for areas such as food defense, food fraud mitigation, allergen management, environmental monitoring, equipment management, and food safety and quality culture.

What does my facility need to do to comply with the three elements of FSSC 22000?

To comply with FSSC 22000, a facility must implement all three elements (i.e., ISO 22000, ISO/TS 220002, FSSC 22000 Additional Requirements) as one integrated FSMS, not as separate documents or checklists, as follows:

1. ISO 22000: Define the FSMS scope; assign leadership responsibilities; identify internal and external risks; establish food safety objectives; complete hazard analysis; define PRPs, operational prerequisite programs (OPRPs), and critical control points (CCPs); control monitoring and corrective actions; maintain traceability and recall processes; conduct internal audits; complete management review; and drive continual improvement.
2. ISO/TS 22002: Identify and implement applicable sector-specific PRP requirements from the ISO 22002 series; translate the relevant TS into site controls for areas such as zoning, facility design, equipment, cleaning and sanitation, pest management, utilities, personnel hygiene, storage, transport, waste handling, maintenance, supplier controls, and prevention of cross-contamination; verify that these PRPs are effective, current, and supported by records, not just written into procedures.
3. FSSC 22000 Scheme Additional Requirements: Meet applicable requirements for purchased services and materials, product labeling, food defense, food fraud mitigation, allergen management, environmental monitoring, equipment management, food safety and quality culture, quality control, transport and delivery, and any other requirements that apply to the facility’s food chain category and certification scope.

A documented gap assessment against ISO 22000, the applicable ISO/TS 22002 PRP standard, and the FSSC 22000 requirements is a practical place to start. Facilities can then work to convert the gaps into an implementation plan with assigned responsibilities, training, verification activities, internal audit checks, and management review follow-up to ensure effective implementation.

What are the recent changes to the ISO/TS 22002 PRPs?

The ISO/TS 22002 series was modernized in 2025. The new structure introduces ISO 22002-100 as a common baseline for food, feed, and packaging supply chains, supported by sector-specific parts to create a more consistent PRP framework and help simplify implementation for organizations operating across multiple sectors. Sector-specific categories are defined as follows:

• ISO/TS 22002-1: Food Manufacturing
• ISO/TS 22002-2: Catering
• ISO/TS 22002-3: Farming
• ISO 220002-4: Food Packaging
• ISO/TS 22002-5: Transport and Storage
• ISO/TS 22002-6: Feed and Animal Food Production
• ISO/TS 22002-7: Retail and Wholesale Operations
• ISO/TS 22002-100: Common/General Requirements 

With this change, every certified facility must now comply with ISO/TS 22002-100, which consolidates general, common requirements across the entire supply chain, while also implementing their sector-specific requirements. The ISO/TS 22002 updates also demand tighter focus related to hygienic design and zoning, material and chemical control, and allergen and environmental monitoring.

The release of the restructured ISO/TS 22002:2025 series serves as the primary driver behind the creation of FSSC 22000 Version 7 (V7). As such, the timeline for compliance with the ISO/TS 22002:2025 series is tied directly to the FSSC 22000 transition to V7. See below.

What is changing in FSSC 22000 V7?

In early May 2026, Foundation FSSC published V7 of the FSSC 22000 Scheme Additional Requirements. It aligns the scheme with the updated ISO/TS 22002:2025 PRP series and GFSI benchmarking requirements, updates food chain categories, strengthens select Additional Requirements, and introduces a new requirement related to sustainable packaging design principles for organizations involved in packaging design or packaging material changes. V7 also updates auditor qualification requirements and transition expectations.

FSSC has established a phased transition from V6 to V7. Audits against V6 are allowed only up to April 30, 2027. Updated audits against V7 are expected to take place from May 1, 2027 through April 30, 2028. Again, this includes the updated ISO/TS 22002:2025 requirements.

What changes are expected for ISO 22000 in 2027?

ISO 22000:2018 remains the current certifiable edition, but a revised ISO 22000 standard is anticipated in 2027. The revision is expected to strengthen food defense, food fraud, and food safety culture; clarify the relationship between CCPs, OPRPs, and PRPs; and support alignment with the updated ISO/TS 22002 PRP series.

Should I wait for ISO 22000:2027 before pursuing certification?

No. Companies should continue to implement, maintain, and improve their systems against the currently applicable requirements. Waiting for the updated ISO 22000 standard may delay customer approvals, weaken audit readiness, and create a larger transition burden later. Organizations should focus on the changes associated with FSSC 22000 V7 and ISO/TS 22002 and strengthening core FSMS disciplines, including hazard analysis, PRP effectiveness, traceability, management review, internal auditing, corrective action, supplier approval, food defense, food fraud mitigation, and food safety culture.

