Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council members browse the available vendors during Safety Celebration before keynote speaker VigiLife CEO Zachary Kiehl speaks about wearable technology. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

MARIETTA – Members of the Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council and their guests attended the second annual Safety Celebration at the Marietta Shrine Club on Wednesday.

The event allows for safety council members to network with local businesses as well as enjoy a lunch and hear from a keynote speaker.

The speaker for this event was VigiLife Founder and CEO Zachary Kiehl. Kiehl earned his MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business after graduating from Wright State University with an MS and BS in biomedical engineering.

“I’m going to be talking about the confluence of the EHS (environment, health, and safety) sector with AI and technology,” he said. “Everybody is so excited about all the potential artificial intelligence … but not a lot of folks have really thought about what it could be for the health and safety of the frontline workforce.”

Kiehl said he traveled from Dayton to speak and attend the event and was excited to be in Marietta.

Members of the Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council enjoy lunch and wait for keynote speaker VigiLife CEO Zachary Kiehl to speak at the Safety Celebration on Wednesday. The event was held at the Marietta Shrine Club. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

The Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce provides the program for the MOVSC. The safety council program itself stems from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, according to MACC President Kelsy Eaton.

“We started (safety celebration) last year and adjusted it this year but we have a monthly meeting regularly,” said Eaton. “So this is our last monthly meeting of this fiscal year, so we kind of added this event to give a little bit of an extra celebration to the end of the year.”

Guests could browse the available vendors which included representatives from Move Staffing, WesBanco, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition and more.

“Safety in the workplace is hugely important so that’s always what our focus is, so every meeting we hope people are taking away something that can help make their workplace a little bit safer,” said Eaton.

Kiehl said he got connected to the MACC through different events he’s spoken at and through his partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

Representatives with WesBanco attend the vendor fair during the Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council's Safety Celebration at the Marietta Shrine Club on Wednesday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“To be confident in workplace safety really takes the perspective of being proactive as opposed to reacting,” he said. “I think being confident is using the tools, technologies, policies and procedures in place to be proactive and to make sure that your employees are safe and your company is protected.”

Kiehl said safety and technology are two things he’s very passionate about and he was honored to be speaking at the event as an Ohio native.

Kiehl also said he started working with technology and AI at the Department of Defense, now the Department of War, as a defense contractor. He said he collaborated with the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton.

“There’s been a lot of investment into technology,” he said. “I’ve done some work with robotics and artificial intelligence.”

Kiehl said he’s worked with various applications and robotic systems that detect autonomous health and human performance. He said his focus has been on protecting and improving human health and performance.

“I like to say, ‘if it’s good artificial intelligence, you often don’t see it,'” said Kiehl. “It’s working behind the scenes … if it’s good, you can’t tell.”

VigiLife, based in Fairborn, is a company that provides health, safety and wellness alerts for companies and their employees through VigiLife’s software programs. The goal is to improve response times and workforce wellbeing, according to VigiLife’s website.

Visit www.mariettachamber.com for more information and details on upcoming events.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com