It is always an honor to have your work recognized by peers you deeply respect. Recently, Tim Fisher from the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) shared a (personal) technical update and review of my new book, Health and Safety Programs in Small and Medium-sized Businesses: Setting Them Up and Making Them Work Effectively.
With the recent global push toward more structured safety management in smaller organizations—including the work of the ISO TC283 committee—Tim’s review highlights how my book bridges the gap between high-level standards like ANSI/ASSP Z10 and the practical, day-to-day needs of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
I’ve always believed that safety shouldn't just be about "binders that gather dust". It should be a sustainable, functional part of your business strategy. I am grateful to Tim for his kind words and for highlighting how these consensus standards are referenced and relate to my book.
Note the following is a personal review that does not represent an official policy or stance of ASSP.
Book Review & Technical Update
By Tim Fisher, ASSP
Below is the full text of the review:
Greetings All:
For some reason we have also gotten a “slew” of inquiries in the past several months asking for insights and suggestions about “Health and Safety Programs in Small and Medium-sized Businesses: Setting Them Up and Making Them Work Effectively”. Of interest is that these inquiries are coming from both the private and public sector with a lot of emphasis on our ANSI/ASSP Z10 Standard and the ISO 45001 Standard.
Much of this interest is also global in nature and is being driven by the potential of the ISO TC283 Committee [creator of ISO 45001] creating a standard or technical specification addressing OSH management for small to medium size organizations. We continue to get inquiries asking for more resources and information about implementation of important standards
Greg Zigulis has been very active with ASSP and has been a leader in the development of occupational health and safety management systems for business overall but with a lot of dedication and commitment to small and medium size organizations. Now, not to be facetious, but I can truly say that Greg is indeed a “fanatic” on this topic. I intentionally meant to use this term, but it is with only the best intention since the guy truly is dedicated to occupational safety and health and the protection of workers. And, I am not only saying these because we are both veterans of the U.S. Air Force. The good Mr. Zigulis is a stalwart for occupational safety and health management and the implementation of our ANSI/ASSP consensus standards.
But, my reason for writing this technical update is due to the relationships he notes and fosters between OSH performance and the applicable ANSI/ASSP consensus standards addressing safety and health management. He recently released a book, and the book dedicates significant space to how these standards are used and implemented in smaller organization. In his book:
"Health and Safety Programs in Small and Medium-sized Businesses: Setting Them Up and Making Them Work Effectively" (published January 2026), Greg addresses a critical gap for organizations that lack dedicated safety expertise but need to build functional, compliant safety systems.
Greg puts an emphasis on
- Rather than providing a generic list of templates, Zigulis offers a primer on the business drivers and injury prevention concepts that underpin a successful safety culture.
- De-mystifying Complexity: The book is praised for taking the "white noise" out of regulatory complexity and making safety programs understandable and actionable for leaders without a technical background.
- Core Focus: It explores foundational elements such as identifying requirements, understanding injury causation, and prioritizing program rollout.
- "Not Just Binders": Reviewers highlight that the guidance is grounded in over 40 years of experience, aiming to create programs that actually work rather than just "binders that gather dust".
- Value-Driven: It emphasizes how safety programs can provide true value to the organization beyond mere compliance.
Relation to ANSI/ASSP Safety Standards
Zigulis is a long-standing member of the ANSI/ASSP Z10 committee, and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ANSI for the ISO TC283 Committee. His book's methodology is deeply intertwined with these professional standards, which obviously caught our attention. While Greg has extensive experience with global OHSMS, this book prioritizes the Z10 Standard since it is an American National Standard.
Consider:
- Z10 Integration: The book's framework aligns with the ANSI/ASSP Z10.0-2019 standard, which focuses on implementing Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS).
- Bridging the Gap: While the full Z10 standard is often seen as geared toward larger corporations, Zigulis uses his book to make these high-level concepts accessible for smaller enterprises.
- PDCA Cycle: The book promotes the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, a core principle of the Z10 standard that drives continuous improvement rather than a "set it and forget it" approach.
- SME-Specific Guidance: The strategies in the book mirror the intent of ASSP Z10.101, a guidance document specifically designed to help smaller organizations adopt Z10 principles.
- Key Themes: Both the book and the ANSI standards emphasize management leadership and worker participation as the primary pillars of an effective program.
Table: Core Alignment Between Zigulis and ANSI/ASSP Z10
| Concept | Zigulis Book Focus | ANSI/ASSP Z10 Standard |
| Philosophy | Business-integrated safety | OSH integration into business strategy |
| Methodology | Sustainable, functional programs | Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle |
| Scale | Specifically for SMEs | Scalable to any organization size |
| Involvement | Culture-building & leadership | Management leadership & worker engagement |
Conclusion: The Zigulis book provides excellent insight into safety and health management for small to medium size businesses. That being said, the book does provide excellent insights regardless of organizational size. While there are a number of books out there addressing safety and health management, very few of them seek to incorporate the importance of implementation of the voluntary national consensus standards. EHS Professionals and those stakeholders addressing OSH management should consider reviewing this book for solid implementation practices that will lead to more organizational efficiency and effectiveness.