Matt Stinchfield is an occupational safety and health specialist with a career spanning 40 years. He begin work in environmental chemistry and developed a diverse experience. Projects included: establishing a public health testing campaign for bathing facilities, remediating abandoned uranium mills, and cleaning up dioxins and heavy metals in soils.
In the mid-nineties, Matt began brewing beer. He applied his workplace safety skills to the craft beer industry, and in 2002, he gave the first of many presentations on brewery safety at the US-based Craft Brewers Conference. In 2013 he was identified as a leading expert in brewery safety and asked to chair the Brewers Association Safety Subcommittee. He is now in his eleventh year volunteering for this group. From 2015 to 2022, Matt was the Brewers Association’s Safety Ambassador, travelling nationally to address brewers guilds in 34 states. Matt has been featured in video training assets for draught beer line safety and safety culture. He designed and operated his own brewery from 2014-2017, winning a World Beer Cup® medal in the process.
Most recently, Matt has written the first comprehensive book on safety for brewers, entitled Brewery Safety: Principles, Processes, and People (2023, Brewers Publications). He is currently authoring other books and coaching breweries and distilleries in safety. He enjoys his free time in nature, camping and foraging wild foods.