Safety Is the Foundation, People Are the Job: James Chapdelaine on Building Trust from the Floor Up
In the 5th installment of our special EHS series, host Jay Culbert sits down with James Chapdelaine, Senior Manager of Environmental Health and Safety at CIRCOR International, shares how nearly two decades in EHS taught him that his real job isn’t safety; it’s people.
He explains why the strongest safety programs are never built behind a desk, but developed alongside the employees who use them every day, and how listening, communicating, and following through are what actually earn buy-in on the floor.
James also walks through how a failed pre-shift inspection program at his former company, Stanley Black & Decker, evolved from a generic paper checklist to a fully digital process, a case study in his personal motto, “small improvements, lasting change.” He closes with a candid conversation about staying “steady in the storm” as a leader, breaking down silos between EHS, facilities, and HR, and what drives him outside of work.
Takeaways:
Lead with trust, not authority. Safety programs succeed when people believe in why they exist — not just because they’re written well.
Invite every concern, safety-related or not. Being willing to help with small, non-safety issues is often what opens the door to bigger trust.
Close the loop, every time. Even when a fix takes time, communicating progress keeps people from feeling ignored — and keeps them coming back with feedback.
Expect to fail, then adapt. James’s pre-shift inspection program went through three iterations — generic paper, detailed paper, then digital — before it worked.
Make incremental progress your operating philosophy. “Small improvements, lasting change” keeps overwhelming projects from becoming paralyzing.
Stay steady under pressure. A calm, consistent leader gives a team permission to stay focused instead of panicking.
Break down departmental silos. EHS, facilities, maintenance, and HR need to move together — rolling out a program without the right partners in the room is a setup for failure.
Quote of the Show:
“You can have the best written safety program or procedure in the world... but if people don’t understand it, they don’t believe in it, then it’s just set up to fail right out the gate.”
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesezrachapdelainecshm/
Website: https://www.circor.com/