Jack Suehiro is a seasoned safety professional with vast experience in high-risk infrastructure and utility sectors. His leadership redefines purposeful safety anchored in human-centered design, systems thinking and continuous innovation. In an interview with Environmental Business Review, Suehiro shared his insights on building a proactive safety culture, implementing effective EHS strategies and shaping human-centered leadership.
Value-Driven, People-First Safety Culture
MasTec West's safety culture is rooted in the five Human and Organizational Performance principles.
1. Error is normal
2. Blame fixes nothing
3. Learning is vital
4. Context drives behavior
5. Response to failure matters
Safety is not about eliminating human error. It’s about designing systems that anticipate it. We focus on creating environments that encourage people to speak up and learn continuously. Our leadership is defined by empathy, curiosity and accountability, creating a transformation from compliance to commitment.
Strategic Tools for Risk Management
Our suite of tools reshapes risk management, embedding resilience, learning and insight into everyday operations.
Addressing serious injuries and fatalities is imperative in high-risk industries. At MasTec, we are embedding risk prevention into our operational DNA
The Energy Wheel is a cognitive tool that enhances hazard recognition across ten distinct energy types. The High-Energy Control Assessment (HECA) is a leading indicator designed to quantify the presence of direct controls for high-energy hazards.
Learning Teams are worker-led, context-rich explorations of operational realities instrumental in managing contextual risks. Grassroots Culture Leadership empowers informal leaders to drive cultural transformation from the roots, fostering proactive and resilient risk management.
Safety as a Collective Responsibility
Get Home Safe is a company-wide safety program that fosters a proactive risk management culture.
Its foundation includes Energy-Based Hazard Recognition, which uses our Energy Wheel and HECA for robust safeguards. The collaboration of learning teams and grassroots culture leadership elevates frontline voices. Accountability in leadership is most visible when navigating failure with transparency and resolve.
These pillars make safety a collective responsibility rather than a top-down directive, driving stronger engagement, increased proactive risk identification and a deeper sense of ownership across the organization.
Implementing Proactive Safety Models
Addressing serious injuries and fatalities is imperative in high-risk industries. At MasTec, we are embedding risk prevention into our operational DNA.
Our approach prioritizes direct controls for high-energy hazards and resolves protection gaps using HECA. The systems address error prevention and recovery. We analyze performance-shaping factors like fatigue, time pressure and unclear procedures to prevent risks.
These strategies reduce hazard exposure and reinforce a resilient safety system.
Leveraging Technology to Prevent Vulnerabilities
HECA gives us a real-time, data-driven view of the effectiveness of our protection against high-energy hazards, which is used to monitor the percentage of hazards with efficient direct controls.
This data helps identify hazard-predictive patterns and gaps, strategize resource allocation and drive continuous improvement across teams. This predictive approach reduces high-energy exposures and enhances decision-making. It shifts the focus from fault-finding to proactive vulnerability assessment, strengthening system resilience.
Building Safer, Sustainable Industries
Leadership qualities like leading with humanity, systems thinking and foresight will define the future of EHS. This manifests in designing systems for real-world work, fostering open dialogue and using technology to anticipate risks.
Leaders must drive industrial sustainability by empowering frontline voices and being accountable for outcomes. Balancing operational excellence with empathy and viewing safety as a reflection of our responsibility toward people will make world-class leaders.
Advice for Next-Gen EHS Professionals
Lead with empathy and curiosity. Engage with frontline teams. Seek insight and contextual analysis over blame. Design systems that support safe, intuitive decisions. Keep evolving. Safety is dynamic. Lead with heart—because the future belongs to those who adapt, innovate and inspire meaningful change.