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How a Near Miss Led to a Better Process with Kyle Hunter

NSSGA Podcast

Release Date: 10/01/2026

How a Near Miss Led to a Better Process with Kyle Hunter show art How a Near Miss Led to a Better Process with Kyle Hunter

NSSGA Podcast

Kyle Hunter, Head of Sales and System Specialist with CheckProof, joins Emily to share a gripping safety story from early in his career working at a quarry. When a medical emergency struck and a coworker experienced chest pains, the team quickly realized a serious gap in their safety plan: they knew an AED was on-site, but nobody knew exactly where it was. This episode explores how to turn a near miss into a life-saving system. Kyle details the internal deep-dive his team conducted to overhaul their emergency preparedness. From standardizing defibrillator kits with essential supporting tools...

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More Episodes

Kyle Hunter, Head of Sales and System Specialist with CheckProof, joins Emily to share a gripping safety story from early in his career working at a quarry. When a medical emergency struck and a coworker experienced chest pains, the team quickly realized a serious gap in their safety plan: they knew an AED was on-site, but nobody knew exactly where it was.

This episode explores how to turn a near miss into a life-saving system. Kyle details the internal deep-dive his team conducted to overhaul their emergency preparedness. From standardizing defibrillator kits with essential supporting tools to implementing weekly inspections and assigning specific roles during crises, Kyle shares actionable steps any site can take to ensure they are actively ready for the unexpected, rather than just compliant on paper.

Main Themes:

  • Turning a near miss or close call into a catalyst for systemic safety improvements.

  • The critical difference between simply having safety equipment on-site and actually being prepared to use it.

  • Building a comprehensive emergency kit that accounts for environmental factors (e.g., adding shears, ground sheets, and razors to AED stations).

  • Establishing routine maintenance and inspection processes to ensure batteries and pads are always in-date and ready.

  • Conducting safety drills and assigning specific emergency roles to eliminate confusion and panic during a crisis.

Toolbox Talk Discussion Questions:

  • In this episode, Emily and Kyle discuss how a near miss with a medical event at a quarry led them to examine their safety process. How do near misses and close calls highlight where safety processes need improvement? 

  • This episode points out that it’s not enough to know that there’s an AED at your site; you also have to know where it is, how to use it, and if the battery and equipment are up-to-date and sufficient. Do you know where the equipment is on our site?

  • Does anyone have a story they would like to share about making a safety process stronger following a near miss?

Key Takeaways:


"Safety is more than policy. It's about people, it's about commitment, and everyone has a safety story."

"You have to learn from every near miss or accident or situation."

"Time is everything in that kind of situation."

"Walk around your site and ask, 'If this happened right now, would the folks know where the kit actually is and would it work?'"

"We realized there was a real shortfall from us. We were not prepared for that kind of situation."

"Just take a look internally, make sure your site's prepared."

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