Jill James

This is The Accidental Safety Pro brought to you by HSI. My name is Jill James, HSI's chief safety officer. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 NSE Safety Congress and Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana. My podcast producer Emily Gould and I had the pleasure of asking short-form questions to several EHS professionals who graciously shared their advice to other professionals in the industry, their thoughts on their favorite part of the job, success stories, how they found their way into safety, what the future of EHS looks like to them, and insight from a young EHS professional. Before starting, I wanted to share information about a newly released report that myself and two other EHS professionals, Monique Parker and Laynnea Myles, and my coworker, Kristi McClure presented at the NSC this year titled The 2023 Women in Safety Survey Report. This report includes survey questions and responses from almost 900 safety professionals, analysis and recommendations for action items that you, either as a female or advocate, can take back to your workplace. You can download the report in the show notes of this episode today. Now, please enjoy this special episode of The Accidental Safety Pro. Well, welcome to The Accidental Safety Pro. Tell me your name...

Christina Roll

Thank you.

Jill James

... and where are you from?

Christina Roll

Hi.

Jill James

What do you do?

Christina Roll

Thanks so much for having me. This is awesome.

Jill James

You're welcome.

Christina Roll

Christina Roll. That's who I am. I'm from the Atlanta, Georgia area. I am a safety consultant for the US working for XXL. We're a global insurance carrier. 20- year-plus safety pro, CSP, CIH. Spent half of my career within the insurance industry. Prior to that, did some time working for our US Marine Corps. Did not wear the uniform, just supported those who did. So I've kind of been around the block once or twice when it comes to safety and all the things that it entails.

Jill James

So what advice would you have for someone just entering the field, someone new in EHS?

Christina Roll

A couple things actually. First is communication. You've got to have the soft skill of communication. So however that comes, maybe comes naturally to you, which is fantastic. If it doesn't, there are ways to practice. But one of the biggest skills you will ever have to use is communication in all the ways, written words, emails, policies, programs, procedures, making sure it's clear, but verbally. And that is making sure you can communicate what you're trying to say to all levels of the company.

Jill James

Yeah.

Christina Roll

You need to be able to present your case to the CEO to get your money, just like you should be able to talk to the guy who's working the line to make sure he understands why he needs to do what he should be doing to stay safe and all the levels in between.

Jill James

That's right.

Christina Roll

And so when you're able to do that, that's where you find success.

Jill James

Yes.

Christina Roll

And then I think the other one, and this is if I can speak to the ladies of the world, don't be afraid to speak up for what you think, for what you know is right, for what you know you need to do even when the world is saying, "Are you sure," or "Oh, maybe that's for somebody else to do." Just no.

Jill James

It's you.

Christina Roll

It's you. You are the one to do it. And if it's not you, somebody else will. So it might as well be you. So don't be afraid. There's going to be the voices, there's going to be the haters, there's going to be the doubters, but there are those around you who are there to support you. There are those who have come before you that want to reach out and lend a hand. So don't be afraid to be the person. Don't be afraid to stand up and do it. Don't be afraid to ask for help either, because again, there are those around you that have been there, done that, that want to help you succeed and that you can succeed because this is a field that you can do it in.

Jill James

That's right. Communication skills, asking for help, and speaking your truth.

Christina Roll

Yes.

Jill James

That's wonderful.

Christina Roll

And sticking to your truth and being who you are. Don't be afraid to be who you are. I guess that's number three. If I can put one more in.

Jill James

Yeah, let's put another one.

Christina Roll

Don't be afraid to be who you are.

Jill James

That's right.

Christina Roll

Imposter syndrome is real and it sucks.

Jill James

Yeah. And you don't have to conform to be someone else.

Christina Roll

No.

Jill James

That's right.

Christina Roll

Just be yourself in whatever way that looks like. Wear the crazy shirt, be the crazy lady with the shoes. Walk the field when no one thinks you should be. Bring the crazy things, the safety training, whatever it is. Don't do it to be your stitch, but just be your authentic self.

Jill James

Right.

Christina Roll

When you're your authentic self, people are going to be able to come to you. That's how you're going to be able to make a real change and a real difference and be a real influencer in your company. So yeah, don't be afraid to be yourself.

Jill James

Great bits of advice. Thank you so much.

Christina Roll

Thank you. Happy to help.

