Safety
Safety Isn't Part-time, Standdown Presenter Says
About 450 industry professionals were in attendance for the first day of Bombardier's 26th Safety Standdown.
Tony Kern, founding partner and CEO of Convergent Performance, was the opening general session presenter at the Bombardier Safety Standdown Tuesday in Wichita. (Jerry Siebenmark/AIN)
Tony Kern, founding partner and CEO of Convergent Performance, was the opening general session presenter at the Bombardier Safety Standdown Tuesday in Wichita. (Jerry Siebenmark/AIN)

Bombardier opened its Safety Standdown this morning in Wichita with conference veteran Tony Kern, founding partner and CEO of Convergent Performance, who challenged the roughly 450 in-person attendees to think of their organization as a working ranch. Wearing a black Stetson, work boots, and a western overcoat, Kern equated an organization’s standards officer and safety officer as the herding and guard dogs of the “ranch” and that both should be distinct positions within an organization to ensure a culture of safety that permeates to the individual level.

“Standards and safety should not be viewed as part-time additional duties,” he said. “They are critical, core requirements for moving safety forward.” He recommended that organizations “keep pushing the bar” on developing safety as well as standards officers.