Achieving Great Safety and Sustainability on a Shoestring Budget

Craft Brewers Conference 2021
Location: Denver, Colorado
Speakers: Matt Gacioch, Matt Stinchfield

There is a myth that safety and sustainability initiatives are expensive and that benefits gained are only theoretical. In this presentation, Brewers Association ambassadors Matt Stinchfield (safety) and Matt Gacioch (sustainability), share plenty of myth-busting solutions. They start with down-to-earth definitions and suggestions on how to build a healthy workplace culture foundation. Numerous easily implemented recommendations will show you how to create savings and value for your brewery while protecting employees, the community and essential resources. Ultimately, you will have the tools to operate better as a modern manufacturer in our highly competitive, resource-intensive industry.

Worksheets will also be provided to help you gain immediate benefits.

Learning Objectives:

  • Obtain working definitions of safety and sustainability (SaSu) in a craft brewery context
  • Learn five principle drivers of SaSu culture
  • See how the best SaSu solutions are often low-cost and low-tech
  • Obtain valuable examples and worksheets so you can hit the ground running
  • Embrace safety and sustainability as essential values for your business, employees, customers, and your community

About the Speakers

Matt Gacioch

Matt Gacioch, Sustainability Ambassador

Brewers Association

Matt Gacioch has spent his career exploring the nuance and opportunity of sustainability within the craft beer industry, the built environment, and communities around the world. As the former Director of Sustainability and Marketing for Short's Brewing Company in Michigan, he created programs and executed sustainable design initiatives on energy, water, and waste, all while working to tell an authentic story of successes and (plenty of) road bumps. He has also worked in sustainability at Left Hand Brewing Company and in the Craft Beer Program at the Brewers Association.

Matt Stinchfield

Matt Stinchfield, Safety Ambassador

Brewers Association

Matt Stinchfield has been actively creating safer workplaces for over three decades. He has worked in a range of environmental safety and health spheres, including pollution control, water and wastewater treatment, industrial hygiene, hazmat response, and chainsaw safety. He has focused on brewery safety for the last 20 years as an insurance consultant to mid-sized and regional craft breweries and distilleries. Matt founded his own brewery in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2014 and now assists start-ups and operating facilities.

Matt is the Brewers Association Safety Ambassador, member of the BA Safety Subcommittee, and a frequent speaker at conferences, state guilds, and webinars. He is lead instructor for the OSHA-funded Hazard Reduction Practices for Cleaning Draught Beer Lines course and the annual Brewery Safety Bootcamp at the Craft Brewers Conference. Currently, Matt is writing the book on brewery safety for Brewers Publications, shooting for a late 2022 release. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring stinky things, like fungi, washed-rind cheeses, and fermented foods.

Resource Hub:

SafetySustainability