Spring is here, and much like baseball and crawfish boils, conference season is upon us.
It’s that time of year when we make some of the most difficult decisions of our professional year. Do I attend the Little Rock (VPPPA’s Region VI Conference), New Orleans (AIHA Connect), Anaheim (ASSP’s PDC) or one of the many other acronym-sponsored events that populate the calendar from March through September? Each brings valuable knowledge-sharing and connections and, in many cases (myself included), we’ll plan on attending multiple conferences this season (ostensibly because we are suckers for endless waits in airport security lines and various airports — sorry IAH).
But, for many, the choice is obvious (cue the shameless self-promotion): VPPPA’s 2026 Safety+ Symposium, August 30-September 2 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville (and VPPPA’s Region VI Conference, May 18-21 in Little Rock. Both are excellent choices).
All kidding aside, VPPPA’s Safety+ is designed with the high-performers in mind. That’s not to take away from other EH&Scentric conferences, as I derive tremendous insight from ASSP’s Safety each year, along with the National Safety Council’s Congress. But, these are conferences that are geared toward the broader safety professional audience, focusing more on general safety & health topics.
VPPPA’s Safety+ is different. It’s where the focus is on achieving world-class culture and performance, and how the very best-of-the-best engage in continuous improvement to continue raising that world-class standard.
This year’s Symposium continues the evolution of this mission by expanding on past successes and implementing new concepts that focus on nurturing safety culture throughout the company, from the front line up to the C-suite. This year, we’ll launch our CEO Panel, four of industry’s biggest leaders from MITER Brands, AECOM/Hunt, Kwest Group and Boise Cascade, to lead an in-depth discussion on their roles in building and maintaining a corporate culture where safety is the core value.
And that’s just one of the 60+ interactive professional development and deep dive sessions on tap, all built around achieving and maintaining VPP-level performance.
Building on the successes of 2024 and 2025, live site tours return for 2026. New for this year are sites on the journey toward safety excellence and VPP, including Hendrickson International’s trailer suspension plant, Marathon’s asphalt terminal, Georgia-Pacific’s corrugated cardboard plane, Kirby Building Systems’ metal fab facility and SPX bring a diversity of manufacturing, processing and construction experience to the attendees.
Speaking of the Journey Toward Safety Excellence, 2026 features deep dives and learning labs focused on VPPPA’s newest immersive program and its pathway for companies and sites to achieve VPP-level performance. Sessions will walk through the four levels of VPPPA’s Journey Toward Safety Excellence, including the annual self-evaluation and mentoring components that build sustained continuous improvement within companies and sites.
Of course, we’re bringing out the toys.
VPPPA’s 2026 Safety+ sees the return and expansion of the wildly popular handson demo areas. Six interactive areas will occupy the exhibit hall, from fall protection training to scissor lift operations and first aid demos. And, in the spirit of continuous improvement, we’ll have stretch-and-flex and ergonomic pop-ups throughout the week (because maintaining flexibility and pliability while walking the exhibit hall floor is critical to safety and health).
And then, there’s the networking. The most important part of VPPPA’s 2026 Safety+ are the connections that attendees build with peers who are also on the journey toward safety excellence and continuous improvement. From sessions to receptions (did someone say Whisky River on Nashville’s Broadway?), VPPPA’s Safety+ builds relationships. Even more so as VPPPA launches its first group of online communities to help attendees connect beyond the conference, so stay tuned.
Learning season is upon us, the time each year when we connect, share and learn the best practices that help us save lives. VPPPA’s Safety+ is built to maximize this time, and beyond.
See you in Nashville this August!
For more information, visit safety.vpppa.org.
