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#5: Do your homework, speak your mind, and don't be afraid.
114 Plays7 years ago
Series host Jill James caught up with EHS Specialist Brandy while she was in the midst of studying for the Associate Safety Professional (ASP) exam, and just before attending ASSE’s SAFETY 2018 conference in San Antonio. After earning her bachelors in biology, Brandy got her start in safety doing industrial hygiene, where she “was excited to get in to asbestos”, to pay the bills after college. This discussion covers how annoying it must be for friends and family when you are unable to turn-off your ‘safety vision’ away from the job, and dealing with the old school safety mentality when you’re not only young but also a woman. 2 years into her current role, Brandy is writing custom lockout/tagout procedures for hundreds of unique pieces of machinery. She talks about the value of touring an organization “…so focused on safety, it’s crazy…” and offers her three pieces of advice for new safety professionals.
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Transcript
Introduction to Brandy's Journey
00:00:10
Speaker
This is the Accidental Safety Pro, brought to you by Vivid Learning Systems and the Health and Safety Institute. Episode number five. My name is Jill James, Vivid's Chief Safety Officer, and today I'm joined by Brandi, who is an EHS specialist in the electronic manufacturing industry in the southeastern part of the United States. Welcome, Brandi. Thanks for having me, Jill.
00:00:34
Speaker
Yeah, you know what? We're so excited to have you. This is episode number five and all of the other people that we have had in our podcast so far have had quite a number of years of experience as a safety professional. And Brandy, you are very new to the field and I'm so excited that you are being brave to share your story first for all of the other people who are in your same position.
From Chemistry Lab to Industrial Hygiene
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but I would like to be, I don't know what I'm saying here. You would like to maybe be that first person. Yeah. Yeah, to be a mentor. That's great. Earlier this year, I was at the American Society of Safety Engineers Future Safety Leaders Conference and I had been kindly asked to keynote their opening
00:01:26
Speaker
And so I had this audience of a few hundred people who are just new to the career, just starting out, they're just finishing their degrees. And I bet their ears specifically and others like them would love to hear from you today, Brandy. That sounds good. So how new are you to this field anyway?
00:01:49
Speaker
Um, I've been at my current job as the EHS specialist for almost two years now. Okay. And, um, well right after college, I got into a chemistry lab. I was doing that for about two years and I actually moved cities, um, and had to find a brand new
Asbestos Challenges and Mentorship
00:02:05
Speaker
job. And I was kind of just randomly looking for anything. You know, at that point you kind of just need a job, you know, to pay the bills, but, um, I got a job as a industrial hygienist. I kind of just applied and hoping for the best and,
00:02:17
Speaker
The lady contacted me asking me if I knew anything about it and I was like, not really, but she wanted to find someone who was fresh and didn't have any bad habits. So she kind of just took me on and I learned a lot from working with her for about two years. And after that, I had a kind of a bad experience. Like the last month or two, I was working with asbestos and I was doing, I was monitoring for the removals and the
00:02:45
Speaker
The contractors basically doing the removals just weren't following any safety precautions and I just didn't want to have to deal with that or have to be exposed to that. I was just looking for a job and I found an EHS specialist.
00:03:01
Speaker
Cause they had a brand new facility opening up and they needed someone and I kind of just applied. And I guess they liked that on my experience with IH and I got the job. So congratulations. Yeah. So like I said, I've been here for only two years, but yeah. Yeah. Nothing like jumping in with both feet into an asbestos role. That's, that's big stuff.
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah, and I did mostly, it was a good amount, probably 50% of my IH job was just best to see their inspections or removal. Brandy, let's back up to your education a little bit because that sounds interesting as well. What is your degree in? It's actually in biology.
00:03:39
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So bachelor's degree in biology and you graduated and thought, okay, what am I going to do with this? Yeah. And I think, I mean, I really had no idea, you know, I think we all just kind of go like in college, we just go what we're interested in and we really don't know what we want to do. Well, most of us, I can't speak for all of us, but I didn't really know, but I just knew biology is pretty much all I was interested in.
00:04:03
Speaker
So, yeah. And so you're searching the job landscape after you graduated from college and like where were you looking or where did you think you might end up? I was thinking environmental, but I applied and I interviewed for a few environmental jobs and didn't get it. So I guess that was like a blessing, you know, I had to keep going and I found that I aged job. But yeah, I was mostly looking environmental, but didn't happen.
00:04:30
Speaker
Right, right. And so you mentioned that the person that eventually offered you that first IH job was looking for someone who didn't have any experience, someone they could sort of mentor along the way and teach the way that they wanted the work done. So what was that like? What was she looking for? Or what was her background? Well, she has been doing IH for
00:04:57
Speaker
I don't know, at least 20 years. She had tons of experience. She just wanted someone who was fresh. I guess she had people in the past who just had bad habits. I don't know exactly what that means, but she just wanted someone to be able to teach and show them exactly how she wants things to be done, I think.
00:05:16
Speaker
So I guess if you're looking for a job or something, don't be afraid to apply to places that you don't know about because you never know what could happen. And like, for example, like the, you know, IH, I didn't have any experience and she wants someone fresh and the safety job. I mean, I had two years of IH, but not safety. And, you know, the job said like three to five years and I kind of just applied and got it. So you really never know what people are looking for.
