The Safety & Security Trends Taking Center Stage in 2026

Key Takeaways

Baird’s Safety & Security team had the pleasure of attending several safety-focused conferences throughout 2025, including the ever-influential Safety Congress & Expo in Denver, Colorado. These industry conference bring together safety professionals and exhibitors to discuss the evolving safety requirements and regulations for labor groups, innovative safety solutions in the market and how businesses navigate responses to OSHA guidelines and citations. Throughout the past year, Baird connected with industry experts and experienced professionals to discuss these topics in length to uncover business trends and deal activity in the safety & security space.

Read on for three top-of-mind highlights throughout our discussions, which highlighted the emergence of new solutions, an industry lookahead and trends taking place across the industrial sector.

1. Continued Innovation in Safety & Security Solutions
   
   

   Safety & security providers continue to deliver innovative products that address the needs of the market, particularly in areas of high OSHA citation, which include fall protection, hazard communication and ladders, to name just a few.

   This theme played out in the Safety Congress & Expo’s “Best of Show” new product recognitions, where Werner Fall Protection was recognized for a cable grab vertical lifeline system that is designed to allow smooth up-and-down climbing while preventing lockups and unintentional stops. This spirit reemerged at the conference’s closing keynote, where Shazam founder Chris Barton charged attendees to consider how they could apply the principles of creative persistence to make work safer and more secure for all in the industry.

2. Increasing Technology Integration

   
   Companies are increasingly turning to safety technologies as a solution to workplace hazards and issues. According to an NSC survey of 500 employers and 1,000 employees in high-risk industries, employers’ recognition of and interest in implementing safety technologies grew from 2020-2023, with construction companies reporting the strongest interest in new technologies (84% considering) compared to 57-72% for companies in other markets.

   For safety & security solutions providers, protection and injury prevention are non-negotiable objectives. One example of this is MākuSafe Scout, a forklift safety solution aimed at preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders, which won the conference’s Safety Innovation Challenge. The solution enables forklifts to detect workers wearing an armband, providing operators with real-time risk indicators based on pedestrian density nearby.

3. Supply Chain Restructuring

   
   Our discussions with industry event attendees and presenters confirmed players from all areas of safety & security are remaining vigilant when it comes to tariff headwinds. Businesses are continuing to onshore / nearshore production to mitigate the impact of tariff risks. In certain instances, attendees noted working with existing suppliers to move outside of China to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia to avoid unfavorable tariff landscape while maintaining lower costs of production.  Businesses continue to actively monitor inventory levels and place strategic orders to maintain levels to hedge against further tariff uncertainty.

To discuss these themes in-depth and how they may impact your business or future strategy, connect with a member of Baird’s Global Industrial Investment Banking Group.