Filip Coumans

Filip has 20 years of professional experience and spent half of his career working in the safety field. Sought after for his valuable insights, Filip has helped senior executives develop and execute strategic safety improvement initiatives. He has helped leaders at all levels make real and sustainable safety improvements by becoming stronger safety leaders.
• For the past 12 years, Filip has helped several global organizations headquartered in EMEA develop and implement strategies to create a step-change in their safety performance and culture. Some of his most notable successes include:
• A 400-employee paint plant achieved a reduction of their Total Reportable Injury Rate of 92% after two years, an improvement which has been sustained since then.
• A clean room with over 1,500 employees has seen a reduction in their injury rate as well as an improvement in their operational performance following a 3-year program focusing on safety leadership with their 200 leaders.
• Supporting a 2,000-employee chemical plant in the development of a Safety Improvement Strategy, including safety leadership development for all plant and contractor leaders.
Feedback from senior leaders of the plant includes:
• Site Director: “Thanks Filip for the good collaboration and implementation of the joint project. You have put us on the path to improvement extremely well.”
• Site Maintenance Director: “Thank you for your contribution to the project. Your experience and passion have made the difference.”
• Regional HSE Director: “Many thanks for your sage advice and counsel in the recent months and helping us to build a clear path to a future state and to move us along that path!”
• Filip is a highly regarded speaker who presents on employee engagement, safety, and culture topics throughout Europe. He recently discussed safety attitude versus behavior at the 2018 annual Belgium Construction Forum, presented “Safe Decision Making™ – The Next Big Thing in Leading Edge Safety Thinking” at the 2019 HSE360° Forum in Frankfurt, and gave a talk on the “7 Insights into Safety Leadership” at the 2018 IPLOCA Saving Lives in the Pipeline Industry in Geneva.
• During the first 10 years of his career, Filip gained extensive experience in the construction and dredging industry, where he managed projects under difficult circumstances in remote areas across the world.
• Filip has worked with major organizations in oil and gas, chemicals, utilities, mining, construction, technology, and shipping, and with people of all levels from front-line employees to chief executive officers.
• Filip has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. Filip holds a master’s degree in Civil Construction from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He is fluent in Dutch, English, and French, and conversant in Italian.