EHS Specialist Role and Community Support
00:05:41
Speaker
Right, right. And so did she end up being a good mentor for you on the IH piece? Yeah, she was. She taught me a lot. I ended up writing a lot of things, learning a lot of things because I know I did a lot of noise monitoring and exposure monitoring and I had to learn all that, what exactly it means.
00:06:01
Speaker
when i get the results back what what do we need to tell these clients and you know so they improve their work conditions right right yeah so was that was that exciting to you when you first got going or were you like this is kind of overwhelming or how how how did you approach that.
00:06:18
Speaker
No, I was really excited because it was something totally different. I was excited to get into asbestos because no one really knows about it. Like they see the commercials, but they really don't know anything about it and you have to have like, you know, certifications and
00:06:32
Speaker
take like week-long classes just to, you know, be able to look at a microscope at it or just monitor. But yeah, I was just really excited. I mean, it wasn't overwhelming at some points just because it's not just one thing you do. You know, I did asbestos and had to learn how the pumps work and how to document it properly, things like that. How to calibrate them, all of that. Yes, exactly. Yeah. But you know, I just take notes and I'm pretty good. And if you just take notes and you can just look back instead of
00:06:58
Speaker
constantly asking your boss how to do it again. So you became your own textbook to teach you how to keep doing it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, very good. That's cool. And so when it was time to make your next stop into your current job, so how did that work for you? So you had this IH experience for a couple of years. You apply for this next job. Were they interested in what you had been doing? Did that help you get to the next place?
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think it definitely did because like I was saying, this is a new facility and we have new production areas coming in. So, I mean, we have high age people come in all the time because we're adding new areas. And when you add a new area where production increases, you're supposed to, you know, re, re monitor those people. So they're just I think that was the biggest thing is that, you know, I had the experience and I know, you know, like,
00:07:55
Speaker
limits people need to be exposed to, and I know how to fit tests because I did that, things like that. Yeah. Yeah, so those are appealing to your new employer. Yeah, exactly.
00:08:04
Speaker
Yeah. So when you started this job that you're in right now, how did the safety introduction go? Like, how have you been kind of easing your way into learning that those skills? Um, well, every day is different. I can just say that at a manufacturing facility. Yes, it is. Um, and you kind of just put out the fire, whatever's going on at the time. And if you don't know, you just, you know, try to look it up, look in all the textbooks you have or look online, all the OSHA.
00:08:32
Speaker
regulations and try to figure out what exactly needs to be done.
00:08:36
Speaker
you know, and make sure you're in compliance. So it's kind of just, you got to look for yourself, I guess. I think a lot of safety professionals would absolutely, that would resonate with a lot of safety professionals since we're, we're often solo operators and we really have to rely on ourselves and, and, you know, and, and any peers that we might know who are working in our same sphere. So do you have, um, is, is there someone who's mentoring you in safety right now, like where you work?
00:09:05
Speaker
Um, well, like I said, I'm, I'm one of the only EHS people. They just hired another person to work with me, but I'm one of the only EHS people here. Um, you know, at our other sister plans, we have, um, some people that have been here a long time and their plans are just really good. Um, you know, in third to same compliance. So if I have any questions.
00:09:25
Speaker
I can I can ask them but not really here, you know, I don't really have a manager I mean I have a facility manager over top of me but not an EHS manager to really ask questions to But as I'm getting more involved and like I'm getting more involved in a SSE and going to the chapter meetings I'm meeting a lot more people who are very open and you know, they're constantly just saying hey if you need anything contact me and add me on LinkedIn and you
00:09:51
Speaker
The safety professionals seem to be just very open just because they don't really have many people and they want to talk about it and they want to kind of just talk to each other, you know.
00:10:01
Speaker
We are a friendly bunch, it turns out. Yeah, for sure we are. That's great. So you get this new job and you're the only one there. You have some peers, but they're in different locations. How did you decide where to start? What was the first thing you decided to tackle?
00:10:23
Speaker
Um, the first thing was this woman got hurt. She fell off like a literally it was a one foot platform kind of like tripped off of it. Yeah. So the first thing I had to do was figure out at what height do you need a railing? And now I, now I think about it like that is so basic, but I remember just looking like at the OSHA standard being like, okay, four feet. Yeah. For general industry.
00:10:45
Speaker
It just sounds so basic, but that was the very first thing I had to do. I had to write some accident reports and things like that. It's not really basic, Brandy. A lot of people struggle with those same things. I get a lot of questions on that myself.
00:11:03
Speaker
And when I worked for OSHA, I had so many numbers and distances memorized and the farther I am away from day to day practice, the less it's top of mind. And I still have to reach for my regulations to double check my memory. Most of the time I'm right, but I don't always trust myself when I have to look things up too. So that's okay. Yeah, it's definitely okay to look things up because there's just so many numbers.
00:11:41
Speaker
you
00:11:47
Speaker
Right, right.
