What to Expect at the ReMA2026 Safety First Stadium

From April 13 – 16 2026, ReMA2026 – The Show, Powered by ReMatter is taking over Mandalay Bay and bringing together professionals in the recycled materials industry. To give attendees a sneak peek of what’s to come during the convention, ReMA News is presenting a series featuring ReMA leaders, members, speakers, and exhibitors discussing aspects of ReMA2026.

This year ReMA is launching the ReMA2026 Safety-First Stadium, Presented by Omnisource. The stadium will feature federal, state, and local government representatives alongside private organizations. There will be booths with resources for members on a variety of safety topics as well as booths from vendors with resources to help members. 

ReMA has also introduced the Industrial Athlete concept, which reframes workers as high-performing professionals whose physical readiness, ergonomics, and injury prevention are critical to operational success. This approach emphasizes proactive health, fatigue management, and proper movement, recognizing employees as the industry’s most valuable resource. 

The new Safety-First Stadium is all about giving industrial athletes the training, tools, and resources they need to stay strong, safe, and at the top of their game.

ReMA News chatted with Holly Brownell, ReMA’s Safety Outreach Manager, all about what attendees can look forward to at the Safety-First Stadium.

Can you tell me about the industrial athlete concept?

An industrial athlete is a worker who is in a position that involves a lot of repetitive movement, continued awareness of the situation, and physical labor. Anything can happen to put stressors on your body from fatigue to various injuries. Keeping your body in shape and preparing for the day ahead will, in turn, help keep you safe.

As we’re rolling out this new idea of the industrial athlete, it’s only fitting that we highlight all the resources that members can use to keep themselves and their team in shape and at the top of their game. So, we decided to update the Safety-First Plaza, which we introduced last year at ReMA2025, to the Safety-First Stadium at ReMA2026 because these resources will help our members build out their safety playbooks to keep their teams safe.

What can attendees look forward to at the Safety-First Stadium?

This year we’re going to have more participation from different associations. Last year we had some groups from different industries, we had mental health support from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and battery resources for attendees. This year, we’re growing the list to include associations like the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). We’re bringing in PPE groups like 3M and Red Wing Shoe Co. to answer questions, review best practices, and help ensure your team is properly protected from the hazards they face.

We are pulling in industry MVPs, people from member companies who have implemented strong safety programs. They’ll be able to speak on the demo stage and provide overviews of how their companies are working to ensure that their employees stay safe every day. While they’re in the Safety-First Stadium, they’ll be available to talk with attendees and answer questions about ways to implement good safety practices and strategies. I think it’s going to be of huge value to attendees.

What are you looking forward to about the Safety-First Stadium? And what do you hope attendees bring back to their operations?

I’m excited for our DOT mock inspections. The Nevada Highway Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement team will be onsite to do mock inspections and talk with attendees about different regulations.

Attendees will be able to bring back a lot of good information to their operations. There will be some groups onsite that can be a little nerve-wracking to talk to, like the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). But the Safety-First Stadium provides a space where attendees can more comfortably approach and talk to people from these organizations to ask questions and get information about compliance issues.

Battery fires are a growing concern for our industry. We’ll have a lot of great resources at the Safety-First Stadium on that topic. We’ll also have several mental health associations at the Safety-First Stadium. I’m excited about that because it’s important for our members to recognize that being safe and healthy starts with a good safety culture around mental health. We’re looking forward to implementing more opportunities for attendees to engage with those groups as well.

We introduced the Safety-First Plaza last year at ReMA2025, and this year it’s grown into the Safety-First Stadium at ReMA2026. We’ve been able to make this a bigger and better area thanks to OmniSource. Seeing the positive response from the Safety-First Plaza last year encouraged OmniSource to be our sponsor not only for the Safety-First Stadium, but also our safety sponsor throughout 2026.

From last year’s Safety-First Plaza to this year’s Safety-First Stadium, we see the importance of making members aware of the safety resources available to them through ReMA. This year we’re having double the number of exhibitors and a lot of fun and engaging activities. We’re going to have live demos, happy hours, networking, and a cornhole tournament sponsored by ReMatter.

I think this will be a good opportunity to help make safety less scary for members and provide a comfortable, fun space for impactful conversations and knowledge sharing. We saw the positive engagement last year, and we knew it was important to bring it back for this year and hopefully for every convention in the future.