Episode Summary

On this episode of TechUnhinged, Angelica Rotundo, a senior health and safety leader at OEC Energy and Infrastructure, reveals the reality of safety leadership in modern times. What shapes her belief is a family story about her great-uncle losing an arm in a factory accident. She focuses on safety as a means to protect lives, not just to check the boxes. She sees legacy in the injuries that never happen because a leader made a better call. On AI, robots, and wearables, she stays practical. These tools help spot risks sooner, but they can’t replace judgment or listening to workers. A meaningful advice she leaves for the newcomers is to build trust, ask questions, and remember that influence matters more than authority.

Key Takeaways
  • Safety ownership belongs to leaders, not the safety team
  • Compliance is the floor of safety, never the ceiling
  • AI reveals risk earlier, but can’t replace human judgment
  • Transparent intent turns workforce suspicion into trust
  • Frontline insight matters more than any dashboard
Guest Bio

Angelica Rotundo, CRSP®, is the Director of Health, Safety & Environment at OEC, a Canadian energy and infrastructure group whose companies include Oakville Hydro, El-Con, and Golden Horseshoe Metering Systems. She has spent more than 16 years in regulated, high-risk industries, with earlier leadership roles at Apotex and Indigo. Her focus is enterprise and critical risk, and she works directly with executives and boards on how they own high-consequence risk. She is also a part of the Board of Directors at The Women’s Center of Halton. In her own words, safety leadership is about influence, not authority, and the work is all about protecting lives. 

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