Building Credibility and Relationships
00:11:48
Speaker
Every piece of the law is so different with different requirements. So it sounds like maybe a lot of your career right now early on is really trying to learn the OSHA regulations. Yeah, that's definitely correct. And I'm actually
00:11:52
Speaker
need to
00:12:03
Speaker
Studying to take my ASP my session. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so I'm studying for that and I'm taking because I'm going to the ASSE safety conference and upcoming in June and they have a Like a I guess a training class
00:12:20
Speaker
So I'm going to that and then I take my test in early July. So I've been studying about that and I've been learning a lot that stuff that, you know, I don't really deal with day to day, but things that, you know, I should know. But yeah, there's just a lot of numbers and things to know.
00:12:36
Speaker
There is. Way to jump into the profession with both feet, Brandy. I think it takes some of us many, many years to decide that they're going to study for their ASP during their CSP. That's really cool. So when you're trying to find resources by way of the OSHA regulations right now, how are you doing that? Are you using the OSHA website or what resources are you using for that piece? Yeah, I normally just Google what I'm looking for, say it's confined space, I'll just go
00:13:05
Speaker
find space regulation usually pops up and you know it goes through we have a lot of books that says it's not the regulations it's like a breakdown of the regulation so it's a lot easier to understand and I have a lot of books like that and I've used those all the time whether it's figuring out if something's recordable or not or you know just bloodborne pathogens it's just a lot of
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, so having a having a resource that's kind of interpreted the OSHA regulations for you so that you don't have to read the straight regulation. Yeah, exactly. And that's very helpful. Like I would definitely recommend looking into them or just finding something that yeah, does interpret the regulation because sometimes they can be confusing.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, they can. Yeah, that's a good tip for people to know that those kind of resources do exist. I've never used them in my career and by way of them, I mean like an interpretation of the regulations. And I think that's only because my graduate program, I had an entire
00:14:08
Speaker
course just focused on how to read the regulations and so educationally I got that piece but it's so difficult for so many people to try to figure out what the heck how first how do you read them second what does it mean yeah you know third what's it tied to in relationship to all this other stuff that's around it written and
00:14:29
Speaker
now the government has interpretations on some of this stuff, how do I find those? So it is very confusing. And so that's really a good tip for people to, if you're not steeped in how to read regulatory text, which let's face it, how many people are, to find those resources that have essentially digested it and put it into easy to read format. Cool, very cool.
00:14:57
Speaker
So, um, what's like, what are you, what are you tackling? Like, what are you tackling now? So you've been, you know, other than of course understanding the regulations, kind of what's, what's day to day like right now by way of your priorities. What I'm working on now is, well, like I said, we're a growing facility and we are constantly getting new equipment from other facilities. So I'm trying to figure out what equipment's coming in because we have to write our air permit.
00:15:23
Speaker
And you have to know, you know, what is emitting to the environment, how much things like that. So I've been trying to, you know, figure all that out as far as air. And then I'm also been writing our lockout tag out procedures for all of our equipment in our facility. Because we're getting onto equipment, like I said, and we don't have any site specific.
00:15:44
Speaker
For about, I mean, our facility is pretty big and we have about 300 machines and getting more. It's a hard task and it has to be specific and because obviously you don't want to mess it up. It's very important. It's very important. So yeah, that's something I've been really working hard on.
Safety Awareness and Overcoming Challenges
00:16:01
Speaker
Those are some really big tasks that you're tackling there and really important ones. Are you finding ways to make relationships with people in your facility now that you can ask for help or guide you through things? You're mentioning equipment and bringing new equipment in. I'm wondering if you're talking with operations people or same thing with the lockout tag-out procedures. Are you talking with operators or how are you handling that?
00:16:30
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, for for a lack of tiger procedures, I have our facility manager, he's, he's an engineer. So he knows like, we're how to tell where the electricity is going. And if it's a certain voltage and things like that. Sure. And then when you're writing your lack of tiger procedures, you always want to talk to the operator or
00:16:49
Speaker
the, maybe a facility guy who works on it or something like that to know all the energy sources you're looking at. And then as far as air, we have a third party that helps us, um, that helps us go through and make sure we're sending everything in that we need to send. So we're in compliance.
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Those are really good tips for people starting out who are listening, Brandi. What's it been like, or how did you approach getting into those conversations and asking for help with people in your own facility? Have you asked for meetings with people? How did you build those relationships? Well, normally, if I'm going to do a lack of tackle procedure, I'll just let them know that I'm going to be coming down and doing that. And they're pretty open.
00:17:36
Speaker
It seems most people want to have their facility improved. So I mean, they're pretty open. It seems that they'll meet with you or what normally happens. I'll just be like, hey, I'm going to be down there looking at your whatever machine today. Can you help us figure out all the sources?
00:17:53
Speaker
So that's awesome. That's awesome. So, um, you're, you're brand new to the field and, um, you know, you're trying to build your own credibility as well as your own knowledge base and you're teaching yourself along the way. Have you, what's the craziest thing you've done so far to try to build straight cred with your workforce?
00:18:13
Speaker
I pretty much, if any of my operators ask for something, I try to go out of my way to get them the things that they want. Like for example, some people need safety glasses with bifocals, so I try to get them what they want. But sometimes they do get kind of picky, like I'll get them what they want. I'll get them the bifocals and then they'll be like, oh, I don't want frames on them. I don't like these black frames.
