2026 Leadership-in-Action Award Recipient
Dr. Steven Guillory
Quality and Risk ManagerCity of Houston
Award Category: Keeping Employees Safe
Dr. Steven Guillory, Quality and Risk Manager for the City of Houston, was nominated for the NAEM Excellence Awards’ Leadership in Action – Keeping Employees Safe category in recognition of his 21-year EHS career and his leadership in creating and implementing Zero is Possible (ZIP), a citywide safety management system based on the ANSI/ASSP Z10 standard. Developed from Guillory’s doctoral research and translated into operational practice across a large municipal workforce, ZIP replaced the City’s fragmented, nine-page safety policy and siloed departmental programs with a unified, standards-based system focused on continuous improvement, employee engagement, training, and prevention. Guillory led the initiative from concept through sustained implementation, beginning with listening sessions involving department directors, HR leadership, and the Mayor, then establishing standardized Accident Prevention Plans, centralized training and tracking—including access for field employees—and employee engagement efforts such as roadshows, safety fairs, culture surveys, and recognition programs. The initiative helped shift the City’s safety culture from one in which injuries, near misses, and concerns were often underreported to one emphasizing transparency and open reporting, while creating measurable leading indicators for training completion and employee participation. Built largely in-house with minimal budget, ZIP also overcame internal resistance through transparent data sharing and stakeholder dialogue and ultimately earned recognition from ASSP and interest from other public- and private-sector organizations seeking to replicate the model.
Beyond the City of Houston, Guillory advances safety management through university teaching, certification leadership, and advising other organizations, demonstrating an approach centered on listening, shared ownership, evidence-based practice, and sustainable cultural change.