Brewers Association appoints safety ambassador

Hardhat, earplugs, eye protection and grinning attitude — this guy knows safety.

Safety is a serious subject in the brewing industry. If you’re not willing to A) create a safe environment for your workers and B) create a safe product, then you’re definitely not going to be A) very successful and B) able to maintain your reputation as a quality craft brewer.

So we were glad to see the Brewers Association (BA) announce that Matt Stinchfield has been appointed as the association’s “safety ambassador.” Serving in a newly created position, Stinchfield will work to promote the mission of the BA safety subcommittee to increase safety awareness of the association’s members and encourage prevention of harm to personnel, the public and production.

“The Brewers Association’s increased focus on brewery safety has led to an increase in BA resources available to all brewers,” said Stinchfield. “My role as safety ambassador will be to educate brewers on how to improve brewery safety through conscientious and affordable practices in both prevention and protection.”

Stinchfield has been actively creating safer workplaces for over three decades and has focused on brewery safety for the last 18 years. He is a safety and loss control consultant to mid-sized and regional craft breweries and distilleries in addition to founder of his own brewery, Ploughshare Brewing Co. in Lincoln, Neb. Stinchfield stresses the importance of creating a safety dialogue and has spoken at numerous brewing industry functions. He is currently chair of the BA safety subcommittee and sits on the MBAA food safety committee.

“Safety is of the utmost concern to craft brewers,” said Paul Gatza, director, Brewers Association. “Through his efforts on the BA safety subcommittee, Matt has been doing great work to educate our members and help them develop safety programs and procedures. We look forward to working with him in this expanded role.”