00:18:35
Speaker
So I try to get them the clear ones, you know, so I think it's good that I do that because I think it builds trust and they know that I'm looking out for their best interests and I want them to be comfortable with what they're doing. So I just try to go out of my way to make them feel comfortable at their job. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's good. That's good. Have you done any jobs alongside people to learn how something works?
00:19:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah, especially when you're doing risk assessments. Yeah, you definitely need to be down there and to figure out what are the risks you need to talk to the operators are the ones that know not the managers who don't spend any time in there. So you ask you'll ask the operators, hey, like, what's the most hazardous thing you do at your job and they'll tell you, you know, because they're not they're not shy about it.
00:19:27
Speaker
Those are really important things to do with the workforce. It's good to get out there. I had a third party come in. They were helping us with something and they were just impressed how many people I knew because I guess a lot of safety people don't get out and meet the operators. He was just impressed. I think it's really good for you to get out there and know who's actually doing the production and who you are trying to help because then you form relationships and you form trust and they're more likely to
00:19:56
Speaker
kind of follow the safety rules that you're trying to put in place.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Safety is not a job that happens inside the four walls of an office, that's for sure. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, when you're talking about meeting with operators and observing their work and asking them questions about what they're doing, that's one of my favorite things about our profession is getting to learn how do people do what they do? How is something made? What is their day-to-day work like?
00:20:30
Speaker
And then while I'm making those observations, I've somehow picked up over the years watching and looking for things that don't look like a regular tool. And maybe you've already seen this brandy, maybe you've picked up on this, but my eyes are always looking, you know, as a former OSHA person, my eyes are always looking for hazards and picking up different things, but I often would see like,
00:20:59
Speaker
maybe a piece of a broomstick or a piece of metal that maybe had some kind of funny bend in it and some duct tape wrapped around it or something that's, you know, leaning up against a corner of a wall that looks like this could be a tool, but somebody made that. Have you seen some of that? I have. I've seen a tool like that. Yeah, it was because we have some kilns that we use and I guess when
00:21:29
Speaker
Kill and brick and get stuck, you know because it goes through the kiln it's like kind of like a conveyor belt It can get stuck and they kind of use like a metal pole that they kind of just rigged up and to make sure that the kiln break goes straight and then the one I saw recently was a
00:21:49
Speaker
It wasn't a tool, but they have these stools that are just kind of metal and I guess the operators were slipping off them and also they were saying that it hurt their behind to sit on. So they were taping bubble wrap on the top of that stool to make it more comfortable.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah, and so I've seen stuff like that. So our safety professional eyes pick up on that comfort piece too and we're able to ask, you know, so why is this? And then are we able to find a way to offer something that's more comfortable for employees? Yeah, exactly. But yeah, and by way of those kind of homemade tools,
00:22:28
Speaker
I guess that's what I would call it. It just takes the conversation that you're having with operators to a different level and it allows you to discover things that you might not know otherwise by just simply watching someone do their work for a little while or asking a few questions when they tell you, oh yeah, we use this too because we always get this jam in this one place.
00:22:48
Speaker
or we have to get around this guard, or we're circumventing X, Y, and Z, or I've heard those safety people had us do this, but they didn't know that we needed to see or do or access whatever point it was, and so we just found a workaround for it. I think those are good things to be on the lookout for and ask those deeper questions.
00:23:12
Speaker
You know, to find out what's going on when your eyes aren't there to watch it and what their day-to-day work is like. Yeah, exactly. What is your family thinking of your job so far? Do people know kind of what you're doing with safety and like, are you kind of bringing some of that knowledge home and people are like, Brandy, what the heck happened to you? You got a biology degree? Not really. I don't, I haven't experienced anything like that. I guess when, well, there is a few things like, for example, if I'm,
00:23:42
Speaker
out and about and I'll be with people and I...
00:23:45
Speaker
across the construction site, you know, by the road. And I see them without like safety glasses on. I'm just like, how do you not have safety glasses on? Like you need that. And I've actually like gone to the fence and be like, Hey, you need your safety glasses. Cause they were doing like concrete work and yeah, it's not like that. It wasn't needed. They weren't just standing there, you know? And like, yeah, like I said, I was gone. I've been on vacation where there's people on the roofs, like at the beach, they're cleaning the tops of the roofs.
00:24:12
Speaker
And you know, with the water and they're not, they don't have any harnesses on and these are tall buildings. I'm just like, Oh my gosh. So, and then I, you know, I tell the people I'm with and they're just like, how do you like know that? Like, I don't know. Welcome to the safety practice brand. I definitely take it outside of work for sure.
00:24:32
Speaker
I still try to look out for people because maybe they just don't know. Exactly.
Mentorship and Professional Growth
00:24:39
Speaker
I think you just said something critical there. Maybe they just don't know. I think that is what our career is, is teaching people what they don't know. As it turns out, that's a big job. Turning off the safety button.
00:24:55
Speaker
I bet if we polled a bunch of safety people, I bet we would say with nearly 100% certainty that we don't turn it off when we leave work. And sometimes it annoys the people in our personal lives. Yeah, definitely. You see a fire extinguisher at a restaurant with stuff in front of it, and you're like, oh no.
