HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN SAFETY?

After graduating from college with a business degree, I worked as a carpenter for about 5 years, and while working I fell and injured my back. I then decided to return to school where I received a master’s degree in Safety Management focusing on the construction industry. 

In your experience, how has the construction safety industry changed?

When I first started in construction safety, many employees thought of a safety person as the policeman of the jobsite and many managers were often confrontational with you. But as the industry has involved and with the companies that I have worked with, safety has become a larger focus and has been adopted in every aspect of the day-to-day business.

National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is April 17-21, 2023: what is its significance to you, and how will your company raise awareness during this year’s event?

National Work Zone Awareness Week is important to me because it brings communication and attention to the public that work zones are established to protect them, but more importantly, the people working within the work zones.  

Internally, my company completes multiple safety communications to focus on the importance of our work zones and participating in the go orange day on some of our projects. Externally, my company has assisted by placing extra message boards on projects to make the public aware of the week.

What are some methods you have implemented to reduce work zone speeds, distracted driving, or overall jobsite safety?

Ensuring the proper work zone setup is key, and I have been privileged to work with a company that strives to do this activity the correct way. We can not ensure what the public is going to do, but making sure we are setup properly allows for the communication that is needed to point them in the right direction.  

Our company has also focused many efforts to prevent distracted driving within our organization. We have not only focused on the external traffic controls but also on the internal traffic controls within our jobsites and plants to ensure our employees and subcontractors have a safe place to work within the work zone.

as a CAWP Safety & Risk Committee, can you describe what this role meant to you and its importance in the industry?

Being a member of the CAWP Safety & Risk Committee has allowed me to network with other companies throughout the area and allows us to share best practices and lessons learned. It has given me resources when I have questions and even allowed me to develop relationships with other Safety Managers within our area and industry.

What do you hope to see in the future regarding safety in the industry?

Just like CAWP Safety & Risk Committee, I hope that the industry continues to work together to share the lessons learned and best practices. Sometimes there is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to safety, it is simply sharing what everyone else is doing. 

What advice would you give young professionals entering the safety field?

Work hard and gain as much knowledge as possible in the industry which you pursue. Speak up when you need to and never stop learning.