Devon Molitor

My name is Devon Molitor, and I'm from Orange, California.

Emily Gould

What advice do you have for young EHS professionals?

Devon Molitor

I would say probably the best thing for a proper EHS professional to do is to learn as much as humanly possible. It doesn't matter what company you work for, it doesn't matter what they do. As an EHS professional, you have to be able to apply safety across the board no matter what. So getting certificates and training and stuff you never thought you would need is going to come in handy later. Whether you know it or not, it will. The best thing about my job, my particular company is a global organization, and it's a lot easier to say what we don't do as opposed to what we do. But because of that, the scope of things that we do can be very interesting sometimes from building bridges and kind of mundane things, even though that doesn't sound mundane, to effectively building cities and parts of amusement parks. And it's just the broad scale of what I get to be exposed to is really, really cool. So I'm not stuck on a manufacturing floor, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not stuck in one place. And I honestly don't know what next week will look like sometimes. And that's cool.

Nadia Ullah

Hi, I'm Nadia Ullah. I'm from Houston, Texas.

Emily Gould

And you've been on the podcast before, right? What episode were you on?

Nadia Ullah

100.

Emily Gould

Okay.

Nadia Ullah

How Important are Soft Skills in Safety? I wanted to share advice for new EHS pros. So on the episode, I didn't get to fully share my stance as a new professional just because I was still working at that startup and wanted to be as respectful as possible. But every hindsight tells me, man, I really should have been more honest about how hard it is and how much you had to fight to get buy-in or really use your voice. So my advice for professionals is really don't give up, but continue being that voice because there's no one else. And even if you don't get the management buy-in, even if you don't get the leadership buy-in, even if it's just you rallying, I wanted people to know they're not alone and being undermined, or you see the outside is, "We care so much about safety." And then on the inside it's like how can people sometimes do the bare minimum and then just not get in trouble? And so when you see something, it's true, it's true when they say, when you see something, say something. So I think that it's maybe not spoken about enough. A lot of people kind of feel put down, especially early in the career, because you want to do your best and do the right thing. I mean, there's a balance. Sometimes you can't, I won't say can't. You have to be able to say, "Okay, I want this to be realistic and practical," but if I know something should be done or, "Hey, we need to impose this rule," you do have to fight for that. Don't let people tell you, "No, we don't need it," or, "That's not practical," or, "No one's going to follow it." Just because people say no one's going to do it if you try to instill that rule, that's not a good reason to not instill the rule.

Emily Gould

Yeah.

Nadia Ullah

And yeah, just really being bold. And I didn't get the chance to really share just that fighting spirit that's super crucial.

Emily Gould

Yeah.

Nadia Ullah

So thank you for letting me give the addendum.

Emily Gould

Absolutely.

James Cobb

My name is James Cobb. I'm with Regenesis bioremediation products. Okay. So the question that I'm looking at here is what's the best thing about my job? If you're familiar with the Erin Brockovich story, there was contaminants. It leaked into groundwater wells that were used for the city to supply water to the people giving them cancer, things like that. What our company does is we invent products that break up, hold in place contaminants in the ground and in the groundwater so that when water comes through to go to those municipal wells, it cleans it up. So for me, the best thing about my job is I do health and safety for a bunch of people that are trying to clean up the world and try to save lives everywhere all over the world. So for me, it's a win-win all the way around.

Joe Strellec

My name's Joe Strellec. So yes, I would like to do that. My favorite success story would be starting out in the field of safety. I didn't know what I was getting into, but I went into West Virginia University, obtained my master's degree in environmental health and safety. Ended up working for a emergency response company that did turnpike hazmat responses. And we also did a lot of confined space work, tank cleanings, and site cleanup jobs. Essentially, we had a pretty rough EMR over the past 10 years. A lot of incidents. EMR was above a one. I came into the company and my first thing, what I wanted to do was not sit in the office. I decided I wanted to get out in the field, be around the employees as much as I could, work with them. I wanted to breathe it. I wanted to feel it. I wanted to know what they did. And I wanted to be in their mindset, not write stuff on paper and tell them what to do because that's what I wanted. That's not what my job was.

Emily Gould

Yeah.