00:25:18
Speaker
that shouldn't be blocked, you know what I mean? Right? Yes. So yeah, I'm sure it does annoy the people around. Yeah, sometimes I just sort of quietly fix things. Yeah, exactly. When I see some electrical cord that's hanging out of the socket that has the opportunity to build heat or something, or two cords plugged together and they're not tight together, I'll just go fix stuff sometimes. Yes, exactly. That's exactly right. And I won't tell anyone.
00:25:47
Speaker
but I just try to mitigate the hazard. So what drives you crazy about this profession so far? Probably hard-headed employees, mostly older people, older gentlemen usually who
00:26:05
Speaker
You don't want to follow the rules when you're literally there to try to keep them safe, you know Like the old-school mentality. I've been doing this for X amount of years. Yeah, I don't need to wear a harness I've been doing this however long like I'm fine. I don't need gloves or whatever So it's kind of hard to deal with Just that old-school mentality that they they they won't get hurt. It won't be them, you know
00:26:29
Speaker
Right. I call those safety cliches. Yeah. You'll, you'll continue to grow tired of hearing, of hearing those, uh, safety cliches. And I bet, um, people listening would say the same thing that, that, you know, if we, if we had this little tape, you know, that we could just kind of rewind all the safety cliches that we hear, it's the same, it's the same thing over and over again. Like that safety stuff makes me more dangerous or it slows me down, or I've been doing it this way for this long and nobody ever got hurt doing this. It's like, oh yes. If you only knew how many hundreds of times I've heard this.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah. Have you, you had, you had mentioned the older workforce, especially, um, some of your male counterparts, have you found ways to be successful in getting through to them so far? I think like I've been, so I've been here two years and I think the longer I'm doing this, that they start to actually trust what I have to say. Yeah. So I think just, um, you know, just being around them and, um,
00:27:27
Speaker
Just having that expertise and them listening to you and knowing that you do know what you're talking about.
00:27:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Have you run into some sexism along the way with along that same lines? Yeah, I would say that just because I think since I'm not only young, I'm also a woman, I think people are less likely to take me seriously. And that's what I found. They're more likely to talk over you when you're saying something. And they kind of don't fully trust your knowledge. But
00:27:57
Speaker
Like I said, I've been here two years and I feel that now the more people see me and they understand I do know what I'm talking about, that they do start to trust me and they do start to take me more seriously. They do ask me questions because they know I'm the person they need to come to and because I do know the answer, this is what I do.
00:28:19
Speaker
I wish that I had some sort of magic wand to solve that problem. And if I had it, I'd share it with you and I'd share it with the rest of the audience. I don't. I think sometimes it's experimental on our end to try to figure out how to
00:28:39
Speaker
how to get through some of those stereotypes. I remember when I was a very, very new investigator with OSHA in my early 20s, maybe like you are now, I was inspecting a manufacturing facility.
00:28:54
Speaker
And it was full of punch presses. And punch presses for anybody who knows safety knows that they're pretty complicated by way of machine guarding and trying to figure out what kind they are and how they're powered and all that business.
00:29:10
Speaker
And I walked into the facility and I thought, oh man, this is going to be hard today. I'm just learning this stuff too. I happen to have a good mentor on that. And I got through the inspection and I was working with whoever their designated safety person was, and we got done with the day. And he said to me, no, I have to tell you something.
00:29:32
Speaker
When I got the call from the office that an OSHA person was here and then I needed to come up and meet you, he said, I was really excited because I really needed help with my job because there's a lot of things I was trying to accomplish here that I haven't been able to do because I didn't have, he didn't have like, he didn't have the ability to get through to his management team. Like they weren't taking him seriously. And so he was kind of hoping that OSHA would be that to help him get, get
00:29:57
Speaker
things accomplished. That happened kind of often in my job. Safety people would be like, thank you so much for inspecting me. Now I'm going to get to do stuff. And so he said that. And then he said, but then I opened the door to the office and I saw it was you and that you're a woman. And I was so disappointed. Wow.
00:30:16
Speaker
And he said, because I didn't think I was going to learn anything. Yeah, I hate that. Right? But then he followed up with, you totally surprised me. Thank you. And I thought, well, I guess this is a compliment. Yeah. And I will accept it, but what an unfortunate way for him to walk into the situation assuming that I wouldn't know because of my gender.
00:30:45
Speaker
that has stuck with me for 23 years. And so I think Brandy, you're saying that as people understand that you're the resource and that they can go to you and that you have answers for them, that trust will increase. And is it a byproduct of your gender? Maybe. Maybe no one's been as bold to you as they were to me.
00:31:15
Speaker
back then about that. But like I said, if I had a magic wand to get through and pass that, gosh, I would sure offer it up. Yeah.
Executive Support and Safety Culture
00:31:26
Speaker
Well, you can kind of just tell. They don't have to say that to you. They just, like I said, they're more likely to talk over you. And they just don't listen to what, they just interrupt you and kind of don't listen to what you have to say, even though it's like, I'm the safety person. I've researched this before we talked about it. And I know this is what we need to do.
00:31:45
Speaker
I think you'll get more brave and maybe if I had anything to offer, and it's taken me years to get to this point myself by way of when people interrupt you and want to speak over you, that I'll take a breath for a moment because you're kind of angry when people are interrupting you and cutting you off in mid-sentence.
