Safety Professional of the Year Winners Announced

The 2026 award recipients highlight safety leadership strategies for small, medium, and large businesses.

Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Remote Work

Isometric editorial illustration of yellow industrial hard hats and work gloves on a steel surface, representing workplace safety leadership. — J.J. Keller & Associates named the 2026 Safety Professional of the Year recipients, honoring leaders who implemented scalable workplace safety protocols. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do professional safety awards effectively encourage better safety practices in your community?

J. J. Keller & Associates identified the 2026 Safety Professional of the Year (SPOTY) award winners across three business size categories. Each recipient demonstrated measurable impact in workplace safety innovation.

Why it matters

The recognition highlights industry-standard safety leadership practices that business owners can adopt to reduce workplace risk and operational liability. These strategies emphasize measurable impact, which remains a key metric for safety-conscious operations.

Winners receive prize packages valued at up to $47,200, which include product subscriptions and charitable donations. Categories span small businesses with fewer than 200 employees, medium enterprises with 200 to 5,000 staff, and large organizations with over 5,000 employees.

The players

Crystal Donaldson

Safety professional at Advanced Blending Solutions based in Wallace, Michigan.

Kathi Porter

Safety professional at B&B Wrecking and Excavating based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Carla Andrews

Safety professional at FedEx Logistics based in Memphis, Tennessee.

J. J. Keller & Associates

A provider of safety and regulatory compliance services for businesses.

The details

A panel of judges from J. J. Keller & Associates selected the winners following an evaluation of their nomination, application, and interview materials. The process identifies professionals who have implemented successful safety protocols that can be scaled or replicated. Winning programs are recognized for their leadership in both high-hazard environments and standard office or logistics settings.

September 29, 2026: Announcement of the 2026 SPOTY award winners.
October 27, 2026: Webcast featuring the three award winners.

Market Landscape

This recognition follows the established annual cycle of the J. J. Keller Safety Professional of the Year program. It highlights ongoing industry efforts to standardize safety leadership in varied operational environments.

Operators should review the safety strategies of the winning firms during the October 27, 2026, webcast to benchmark their own internal compliance programs. Integrating these proven leadership models may reduce long-term liability costs.

The takeaway

Effective safety management relies on verifiable, measurable outcomes rather than general policy statements. Business leaders should monitor the upcoming webcast to extract actionable safety leadership tactics used by the 2026 winners.