What should I do now?

With ISO/TS 22002 and FSSC 22000 V7 now released and ISO 22000 expected to be revised in 2027, food companies should use the transition period to modernize PRPs, strengthen intentional risk controls, make food safety culture measurable, and prepare evidence that their food safety system works in practice:

• Map your current system against the applicable requirements. Conduct a clause-by-clause and process-by-process gap assessment. This should include ISO 22000, the relevant ISO/TS 22002 PRP standard, FSSC 22000 V7 Additional Requirements. Identify gaps that need to be addressed to meet the updated requirements.
• Plan the FSSC 22000 V7 transition early. Build a transition plan based on the gap assessment that includes document updates, PRP revisions, personnel training, internal auditor training, supplier communication, validation or verification activities, internal audits, management review, and certification body scheduling.
• Update PRPs using the new ISO/TS 22002 structure. Review sanitation, zoning, personnel hygiene, utilities, pest control, maintenance, supplier controls, waste handling, storage, transport, and other PRP elements against the updated ISO 22002-100 baseline and the relevant sector-specific part. Multisite or multisector companies should coordinate shared PRPs while preserving site-specific controls.
• Strengthen intentional risk programs. Food defense and food fraud are becoming increasingly prominent in both FSSC 22000 and the expected ISO 22000 revision. Maintain documented threat and vulnerability assessments, define mitigation measures, verify controls, and review these programs when products, suppliers, materials, processes, or geopolitical risks change.
• Make food safety culture auditable. Food safety culture should be a lived organization value. Define leadership expectations, employee behaviors, communication methods, training needs, escalation practices, and measurable indicators. Use internal audits, management review, employee feedback, and corrective action trends to show that food safety responsibilities are understood and practiced throughout the organization.

At the core of every effective safety and health program is a systematic process for identifying and controlling workplace hazards. OSHA’s Safe & Sound framework refers to this as “find-and-fix hazards,” an ongoing approach that helps organizations identify sources of potential injury or illness, evaluate risks, and implement controls before harm occurs.

Why Find-and-Fix Matters

Traditional safety efforts are often reactive; corrective action begins after a worker is injured, a regulatory requirement changes, or an outside inspection identifies a problem. A robust safety and health program takes a more proactive approach. It uses available information, worker input, routine inspections, incident investigations, and the hierarchy of controls to find hazards early and fix them effectively.

Workplaces are constantly changing. New equipment, materials, technologies, processes, schedules, contractors, and workers can introduce new or emerging hazards. A systematic find-and-fix process helps organizations stay ahead of those changes instead of relying on luck, memory, or post-incident response.

Inspect for New and Emerging Hazards

Routine inspections (vs. reactive) are key to finding hazards before they cause harm. Inspections should look beyond obvious physical conditions and consider how work is performed, how equipment is used, whether controls are intact, and whether workers face risks during setup, maintenance, cleaning, troubleshooting, emergency response, or other nonroutine activities.

Practical activities such as safety walkarounds, checklist challenges, hazard hunts, and job swaps can help workers and managers look at tasks from a fresh perspective, identify hazards that may have become normalized, and improve understanding across teams. Encouraging worker participation, including helping conduct safety walkarounds, developing checklists, reviewing job tasks, evaluating equipment, identifying nonroutine hazards, testing controls, and verifying whether corrective actions actually solve the problem, can significantly strengthen hazard identification.

Use Available Information

Information is important if it’s effectively used. The value comes from looking for patterns, prioritizing risks, and turning findings into corrective actions. For example, recurring minor injury, repeated equipment issue, frequent near miss, or worker concern may indicate a larger hazard that needs attention.

As such, organizations need to review all available information about hazards that may be present in the workplace, including injury and illness records, near-miss reports, worker concerns, safety data sheets (SDS), equipment manuals, inspection findings, maintenance records, job hazard analyses (JHAs), audit results, emergency response information, and lessons learned from similar operations.

Investigate Root Causes

Incidents, injuries, illnesses, near misses, and close calls provide important information about where controls may be missing, weak, or ineffective. Investigations should focus on root causes and contributing factors, not blame. The goal is to understand what happened, why it happened, and what system improvements are needed to prevent recurrence.

Root cause analysis may point to gaps in training, communication, equipment design, maintenance, staffing, supervision, procedures, contractor coordination, procurement, or change management. Addressing these underlying issues improves the program more than correcting only the immediate condition.