00:32:12
Speaker
Um, to then, you know, look at them and say, excuse me, I'm, I need to finish my thought. I have something to say, and I need you to stop interrupting me. I did that. I did. I did that recently. I did that. I did that this year as a matter of fact.
00:32:29
Speaker
Um, it was, um, it wasn't, um, it wasn't in my work life. It was, um, advocating for something with my son, uh, for school. And his dad and I, his dad and I were talking to the teacher and, uh, the teacher kept interrupting every time I would speak, but was not interrupting when my son's father was speaking. And so I had to, I had to do that and I had to use that sentence. I need you to stop interrupting me so I can complete what I'm going to say.
00:32:58
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not brave enough to say that yet, but as I go along, I'm sure I'll have to at some point. Brandy, it took me 20 years to do that. So anyone listening, if you need that sentence, use that sentence. It did work really well and he did stop interrupting me.
00:33:23
Speaker
But it does happen. Luckily, not very often. But I feel like as a woman, when you do say things like that, then you just get this bad reputation too. Something about just women. You were getting a label. Exactly. And you know, people think badly of us just because we're more assertive. You know, if you are an assertive woman or
00:33:49
Speaker
You just speak your mind. People think you're, you know, you know what I'm trying to say. I do. I do. I do. And so you decide when to pick your battles, right? Yeah, exactly.
00:34:00
Speaker
Yeah, when to pick your battles. Is this particular issue a hill worth dying on is a question I ask myself often. And if it is a time where you feel strongly about what you need to say and how you need to say it and what you need to do, then your answer is, yes, I'm going to move forward and I'm going to persist.
00:34:21
Speaker
So nevertheless, she persisted, right? And we'll be thankful too and are thankful to all of our male counterparts who are helpful and great mentors along the way because there's plenty of those as well. At least I've been blessed with many mentors as well.
00:34:42
Speaker
So speaking of mentors, you had mentioned that you have sought some help with ASSE and some of the people you're meeting through chapter meetings there and through LinkedIn. Any other suggestions for people who are starting out and looking for mentors any places you haven't mentioned?
00:35:00
Speaker
Well, I did mention some sister plants, but those people know what you're doing, you know, especially if you're doing, if you're producing the same thing. So they know exactly what hazards you're looking at. So it would definitely be good to contact them and just see what they have, what they can share with you.
00:35:20
Speaker
regarding, you know, it might be a risk assessment or might just be a question you have about maybe a hazard you saw and you weren't sure what the regulations were but you couldn't find anything, you know. Yeah, that's a good tip. You said risk assessment, which, you know, makes me think about the ability to ask other safety professionals, you know, for things that they've already done that you wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel on. Yeah.
00:35:42
Speaker
Even your lockout tag-out procedures, if someone has sort of a nice template they've developed, other safety professionals are happy to share those things with one another. Yeah, definitely. And yeah, some of our EHS guy at one of our sister plants, he sent me lots of forms, like for inspections. And I've used them for 5S and things like that. And also,
00:36:10
Speaker
Last year there was a plant nearby who had 18 years of no recordables and our
00:36:18
Speaker
One of our VPs was reading about in the newspaper and was just super intrigued because we just weren't doing well. We were under a family, or not a family, a parent company. I guess we were the worst under that parent company. He wanted to know what these people were doing, how they didn't have any accidents. How did they do it? We actually went there and did a tour. We were there for two days.
00:36:45
Speaker
I talk to that safety guy all the time. I ask him questions often because they are so focused on safety there that it's crazy. It's amazing. I would love to be an employee there. They're just so focused. They'll do anything to keep their employees safe. They have to have a certain number of near misses a month. Each employee has to turn in a year, like three near misses or three
00:37:16
Speaker
Yeah, three near misses a month, or I mean a year, just to make sure that people are looking out for things. I don't know, I just think it's really cool. You were able to do that two-day visit with your manager, with your plant manager? Yeah, I went with a VP, our corporate safety guy, our corporate environmental guy, and then my facility manager. We all went over there.
00:37:39
Speaker
They kind of just gave us a tour and they let us take anything we wanted. They were very nice and they just said, here, don't reinvent the wheel. Here's paperwork. If you need anything, just let us know. And we got a lot of good things from them that we're using today. And I think it's definitely helped having that safety guy who isn't a company where they're so safety driven. And he's just a lot of good ideas for me.
00:38:06
Speaker
Just even random things like when we did a plant tour, there was like a cabinet and there was a picture of the cabinet where everything inside was organized. And it kind of just is cool because if an employee sees that, they know that an unorganized cabinet is not what it needs to be, but that picture is what it needs to be, you know? So even things like that are just like so cool and we've got a lot of good ideas from them.
00:38:31
Speaker
You know, I think some of us might call that corporate buy-in. The fact that your VP, that you had executives that wanted to go and learn and see that, that helps what you're trying to do. If they understand what it is that you're trying to do and they have like, you know, they've seen what good looks like and what a goal could be and then they can be more supportive of what you're doing.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And it's exactly right. They just give us more support and kind of see the goal, you know, and what what we're driving to be is I mean, we want to be like them. So let's do what they're doing, you know.