Joe Strellec

Yeah, following standards is one thing, but you need to actually know how your employees work to actually implement a safety program. So as I spent my first year out in the field, going down in the confined spaces, putting on the chem suits, going in the acid tanks, doing tons of different stuff, I was able to build a safety presence, make sure we were doing JSAs, doing JSAs properly. This started to build, form a culture. We started reporting more incidents. People started doing things better. We were always filling out JSAs. It became a requirement that we had to do and people were down to do it now because we were out there helping them. People looked at it as a nuisance before, and now we had a better one, simpler to follow, easier to fill out, better educated employees. And as the year went on, we had a much lower incident rate to the point where we obtained our lowest incident rate in 10 years. And this is my first year in this company. So I think that's a huge, huge milestone, especially as your first year as a safety professional, because you realize you can actually make a difference the more effort you put in to being a safety professional. You don't just sit behind a desk, follow the standards willy-nilly and call it a day. You need to be out there and understand your employees, and you need to be on an equal ground level with them. They don't need somebody who read stuff in a book when they've been working in the field for years and know their craft, coming in and telling them what they should do, yelling at them every time they don't see you wearing safety glasses or taking their hard hat off for a second. That's not what it's about. You're not there to police people. You're there to educate people, but you can't educate them without truly knowing what they do. And I think the biggest advice I would give to any young safety professional or somebody who just wants to maybe improve safety in their company is to get out there and do work with their employees. Know what they do, be alongside them. If they go up on a bridge, put the harness on, go up there with them. If you're trained to do it, you always have to be trained, have the right PPE and do it. If they go down the confined space, go down in there. Know what hazards they're exposed to, not just by them explaining the job, go see them. You got to know the work and you have to be a part of it. That's the only way you can truly be successful and have the respect of your employees to increase a culture. Because if they don't respect you, your culture is never going to increase.

Denise Caldwell

Denise Caldwell. I work for the US Bureau of Reclamation, federal government agency. We do water and hydropower.

Emily Gould

Denise, how did you get into this profession?

Denise Caldwell

Well, certainly not purposefully. I actually was going to college to be a legal secretary, and about halfway through my schooling, the government agency I worked for came to us and they were looking for people to apply for secretarial co-op program. So it'd be full-time employment. You'd go to work during the day. I went to school at night. And when I got hired on, I had about a year to go before I was supposed to graduate with my degree. And I was going to get my year of office experience and then graduate. And then I was going to leave the government and go get what I considered to be a real job because I'd never thought government would be a real job for me. And I graduated early. They had an opening in the safety office for a secretary. And I applied for it. They interviewed five people. I was the only one that said I didn't just want to be a secretary for the rest of my career. So they hired me. I was a secretary the first maybe year or so. Then they converted me over into a safety technician. And I found that I really loved working in the profession. So then I got promoted a few times in that job, then got promoted to a specialist, went back to my headquarters and promoted a couple more times. So that's how I got into safety, totally by accident. If I hadn't graduated three months early from school, I probably would've never been in safety.

Emily Gould

Amazing.

Denise Caldwell

So super accident.

Emily Gould

Just the name of the show.

Denise Caldwell

Yep.

Emily Gould

Perfect.

Jeff Costlow

Hi, my name is Jeff Costlow. How are you?

Emily Gould

Good, how are you doing?

Jeff Costlow

I am well.

Emily Gould

How did you get into this profession?

Jeff Costlow

So it's kind of fun. I was working oil and gas. I was a grunt employee out in the field, and I actually went out on location and I saw this guy that was sitting around and it was like, "Man, he's doing nothing. I want that job." And so I got to talking to people like, "Yeah, that's the safety guy." It's like, "Oh, that sounds like a fun job." And so I actually tried hard to get into it. I found out you either had to be a firefighter or you had to go to school for it. So I chose to take the route of going back to school. I got my education and I was like, "Okay, well, now what?" And so I graduated. There were no openings in oil and gas. And so I kind of did odd-end jobs until... I did a couple of internships. I was like, "Okay, well, how do I get my foot in the door?" So I went to work for a small oil and gas company and as a safety guy, loved it. And I moved over to one of their competitors as a trainer, safety trainer, and have been in oil and gas ever since. That's been six years later. Just absolutely love it. I've learned very quickly that it's not sitting around like I thought it was, that they're just moving around. They're all behind the scenes. It's not actually what you think a safety guy does. Most people assume it's that guy sitting out there doing nothing. But it actually is you're very busy. You're trying to make sure that everyone is doing everything correct.