Prioritize Controls Using the Hierarchy of Controls

Once hazards are identified, organizations need to evaluate control options using the hierarchy of controls as a framework for prioritizing solutions. The most effective controls eliminate the hazard or substitute a safer process, material, or equipment. Engineering controls, administrative controls, safe work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE) may also be needed, but they should not be the only line of defense when stronger controls are feasible.

A strong find-and-fix process also considers urgency and feasibility. Serious hazards that could cause severe injury, illness, or exposure should be addressed promptly. Interim controls may be needed while permanent solutions are designed, funded, and implemented. Corrective actions should have owners, deadlines, verification steps, and follow-up to ensure controls remain effective.

Controls need to be checked to confirm they remain intact, effective, and appropriate for current conditions. This verification should be built into the safety and health program. Supervisors and workers should confirm that controls are working, corrective actions are closed, and any unintended consequences are addressed to close the loop and keep hazard control from becoming a one-time activity.

Practical Actions to Find and Fix Hazards

• Review injury and illness records, near-miss reports, worker concerns, inspection findings, safety data sheets, equipment manuals, and maintenance data.
• Conduct routine safety walkarounds with managers, supervisors, and workers.
• Involve workers in identifying hazards, evaluating controls, and confirming whether fixes work.
• Investigate incidents and near misses to identify root causes and system improvements.
• Prioritize controls using the hierarchy of controls, emphasizing elimination, substitution, and engineering controls where feasible.
• Assign corrective action owners, deadlines, resources, and verification steps.
• Review completed corrective actions and existing controls to confirm they remain effective over time.

Hazard Control Is Continuous Improvement

Finding and fixing hazards is what turns a safety and health program into daily prevention. It brings leadership commitment and worker participation together around a clear purpose: identifying what could harm people and taking action before it does. When organizations use a systematic process to collect information, inspect work areas, involve workers, investigate root causes, apply effective controls, and verify results, they create a safer workplace and a stronger foundation for long-term business performance.

Worker participation is essential to a robust safety and health program, because workers are closest to the work, the hazards, and the practical realities that shape day-to-day risk. As such, it is also one of the three core elements of OSHA’s Safe & Sound framework for creating a sustainable safety and health program.

What Does Worker Participation Entail?

Worker participation is more than just attendance at a safety meeting. OSHA defines worker participation as involvement in establishing, operating, evaluating, and improving the safety and health program. That includes employees, contractors, subcontractors, temporary workers, and worker representatives.

Effective safety and health programs tap into workers’ collective experience, knowledge, and insight to find solutions to workplace safety and health challenges. When workers are meaningfully involved, not just informed after decisions are made, they help identify hazards earlier, improve controls, strengthen trust, and build shared ownership for safety performance.

Why Worker Participation Matters

Workers often know the most about the hazards associated with their jobs because they perform the tasks, adapt to changing conditions, and see where procedures work (or do not work) in real time. Their involvement helps organizations move beyond paper compliance into practical risk reduction. Organizations can miss critical risk information when they do not create reliable ways for workers to speak up and participate. Worker participation also creates buy-in. When workers are part of identifying problems and shaping solutions, they are more likely to understand, support, and sustain the controls that result.

Build Trust Before You Ask for Participation

Participation depends on trust. Workers must feel comfortable raising concerns, reporting injuries and illnesses, identifying near misses, and sharing ideas without fear of blame or retaliation. This is known as psychological safety. To encourage participation, the organization must remove barriers related to fear of discipline, lack of time, poor communication, limited access to safety information, language or literacy challenges, production pressure, or the belief that nothing will change after a concern is reported.

Further, communication across the organization must be clear, consistent, and two-way. Management needs to communicate expectations, but workers also need to feel empowered to discuss safety concerns. Active listening is part of engendering trust. If workers raise issues but rarely see follow-up, participation will decline. If leaders respond promptly, explain decisions, and close the feedback loop, participation becomes a normal part of how work gets done.

Involve Workers Across the Program Lifecycle

Meaningful participation should extend across the full safety and health program lifecycle. Workers can help develop the initial program, report incidents and near misses, analyze routine and nonroutine tasks, define safe work practices, participate in inspections and incident investigations, train coworkers and new hires, evaluate program performance, and recommend improvements. Employees feel truly engaged when they are part of the system, their input is valued, and their experience helps shape decisions.

