Over the last 18 months, safety experts have had to contend with misinformation about the pandemic – which has gotten in the way of them effectively mitigating workplace risks. “In 2020, we found that with the pandemic our client base was looking for a lot of really accurate information on a wide variety of topics. And there just seemed to be a lot of misinformation about the best way to handle the pandemic or what we should do to keep the office safe,” said Christine Hogge, Content Marketing Manager, Avetta. Hogge says that clients were turning to them for more information. “We are obviously not experts in diseases, but we wanted to make sure that we were providing them with the best information possible.”

This, she says, was the impetus behind Avetta reaching out to external experts, renowned in their field, to ask them to join a group of fellows and help provide the most up-to-date, accurate information possible on a wide variety of topics. “While it might have started with COVID, it’s quickly grown to be topics that relate to health and safety, supply chain sustainability, mental wellness – subjects to really help protect people in the workforce. ”Hogge says that since its inception, the fellowship team has grown substantially – and now, Avetta wants to share their expertise:“ [The fellows] have so many great ideas for messages that safety professionals and supply chain professionals could learn. And so we decided to put together this summit where it could be in one all-inclusive place.” Supply Chain 2021: Protecting People and Planet will take place on Sep 28 and Sep 29.

Hogge is keen to highlight the fellows’ expertise, and hopes to work with them in future even outside of the pandemic: “We plan to continue to work with these fellows in 2022. It’s been a really mutually beneficial program for both the fellows and [Avetta].” Fellows include a former head of OSHA, former head of ASSP, best-selling authors, international safety experts from around the globe, legal professionals, an epidemiologist, etc. Says Hogge: “It’s really quite diverse, [both] the group and what they’re able to talk about. ”Supply Chain 2021 will include sessions on key OHS issues such as confined space compliance, safety leadership and COVID-19 response. “This is our first time putting together an event of its scale,” says Hogge. “We’ll take note of how well the event went and look into doing it every year, including getting together our fellows every year because [they are] such a powerful team and provide so much rich content.”