Скачать или смотреть Stop Siloing Safety: Turning EHS into Operational Excellence with David Payton

"My whole goal is to drive operational excellence, but operational excellence is part of EHS, or EHS is part of operational excellence, if you do it appropriately. It shouldn't be siloed and separate. It should be together." - David Payton, VP of EHS at TSC Construction

OK, everyone, this episode goes straight at one of the most persistent failures in our industry: treating safety like a standalone function instead of what it really is; an operational responsibility. On this episode of The Canary Report: Safety & Risk Management, I sit down with David Payton, VP of EHS at TSC Construction, to unpack why siloed safety programs don’t just fail audits, they fail people and margins.

Drawing on two decades of experience across construction, maritime, telecommunications, and large-scale operations, David breaks down how integrating EHS directly into operations changes accountability, leadership buy-in, and business performance. We talk about tying safety to P&L, building scalable training systems across 23 markets, and why executive hiring interviews may be your most overlooked risk control. This conversation is about moving past compliance theatre and building safety systems that actually work, on the jobsite, in the field, and on the balance sheet.

Here are some of the topics that David and I explore:
Why "safety incidents" are really operational failures
The operational integration strategy that stops EHS from being sidelined
How to build a flexible, scalable training infrastructure across 23+ markets
Why your $35,000-per-person training only pays off if you align hiring culture with safety values
The risk management mindset that beats compliance theater
How to staff practical testing and field verification at scale

David Peyton is Vice President of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) at TSC Construction, a leading telecom construction and services provider operating across 23 markets nationwide. With over 20 years of experience spanning ironwork, commercial construction, maritime operations, and telecommunications, David has built a reputation for operationalizing safety by integrating EHS into core business strategy rather than siloing it as compliance overhead. His expertise lies in designing scalable training ecosystems, including TSC's network of 15 training centers and mobile subject matter experts, that translate safety knowledge into consistent field implementation across complex, high-risk environments.

Episode Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:47 From Ironworker to VP of EHS: 20 Years of Career Evolution
09:28 Stop Siloing Safety; Embed EHS Into Operational Excellence
14:01 Maritime's Complex Regulatory Ecosystem
17:07 Creating Best Practices in Unregulated Industries: The Telecom Challenge
19:55 Centers of Excellence: The $35K-Per-Person Training Investment That Works
28:30 Building a Hub-and-Spoke Model Across 23 Markets Nationwide
33:02 Invest in Fewer Trainers, Make Them Exceptional; Don't Spread Thin
36:54 Operational Integration: Why Most EHS Programs Fail at Implementation
40:15 Budgeting for Safety: Blending EHS and Operational Costs for Real Results
43:12 Key Takeaways: Risk Management, Leadership Buy-In, and Scaling Excellence

Guest Resources:
David Payton on LinkedIn:   / david-payton-73764443  
TSC Construction LLC Website: https://buildtsc.com/