Use Small Improvements to Build Momentum

Participation grows when workers see practical progress. Small wins (e.g., fixing a recurring housekeeping issue, improving signage, simplifying a procedure, updating training based on worker feedback, or correcting an awkward task design) show that input leads to action.

Incremental improvement also makes participation less overwhelming. Instead of asking workers to solve an entire safety management system at once, leaders can invite them to identify one hazard, test one control, review one procedure, or improve one task. Over time, these small steps build a stronger culture of ownership and continuous improvement.

Practical Actions to Strengthen Worker Participation

• Give workers time and resources to participate in safety activities, inspections, training, and improvement projects.
• Allow anonymous reporting where appropriate and clearly prohibit retaliation for raising safety concerns.
• Share safety information workers need to participate effectively, including procedures, incident trends, inspection findings, and corrective action status.
• Involve workers in job hazard analyses, incident investigations, emergency planning, inspections, procedure development, and program evaluation.
• Use multiple communication channels, including one-on-one conversations, toolbox talks, written updates, visual aids, and team meetings.
• Report back on what changed as a result of worker input.
• Recognize workers and teams for identifying hazards, improving controls, helping coworkers, and contributing practical solutions.
• Use small, achievable improvements to build momentum and demonstrate that participation matters.

Turn Programs into Practice

A safety and health program cannot succeed as a management document alone. It must be lived in the work environment, tested against real conditions, and improved by the people who understand the work best. When workers are encouraged to participate, heard when they speak up, included in decisions, and shown that their input leads to action, participation becomes engagement. That engagement turns a safety and health program into a practical, trusted system for preventing harm and strengthening business performance.

Management leadership is the foundation of an effective safety and health program, one of the defining characteristics of a strong safety culture, and one of the three core elements of OSHA’s Safe & Sound framework for creating a sustainable safety and health program.

What Does Management Leadership Mean

OSHA defines management leadership as it relates to safety as a commitment from the top to implement a safety and health program and use it to drive continuous improvement. Best-in-class safety cultures have mature, well-functioning systems that integrate leadership and employee engagement into standard operating practices. When leadership commitment is sincere and supported by visible action, workers understand that safety and health are not side priorities; they are core to business success.

Strong leadership turns safety from a compliance obligation into a shared operational value. It gives the safety and health program direction, provides the resources needed to make progress, and sets expectations for managers, supervisors, and workers. Just as important, it demonstrates care. Effective safety leaders show workers that their well-being matters, concerns will be heard, and safety decisions will be backed by action. Without leadership commitment, even well-designed programs can become inconsistent, underfunded, or disconnected from daily work.

Make Safety a Core Organizational Value

Management leadership starts with making worker safety and health a core organizational value. This includes developing a clear policy statement signed by top management and communicated across the organization. The message should be simple and direct: Protecting workers is as important as productivity, quality, profitability, customer satisfaction, and other business priorities.

Safety and health should be integrated into planning, budgeting, purchasing, contractor selection, facility design, staffing, scheduling, and operational changes. When leaders consistently consider risk before work begins, safety becomes part of how the organization operates, not a separate activity reviewed only after an incident.

Define Goals and Assign Accountability

Specific program goals are important, so everyone understands what the organization is working to improve. These goals should focus on prevention-oriented actions, not just injury or illness rates. Examples include completing hazard assessments, closing corrective actions on time, increasing near-miss reporting, improving training completion, reducing exposure risks, or strengthening emergency preparedness.

Goals are only effective when they are supported by clear ownership. Leaders should assign responsibilities, establish timeframes, provide authority to act, and review progress regularly. Managers and supervisors should be expected to integrate safety into everyday work planning, and workers should be encouraged to report concerns and participate in solutions without fear of retaliation.

Communicating Commitment through Visible Action

Safety leadership must be demonstrated through day-to-day behaviors. Effective safety leaders are visible, credible, consistent, and engaged. They care about people, communicate clearly, listen actively, make informed decisions, and reinforce expectations through their own actions. They also recognize that culture is shaped by what leaders tolerate, prioritize, fund, measure, and reward.

Visibility matters. Executives, managers, and supervisors should be present in operations, ask questions, listen to workers, participate in safety walk-arounds, and model the same safe behaviors they expect from others. Leadership credibility depends on consistency; workers notice whether leaders follow procedures, use required protective equipment, correct hazards, and respond constructively when safety concerns are raised.

Allocate the Resources Needed to Succeed

Organizations need to provide the people, time, training, equipment, tools, technology, and budget needed to implement and maintain the safety and health program. That includes giving workers time to participate in inspections, training, incident reviews, safety meetings, and improvement activities. It also means ensuring corrective actions are funded and completed, hazards are controlled, and supervisors have the support and resources needed to manage safety performance effectively.

