During National Safety Month, organizations across the supply chain are reminded that safety is more than a program, policy, or checklist. It is a culture built through daily decisions, shared accountability, and active engagement from the people closest to the work.
At Kenco, safety is central to how we operate, serve customers, and support our associates. In a new video interview, John Barlew, Vice President of Safety at Kenco, shares how Kenco’s people-first approach to safety helps create stronger, safer, and more reliable operations.
“Kenco absolutely approaches safety differently, and it’s people centered,” Barlew says. “We understand that our culture is the differentiator.”
That culture begins with one core belief: safety performance leads business performance. When associates are engaged in safety and leaders model safe behaviors, the result is more than fewer incidents. It creates a highly reliable operating environment where safety, quality, productivity, and customer care work together.
“Our associates are the experts,” Barlew explains. “He or she who does the work has the understanding, the insight and the expertise to guide the organization.”
This mindset shapes how Kenco listens, learns, and improves. Rather than treating safety as a top-down observation, Kenco focuses on meaningful conversations with associates to better understand how work is actually performed. That insight helps teams improve processes, strengthen procedures, and design safer ways to work.
Kenco’s safety journey has also evolved through associate-led initiatives such as Journey to Safety Excellence, Safety Starts with Me, and I Am Safety Excellence. Each initiative reinforces the idea that safety is personal, shared, and connected to life both inside and outside the warehouse.
“Our safety programs alone will not drive safety on the warehouse floor,” Barlew says. “It takes our people actively engaged in the processes to really drive safety in every task that we do.”
Kenco is also using technology and AI to support safer operations. From AI-enabled ergonomic assessments to real-time analysis of body positioning and movement, new tools are helping teams identify risk factors, create mutual learning opportunities, and design work in ways that reduce injuries.
But technology is only one part of the story. Kenco’s safety culture is also built by developing future safety leaders. Through the company’s certified safety advisor and advocate network, associates have the opportunity to lead safety efforts at the site level, receive advanced training, and grow into larger safety leadership roles.
“One of the things I’m most proud of at my time at Kenco is investing in others and developing future safety leaders for the organization,” Barlew shares.
As supply chains become faster and more complex, Kenco continues to focus on simplifying work for associates, expanding safety engagement, and improving how teams identify and reduce risk. The goal is not just compliance. It is a culture where every associate is empowered to contribute to safety excellence.
“We’ve had some extraordinary success,” Barlew says, “but the journey’s just begun.”
Watch the full conversation with John Barlew to learn more about Kenco’s safety culture, associate engagement, and ongoing journey to safety excellence.