Jill James

Well, welcome to NSC. What is your name and what industry are you with?

Ali Skrzypiec

Hi, my name's Ali Skrzypiec. I am the head of safety for a Greencross Pet Wellness Company in Australia. We are a combination of veterinary clinics and emergency hospitals, and also pet care retail stores as well.

Jill James

Oh my gosh. Wow. How big of a team did you bring with you to NSC?

Ali Skrzypiec

Just myself has come across. So it's just to have a look at what's over here in the US that we could bring back to Australia.

Jill James

Oh, wonderful. I hope you're enjoying it.

Ali Skrzypiec

I'm having a ball. Thank you.

Jill James

So how did you get into the safety and health profession?

Ali Skrzypiec

I originally did environmental science. So my first role out of university was working contaminated sites. So we would go in and have a look at what the soil and the groundwater was contaminated with and actually write remediation plans. And the company that I worked for at the time had all of us do a dedicated safety course because we were working construction sites, industrial sites beside big pieces of equipment and beside big holes in the ground.

Jill James

A lot of hazards.

Ali Skrzypiec

A lot of hazards. So as a junior straight out of university, this was really eyeopening for us. But I loved that safety course that I actually went and did a post-grad in occupational hygiene and safety.

Jill James

Oh my gosh.

Ali Skrzypiec

And since then, it's been a combination of environmental fields and safety fields.

Jill James

Oh my gosh. And how long have you been doing this?

Ali Skrzypiec

Over 20 years, which I don't want to say because it shows my age.

Jill James

Well, I'm at 29, so we're in good company. We're in good company. Oh my gosh.

Ali Skrzypiec

So, yes. But various industries over the years. So waste industry, oil and gas, food manufacturing, outdoor advertising. Because, of course, our legislation's the same. It's just how you engage with the people that do the work and how you bring them along on the journey.

Jill James

That's right. That's right.

Ali Skrzypiec

Yeah.

Jill James

Thank you for the work that you're doing.

Ali Skrzypiec

No problem. Thank you very much.

Jill James

Well, welcome to The Accidental Safety Pro. Tell me your name and where are you from, what's your industry?

Lisa Blotsky

Yeah, thank you for having me. My name is Lisa Blotsky and I'm a board certified safety professional, master's in occupational safety and health. I'm from the Atlanta, Georgia area. I work with AXA XL. I'm a US casualty risk consultant.

Jill James

Whoa.

Lisa Blotsky

I know.

Jill James

Interesting job. So how did you get into the health and safety profession?

Lisa Blotsky

So it was an interesting journey for me, not something that I intended to actually be in, a field I intended to be in. But I actually went to school to study pre-veterinary medicine. I thought that I was going to be an animal doctor since I was three years old. That was the goal. So ended up at Auburn University in the College of Agriculture. You study physics, chemistry, biology, animal husbandry, which of course, I loved that portion of it. And then when I had kind of that moment where you go, "Oh, this is not what I'm supposed to do," even if the grades are there, even if the plan is there and the intention was...

Jill James

You didn't feel it in your bones.

Lisa Blotsky

Yeah. Literally, I had a voice of God moment. I wasn't supposed to do it. So at that point, I was so far along in my education that I went ahead and finished the degree. You might as well, right?

Jill James

That's right.

Lisa Blotsky

At this point you might as well.

Jill James

Bought and paid for.

Lisa Blotsky

Right. And I found Tyson Foods as my first career, my first profession. And I went in as a production supervisor.

Jill James

Oh, wow.

Lisa Blotsky

And the idea was, well, at least I'm working with chicken. At least I'm working in the field where I studied.

Jill James

In a slaughter facility or in [inaudible 00:19:16]?

Lisa Blotsky

In the slaughter facility, yeah. And then I tend to be kind of an outgoing person. And they used me in several different leadership roles. And from there, one of the options was to end up as a safety professional because it was just another opportunity. And then once I got in it and realized, oh, this is actually a career. There's actually something to this. And here I was using that chemistry, the physics, the biology, even medical terminology, all of these little things that I had studied and didn't know there was a profession for, didn't know that there was a opportunity for it. And then just moved through the different roles. The position expanded a little bit and here I am now with AXA XL.