Recognize Contributions and Expect Performance

Effective safety leaders also create the conditions for employee engagement. They invite input, encourage reporting, and make it clear that workers have an active role in identifying hazards and improving controls. This matters, because the people closest to the work often have the best understanding of what can go wrong and what practical solutions will work.

Leaders can reinforce positive safety behaviors by recognizing workers and teams that identify hazards, contribute ideas, complete corrective actions, mentor others, or support emergency readiness. Recognition should be tied to meaningful actions that prevent harm, not simply low injury rates.

At the same time, leaders must expect performance. Safety responsibilities should be built into roles, job expectations, contractor requirements, and performance discussions. Managers and supervisors should be held accountable for supporting the program, addressing hazards, communicating expectations, and following through on commitments. Leaders should reinforce expectations by opening meetings with safety and health updates, reviewing outstanding action items, discussing trends and leading indicators, and following up on concerns raised by workers.

Practical Actions for Management Leaders

• Develop or refresh a written safety and health policy signed by top management.
• Communicate safety expectations to workers, contractors, staffing agencies, vendors, and visitors.
• Begin leadership meetings with safety and health updates, open action items, and leading indicators.
• Participate in safety walk-arounds, hazard reviews, and worker discussions.
• Listen to worker concerns, encourage reporting, and respond without blame or retaliation.
• Set realistic, measurable goals focused on hazard prevention and continuous improvement.
• Assign responsibilities, deadlines, and resources for program activities and corrective actions.
• Integrate safety and health into planning, budgeting, procurement, staffing, and operational decisions.
• Recognize workers and teams for proactive safety contributions.
• Model safe behaviors and follow the same procedures expected of workers.

Leadership Sets the Standard

A robust safety and health program depends on leadership that is visible, consistent, engaged, and accountable. When leaders communicate that safety matters, provide the resources to act, listen to workers, recognize meaningful contributions, and make safety part of everyday decisions, they create the conditions for hazards to be found and fixed before they cause harm. Management leadership gives the safety and health program the authority, momentum, and credibility it needs to succeed, and it helps build the safety culture needed to sustain results over time.

KTL will be a featured presenter and exhibitor at the 2026 Chicagoland Safety, Health & Environmental Conference in Naperville, Illinois, September 14-16, 2026. The Conference provides timely and relevant environmental management, safety, health, professional development and OSHA/EPA compliance training to EHS professionals, business owners, facility managers, plant managers, supervisors, safety committee members, human resources managers, municipalities, and others who have safety, health, and environmental management and compliance responsibilities.

KTL Sessions

Session T05: EHS Data Management: A DIY Approach | Tuesday, September 15, 8:30-10:00 am CT
Building an EHS compliance management system doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive—not when most companies already have the software they need. Learn how to build data management tools to collect, track, and report EHS compliance information using the latest Microsoft 365 and Power Platform apps. This session will walk through key features and functionality of an EHS compliance management system, discuss the importance of a plan-do-check-act development approach, and provide tips to ensure successful development and implementation. See working examples and hear directly from EHS and IT experts on how to leverage familiar Microsoft tools to cost-effectively elevate EHS processes and management systems and drive ongoing compliance.

Session W18: Framework for Creating a Best-in-Class Safety Culture | Wednesday, September 16, 1:15-2:45 pm CT
High-profile incidents in industries from energy to manufacturing demonstrate that safety compliance alone is not enough—organizational culture determines whether safety systems thrive or fail. Consistent with OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs and ISO 45001, this session outlines a practical framework for building a best-in-class safety culture focused on ten key attributes: leadership, values, goals and initiatives, organization and structure, employee engagement, resource allocation, systems and standards, metrics and reporting, continual learning, and verification and auditing. This presentation will help professionals create a Safety Culture Action Plan that moves the organization beyond short-term initiatives toward sustainable cultural excellence through proven implementation techniques. Participants will gain actionable insights to strengthen their own safety cultures, improve safety outcomes, reduce incidents, and create organizational resilience.

Stop by KTL’s booth (#101) to talk more about your safety, health, and environmental needs. We look forward to connecting with you in Naperville!

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) annual Safe & Sound Week campaign is built on a simple principle: Safe workplaces are sound businesses. Held August 10–16, 2026, this nationwide event recognizes the value of workplace safety and health programs and encourages organizations of all sizes and industries to take visible steps to protect workers, strengthen safety culture, and improve business performance.

