In this article, Diane Chadwick-Jones explains why EHS Congress Berlin has become her favourite conference of the year and why she believes it continues to stand out as one of the most valuable events for safety leaders focused on innovation, implementation and meaningful industry change.
After decades working in global safety leadership, Diane Chadwick-Jones has attended more conferences than most people in the profession could count.
When Diane describes EHS Congress Berlin as “my favourite conference of the whole year”, it carries significant weight given the breadth of experience she has built across global industry and safety leadership.
Diane spent 30 years at BP, including 15 years focused on safety culture and human performance. Since retiring from corporate life, she’s continued working as a consultant supporting organisations through safety transformation and leadership challenges.
What stands out to her about EHS Congress Berlin isn’t the scale of the event, the venue or even the speaker list. For Diane, it’s the quality of the conversations and the honesty behind them that makes the Congress different from many other industry events.
‘There’s No Smoke and Mirrors’
One thing Diane repeatedly comes back to is the authenticity of the event. Unlike conferences where ideas stay theoretical, she believes Berlin creates space for honest discussion around what safety innovation actually looks like in practice.
“It brings together innovators and the people doing the implementation.”
For Diane, that distinction matters because it creates a much more credible and practical learning environment for attendees.
She describes sessions where emerging technology providers share the stage with organisations already using those tools operationally – including discussions around AI and how it’s being embedded inside real businesses.
“There’s no smoke and mirrors... this is the real deal.”
Rather than presenting perfect case studies, speakers talk openly about the complexity of implementation, the barriers they faced and the lessons they learned along the way.
Diane says that is where the real value lies. The Congress creates an environment where organisations are willing to talk openly about implementation, not just ambition, and where attendees can learn from both successes and setbacks. As she puts it, “This is where the change really happens.”
A conference that feels like a working session.
One of the reasons the Congress feels different, Diane says, is because attendees are actively trying to solve problems together.
While professionals attend from industries including energy, manufacturing, aviation and consumer goods, many of the conversations centre around shared challenges such as improving culture at scale, embedding human performance principles and implementing change without overwhelming teams.
Because many attendees are practitioners working inside large organisations, the discussions tend to be practical rather than theoretical. According to Diane, presentations focus less on polished success stories and more on honest reflections about what worked, what didn’t and what organisations learned along the way.
That openness creates an atmosphere that feels far more collaborative and discussion-led than a traditional industry conference.
Building capacity to navigate chaos.
While officially a two-day conference, many attendees now see EHS Congress Berlin as a three-day event because of the growing popularity of the “Day Zero” workshops.
Diane leads one of those sessions herself and recalls organisers expecting around 30 attendees the first time she delivered it, only for more than 80 people to turn up.
This year, Diane will lead a session titled ‘The Trouble with TRIFR, and what companies are doing instead.’
Drawing on her experience as former Director of Human Performance at BP, alongside recent research and global case studies, the session will challenge attendees to think differently about safety metrics, organisational capability and the unintended consequences of focusing too heavily on traditional measures such as TRIFR.
An international safety audience.
Another reason Diane values the event is the diversity of people in the room.
The Congress attracts attendees from across Europe, North and South America and beyond. Alongside global organisations, it also brings together consultants, advisors and specialists working closely with industry.
That mix creates opportunities for conversations that often continue long after the sessions finish.
“It’s really an international conference of the thought leaders in safety. EHS Congress Berlin is where safety innovation meets safety implementation.”
Continuing the conversation at EHS Congress Berlin.
The EHS Congress takes place on 27–28 May in Berlin.
Liam Tiddy, Global Head of Executive Search, will be representing Shirley Parsons there. To arrange a chat, connect with him on LinkedIn or email him at liam.tiddy@shirleyparsons.com.
To learn more about the event and this year’s programme, visit the official EHS Congress website here.