00:39:11
Speaker
Right, right. So what drives you to keep at this profession right now? I mean, it sounds like it's still interesting to you. Yeah, it is. What drives you to keep at it? Well, it's so interesting to me because there's so much we need to know. There's so many regulations, you know? So I'm obviously, like I said, I'm learning a lot like studying for my ASP, but
00:39:35
Speaker
Like I said, this is a brand new facility. A lot needs to be done, and I just love improving it and improve the working conditions. Even if it's just making sure that employees have the right gloves they're using, I just want to make sure that they're just comfortable with their job and they're not hating it. It's because it's unsafe. I just want them to feel as safe as possible and as comfortable as possible at their job.
00:40:04
Speaker
One incremental improvement at a time. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we can't do it all overnight. No, that's definitely true. Yeah.
Motivation and Safety Initiatives
00:40:14
Speaker
And you just kind of have to chip away at it. Like there's a lot of things to be done and you kind of just have to have priorities. Like what do I want to get done this week? Let's make, I'm going to make a list and I'm going to give covers and gloves to these people. I have to.
00:40:27
Speaker
get brand new safety glasses of these people, things like that. But yeah, you just got to chip away at it and add labels to this and do a risk assessment here, do a lack of tag or procedure here, things like that. Yeah. So have you found a particular pivotal story so far that you kind of lean into when your work is feeling like it's really hard or maybe one that's changed how you approach your job?
00:40:55
Speaker
Well, I like we had an accident last year. No, it was beginning of this year. It was actually a close friend of mine. She, we have a it was like, it's a blade that rotates and blade wasn't guarded. Yeah, that it needed to as it needed to be. And she was wearing a sweater and an operator. She's an engineer. She was
00:41:17
Speaker
wearing a sweater and the operator asked her to look at something and her sweater actually got caught in the blade and Kind of like cut up her wrist a lot. But anyway, she was caught in the machine. She was entangled in the machine and It kind of just hit me that this can happen to anyone, you know, anything can happen to anyone so it's important that I'm
00:41:37
Speaker
looking out for all 466 of my employees every day, you know, cause that's someone's best friend or that's someone's mom. And you know, you want to, you want to make sure that you're just looking out for their best interests. So that, that kind of accident kind of was just like, hit me hard. Like I really need to make sure that I'm mitigating. First of all, I'm mitigating the hazards that can really hurt someone, you know,
00:42:03
Speaker
Right, right, right. When it becomes personal, yeah, yeah. And I think we probably all have some of those stories as well. I have a family member right now who's just retired out of his, a forced retirement out of his professional practice due to a work injury.
00:42:25
Speaker
And that just happened. And though I've been doing safety for over 20 years, it took it again to a different level that I didn't think I had more levels to go by way of my thoughts around safety and how it's personal to all of us. Exactly.
00:42:49
Speaker
So, Brandi, what are you currently working on that you're really proud of? Well, I kind of talked about it earlier, but writing the lockout tag-out procedures for all the equipment, because we didn't have anything. Well, I should start over. We had a girl who was working before me, she was kind of doing safety and document control, but she was working on the lockout tag-out procedures, but she didn't get very far. She left the company.
Complex Safety Procedures
00:43:18
Speaker
I had to kind of go over what she was doing because it wasn't up to standard, you know what I mean? Like she had done something, but it wasn't enough, you know? So I've been writing all this like a tag up procedures with the help of my facility manager. And like I said, like supervisors, operators. So that's a huge task that we've been working on for a year and a half now.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yes, it is. We're about 65% of the way through because we just have so many machines and we want to make sure it's right. And then you got to get approval. So it's not a quick process, that's for sure.
00:43:55
Speaker
Congratulations, that is huge. Some places have thousands and thousands of those. I have to say, I get contacted pretty often by people who are asking for help in that arena. And usually, it's like, do you have a format that I can follow? Because just trying to tackle, how am I going to do this and repeat it hundreds, if not thousands of times and not miss anything? It's a big deal.
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Good for you. Thank you. Congratulations. That's pretty cool. That's a giant accomplishment. Yeah, it is. I'm really proud of it, because a lot of our machines, I mean, they're pretty in-depth. So it's a lot for each procedure. We have multiple sources. So yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. I'm pretty excited that we're halfway done.
00:44:49
Speaker
I wanted to ask you what a normal day is like for you with sort of a snicker with that because I don't know that any safety people really have a normal, predictable day. What do you intend a normal day to be like or a normal week? How do you decide how you're going to approach it?
00:45:10
Speaker
Um, well, it kind of depends on what's going on at that time. But, you know, yeah, like, like you said, every day is always different. There's always something going on. Something happens where someone needs my help or whatever the case may be. But, um, like today I've been putting in chemical requests. Um, you know, like I said, new facility, we're getting a lot of new chemicals in and I have to approve those chemicals. They have to send me like multiple sheets and air, the safety data sheet and an approval form.
00:45:40
Speaker
And then I have to put it in our system. So I've been doing things like that, figuring out how to dispose of different waste. We have a research laboratory, and there's
00:45:53
Speaker
you know, there's waste that people would just have put under a fume hoods that haven't been disposed of in probably years, you know, and no one knows what they are and trying to figure out how to dispose of things like that. Um, so that's like, yeah, that's like a, that's like a daily task. Um, and not just stuff like that, but people will be like, I don't know what to do with this waste. Like where do I put it or I have this and I don't know where it goes, things like that.