Why Participation Matters

Safety and health programs help organizations move beyond reactive compliance toward proactive risk management. By identifying and controlling hazards before they cause harm, employers can reduce injuries and illnesses, improve compliance, lower costs, strengthen employee engagement, support business continuity, and improve overall operations. Whether an organization is launching a new program or strengthening a mature one, Safe & Sound Week offers a timely opportunity to focus attention, recognize progress, and reinforce year-round commitment.

Participating in Safe & Sound Week can help organizations start a safety and health program, energize an existing program, or highlight year-round accomplishments. There are many ways to get involved:

• Register your organization’s participation through OSHA’s Safe & Sound Week site.
• Recognize workers, teams, or departments that have contributed to safer work practices.
• Create a safety wall of fame or issue safety shoutouts to highlight positive safety actions.
• Hold a safety meeting, toolbox talk, quiz, inspection, emergency drill, or hazard identification challenge.
• Review recent incidents, near misses, hazard reports, or inspection findings and identify corrective actions.
• Set measurable safety and health goals for the remainder of the year.
• Share participation internally through newsletters, posters, digital signage, or team meetings using #SafeAndSoundAtWork.

Core Elements of a Strong Safety and Health Program

OSHA’s Safe & Sound framework centers on three core elements that work together to create a sustainable safety and health program. Throughout OSHA’s Safe & Sound Week, KTL will be featuring a series of articles and posts on our blog and social media (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, X) focused on how you can integrate these elements to elevate your safety and health efforts:

• Management leadership. Leaders provide the vision, resources, accountability, and visible commitment needed to make safety and health part of how work gets done.
• Worker participation. Workers bring firsthand knowledge of tasks, hazards, and practical controls. Meaningful participation helps uncover risks, improve solutions, and build ownership.
• Find-and-fix hazards. A systematic process for identifying, evaluating, and controlling hazards helps organizations prevent injuries and illnesses instead of responding only after incidents occur.

Make It More Than a Week

Safe & Sound Week is most valuable when it becomes a catalyst for continuous improvement. Recognition should point back to the systems, behaviors, and controls that prevent harm: leadership commitment, worker involvement, and proactive hazard management. Join KTL this Safe & Sound Week to celebrate progress, identify gaps, and recommit to building a safer, healthier, and more resilient workplace.

2026 Master Brewers Conference Poster Presentation: Highlighting NALAB Food Safety Concerns

KTL is also co-presenting a poster session with New Belgium Brewing Company on Food Safety and Regulatory Implications of Producing Nonalcoholic and Low-Alcohol Beer (NALAB) at the 2026 Master Brewers Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia, October 22-24, 2026. In this poster presentation, the following experts from New Belgium Brewing Company and KTL explore the practical realities of integrating NALAB production into an existing brewing operation.

Maddy Frierson, Quality Scientist | mfrierson@newbelgium.com
New Belgium Brewing Company
Maddy is a food safety professional with three years of experience spanning academic research and industry application, including work in the microbiological safety of non-alcoholic beer and food safety program management in brewing operations. Her graduate research focused on evaluating the impact of pasteurization on pathogens in non-alcoholic beer and the impact of spoilage organisms on pathogen survival and growth in non-alcoholic beer products. At New Belgium Brewing Company’s Daleville, Virginia facility, Maddy works as a member of the food safety team, where she maintains and implements the site’s food safety management system to ensure compliance with GFSI certification requirements. She has also supported change management efforts associated with the site’s non-alcoholic beer production program, helping facilitate the integration of food safety principles into new processes and products. Maddy is passionate about food safety and the implementation of effective food safety management systems that protect consumers and support operational excellence.

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Samantha Humphrey, Associate | shumphrey@goktl.com
KTL
Sam is a food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) professional with ten years of experience supporting the food and beverage industry. She has specialized expertise in food safety regulatory interpretation and compliance, particularly related to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Good Brewing Practices (GBPs), and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs); GFSI certification; supply chain management; environmental monitoring and sanitation; and food microbiology. In the past few years, Sam has worked alongside several brewers, including New Belgium Brewing Company, to help build and implement GFSI-compliant food safety management systems that lead to certification. She is passionate about supporting the industry and providing best practice guidance as it pertains to mitigating food (beer) safety risk. Sam is a Certified ATD Master Trainer, Certified Professional – Food Safety (CP-FS), Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) Lead Instructor, and Produce Safety Rule Lead Trainer, and is Juice and Seafood HACCP certified.