Jill James

That's wonderful. Tell us your name and where you're from and how long have you been in safety.

Monique Parker

So my name is Monique Parker. I've been in safety for 20 years. Currently, I am senior vice president of safety environmental health with Piedmont Lithium out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jill James

And Monique, what do you believe the future of our profession is?

Monique Parker

Well, our future is changing dynamically every day it seems just with sustainability coming into play, with the addition of the bigger, broader spectrum of what safety is in general. And so what I see the future of our profession is becoming more of a leader role in organizations. For so long, we've been kind of in the background doing things, making things happen. But I truly feel like after COVID-19, with sustainability, with all the shifts in the policy around safety, a EHS professional is going to be truly seen as a leader in an organization and not just a foundational piece that is a support function of an organization.

Jill James

Finally, a seat at the table.

Monique Parker

Yes.

Jill James

Yeah. Thank you for being on the show.

Monique Parker

Thank you.

Jill James

Well, welcome to The Accidental Safety Pro. What is your name? Where are you from? What's your industry?

Angelica Loma

Hi, my name is Angelica Loma. I am a HSE coordinator for AtkinsRealis. We are an engineering services portion of the business.

Jill James

Wow. Wow. I hear that you're young and in this profession. So what is it like being a young woman in EHS right now for you?

Angelica Loma

Being a young woman in the EHS field is super rewarding. I think it's really awesome just to see the impacts that I can make along with my mentors and other colleagues that have had so much experience.

Jill James

Yeah.

Angelica Loma

I'm super excited to learn. And it's really great to just take my ideas and reshape all the programs and policies just to have another set of eyes and a different perspective on things. I think innovation is super important in helping the company and the field grow is such an important piece to safety.

Jill James

You mentioned mentors, so do you have mentors within the company and outside the company, or how does that look for you?

Angelica Loma

A little bit of both. I like to keep in touch with mentors that I've had in college, mentors that I've had in previous job experiences just because I think women in safety need to stick together and need to support each other.

Jill James

We do.

Angelica Loma

I also like to encourage students back at UConn. I graduated from the University of Connecticut. There have been a lot of students that have reached out just because I've had some job experiences that relate to whatever they would want to do in the future.

Jill James

Oh, that's fantastic. You're doing the work. You're recruiting, you're bringing women in. That's fantastic.

Angelica Loma

Absolutely. I like to educate and make sure that people are inspired to do good. I like how your podcast is Accidental Safety Pro just because a lot of my mentors actually stumbled into safety. They were originally engineers, originally architects, and then they were just put in the position where they were part of the safety committee. It's just bits and pieces of the safety field that have flooded into their job and work experience.

Jill James

Is that how you found it too? Was it accidental?

Angelica Loma

In a way, yes.

Jill James

Okay.

Angelica Loma

I originally went to UConn for their nursing program. And then I decided that I hated touching people. So that was not the profession for me. I love the education piece, so I was looking to be a bio teacher. I wasn't exactly really into that profession so much. Luckily, UConn actually had the concentration of occupational and environmental health and safety.

Jill James

Wonderful.

Angelica Loma

So I love the proactive piece of it. And after having some internships and other job experiences, it's such a versatile field that you could do anything with it, so you're never bored. I love that piece.

Jill James

That's for sure. That's for sure. Shout out your university where it is and the name of it again. Not every state in the country has an EHS program, so say yours again.

Angelica Loma

Yes, absolutely. I'm proud to be a Husky from the University of Connecticut. We're located in Storrs, Connecticut. And we have a rocking basketball team. So I'm excited to see how we do next year.

Jill James

Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you so much for coming on the show, and good luck to you...

Angelica Loma

Of course.

Jill James

... in your career.

Angelica Loma

Thank you so much for having me.

Jill James

We hope you enjoyed this special episode of The Accidental Safety Pro live from NSC 2023. We look forward to recording your stories again next year at ASSP 2024. As always, thank you for listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution toward the common good, making sure your workers, including your temporary workers make it home safe every day. If you aren't subscribed and want to hear past and future episodes, you can subscribe in iTunes, the Apple Podcast app, or any other podcast player you'd like. We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review the show. It helps us connect the show with more and more EHS professionals. Special thanks to Emily Gould, our podcast producer. And Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. And until next time, thanks for listening.