00:46:19
Speaker
Have you been able to kind of lean into some of your biology background to be helpful with some of that? Does it help inform where you might go to learn the answer? Honestly, not really. I feel like I don't use my biology degree at all because my biology degree, I was mostly doing stuff with fish.
00:46:42
Speaker
just learning about fish and things like that. I did do environmental stuff, but that's why I was trying to get an environmental job. Like I said, that didn't happen. I don't really use it at all. That's the case. Let's not tell your parents that you feel your college degree is wasted.
00:47:03
Speaker
Yeah, but you know some like for example our facility you need a bachelor's degree to get Yes, and this position and a lot of places are like that. They don't care what you have As long as you have as long as you have experience and you know They want people that can like work independently and do their own thing without being told what to do I mean, that's a big part of my day because my facility manager is so busy You know, he he has so many things to do. He doesn't have time to babysit me
00:47:32
Speaker
So I just have to figure out what's due that week, what inspections I need to do, what's due this month, who needs to be the guest.
00:47:38
Speaker
taught whatever this week, you know, things like that. So that's a big part. It is. So Brandy, where do you think you got that piece of yourself that, um, you know, you said to be able to work by yourself, to be self-directed, to kind of figure out your own way without being told to do what to do. Where do you think that came from in you? Did you have jobs when you were growing up that maybe taught you some of those skills?
00:48:04
Speaker
I don't think so. I'm just trying to think. I feel like everything I've done has always been with a team. I played softball. That's how I got down south. I lived up north, and I got recruited to play softball at a college down south. And everything's always been team, team-based. So I can't really think of anything where I really worked independently. But just on a day-to-day basis, you kind of just need to know what needs to be done.
00:48:32
Speaker
depending on whatever's going on at that time. Yeah, I think that sometimes the stereotype that your generation or millennials get boxed into that so much of your growing up was working essentially in teams. You didn't set up individual desks when you were in school. You sat at tables where you worked together. Yeah, exactly. And so your generation is really collaborative, which is
00:49:01
Speaker
a huge strength for your generation. My generation on the other hand is more like just tell me what to do and I'll go do it leave me alone. And I've had to learn and thankfully from my millennial cohorts the power of collaboration and working together and it's been really fun but you know one of the
Advice for New Safety Professionals
00:49:21
Speaker
stereotypes that goes with your generation is you don't know how to work independently and I think that you're proving that wrong that it is a stereotype Randy.
00:49:30
Speaker
because you're doing it yes I'm doing it and I feel like I'm doing it well good good for you good for you so um do you want to share a story on like best day worst day in safety um well a best day would be one with no injuries
00:49:51
Speaker
You know, you obviously don't want to see anyone get hurt and then all the paperwork that goes along with that, especially if it is something like a recordable where they need to go to, you know, the hospital or whatever. So just a day when there's no injuries, that's the best day I could ever have. Um, and then the worst, like, like I said, one of my friends got hurt and whenever that something like that happens, it just kinda puts in perspective that it can happen to anyone.
00:50:19
Speaker
So you just want to make your workplace as safe as possible because you don't want anyone to be hurt. Yeah, right. So Brandi kind of winding up our time together today. Based on what you know right now, a few years into, you're basically less than five years into this career, right? Yeah. What do you think is the highest priority for our profession as safety professionals today?
00:50:46
Speaker
I'd say the highest priority would be to find the hazards at your workplace that can cause the worst harm. So like amputation or death and, and do everything you can to help minimize that risk, whether that be, um, you know, trying to get the budget to get guarding on there or, you know, trying to tell the upper management, Hey, we really need to do something about this. Like this could really devastate, you know, our company, whether that be,
00:51:14
Speaker
guess someone getting hurt or just morale, you know? So I think just trying to find the hazards that could really hurt someone. Yeah. Looking, looking for those really big red flags. Yeah. And do you have any specific advice that you'd like to share with people who are just starting out that might be listening today? I would say that don't be afraid to
00:51:39
Speaker
speak your mind, especially if you know what you're talking about. Do your research before you have to go to any meeting about anything, safety. And like I said, I didn't go to school for being a safety person. So I'm pretty much teaching myself and I'm trying to get this certification, Associate Safety Professional. So I'm just trying to learn everything there is to know. So just don't be afraid to just get into it.
Podcast Conclusion
00:52:10
Speaker
Try to be the best you can be. And I think that's all. I think that's beautiful. Do your homework, speak your mind, and don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Exactly. That's wonderful. Brandi, thank you so much for spending time with us today. We really appreciate it. Thank you. This is such a big honor. I see you on the supervisor safety talks on Vivid.
00:52:36
Speaker
I've always, I want to meet you and I've always looked up to you and you've taught me so much even though supervisor safety talks and thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, Brandy. That's humbling. Well, thank you all so much for joining in today and listening and thank you for the work you all do to make sure your workers go home safe and healthy every day. You can listen to all of our episodes at vividlearningsystems.com or subscribe in the podcast player of your choosing.
00:53:05
Speaker
If you have a suggestion for a guest, which might even be yourself, please contact me at social at vividlearningsystems.com. Until next time, thanks for listening.