This disclosure provides an apparatus, system and method for supporting wired and wireless communications in industrial safety systems. The apparatus, system and method involve a safety management controller comprising one or more processors, one or more wired interfaces, and one or more wireless interfaces; wherein the safety management controller supports an application stack associated with an open industrial protocol that operates over multiple communication protocols, at least one of the communication protocols comprising a wired communication protocol, at least one other of the communication protocols comprising a wireless communication protocol.