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132: Being Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
271 Plays13 days ago
With over 20 years of experience at industry giants like Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, and Merck, Dana Dawsey's career has been anything but comfortable—by design! Dana is currently the Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety at Pentair, but like most guests, she didn't see safety as her future when becoming an industrial engineering student. Since then, she has implemented life-saving ergonomic improvements and spearheaded global EHS strategies. Dana's story is one of resilience, continuous learning, and a people-centric leadership style, enriched by her certification as a John Maxwell leadership coach. Whether you're an EHS professional or someone interested in leadership and organizational culture, Dana’s insights on embedding safety and well-being as core values will leave you motivated and inspired.
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Transcript
00:00:08
Speaker
This
Introduction of Dana Dossey
00:00:09
Speaker
is the Accidental Safety Pro brought to you by HSI. This episode is recorded May 30th, 2025. My name is Jill James, HSI's Chief Safety Officer. And our guest today is Dana Dossey.
00:00:21
Speaker
Dana is Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety at Pentair. Dana is also an industrial engineer, a certified safety professional, and she's been an executive leader for several Fortune 500 companies and is also a John Maxwell certified speaker, teacher, trainer, and coach.
Dana's Early Career Journey
00:00:41
Speaker
Dana joins us today from Houston, Texas. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, Jill. I appreciate just the the great introduction and also the opportunity to be to speak with you and others.
00:00:54
Speaker
Wonderful. Dana, how does an industrial engineer end up being EHS professional? word did How did things get started from you?
00:01:05
Speaker
and you can start however you'd like if it's some from little kid times or jumping off in college or points between. Yeah, so I, you know, I really didn't know what I wanted to do when I went to college.
00:01:20
Speaker
I just knew that I wanted to make an impact and I wanted to make money. So coming as a first generation college graduate, I saw my parents work hard every day.
00:01:34
Speaker
You know, they they hit laborious jobs. And i know one of the things that I said is I want to be able to to to to make an impact for them, right? To take care of them.
00:01:47
Speaker
But also i always had a passion for people. And I didn't know what that was. I was just thinking, oh, it's a doctor. Right. And so, like again, I didn't know where to start. I just knew I wanted to go
Landing First Job at Caterpillar
00:01:59
Speaker
to college. I didn't do the research and look at medical schools.
00:02:03
Speaker
I just went to went to Northern Illinois University. I'm like, hey, I want to be a doctor. And they're like, this is not a medical school. I'm like, okay, what is going to you know make money and you know do something that I that i don't want to do? they're like, well, why don't you check out engineering?
00:02:22
Speaker
And engineering just sounded like a lot of math to me, but I'm like, okay, I'll check out engineering. And I went to And I found in ah industrial engineering and some of the ah you know emphasis or concentrations that you can do um was ah environmental health and safety.
00:02:40
Speaker
And because environmental health and safety had more of the people side of engineering, um that was my concentration as well. So I i did industrial engineering with a concentration in environmental health and safety.
00:02:53
Speaker
And I love that part where you can mix a lot of the processes um with the soft skill and people side to be able to influence, you know, change management and so on. And so that's initially how I got into, you know, industrial engineering and occupational health and safety.
00:03:12
Speaker
That's a really, that's a really great story. I mean, and you let, you were leading with the, I want to make a difference in people's lives and you end up becoming an engineer, which of course engineers do make a difference in people's lives.
00:03:25
Speaker
Yeah. I, you know, i I try to explain what I do to my seven year old daughter and I say, I'm an industrial engineer and I'm like, industrial engineers make everything better.
00:03:39
Speaker
That's how I tell her because that's our job to improve processes and make, you know, efficient and and processes better. And so that's, that's how I tell her. who My son always was trying to figure out how to explain what I did as well. And, you know, I mean, if eventually it got kind of snarky, you know, with like, my mom will tell you like how you can lose life and limb doing just about anything. It is a worst, worst case scenario, mom.
00:04:09
Speaker
But then he would also ask me when he was little and still does to this day, you know, what's the emergency plan for that mom? Absolutely.
00:04:20
Speaker
That's good. They know we, they know we've got a plan. That's right. That's right. That's good. That's good. So you finished, you finished college. Where did you land first?
00:04:31
Speaker
So I, am while I was in college, I always knew i wanted to work at Caterpillar, Caterpillar Tractor Company, because it was, I used to always see the big yellow tractors going
Networking and Career Advancement
00:04:44
Speaker
down the street. You know, um we had a one of the bigger um facilities in Aurora, Illinois, and I went to school and in DeKalb, Illinois, which is not too far.
00:04:56
Speaker
and um And I just knew I wanted to be there. It was, at that time, I believe it was the four, it was in the 14, uh, fortune 50, right. At that time. it was one of the big, it was a big deal.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I'm like, I just want to work there. I never worked in a, in a factory before, but I knew I wanted to work at Caterpillar. And so actually it was hard for me to get a job right out of college.
00:05:21
Speaker
Um, and i I was kind of, uh, concerned, you know, I, I didn't do an internship. And didn't really have a lot of experience.
Transition to EH&S Associate Role
00:05:31
Speaker
I worked at Olive Garden pretty much 11 years while I was going through high school and college in college di to pay for my college. That's a lot of food service years. Yeah.
00:05:45
Speaker
good It's good work. It's good work. You learned a lot. I learned a lot of soft skills from it, right? A lot a lot of hangry people I had to calm down. but But so when i when i when I couldn't, you know, after I graduated, I couldn't get a a job, but I actually got a break in networking. And that's why I always talk about the importance of networking.
00:06:07
Speaker
I went on a mock interview at Northern Illinois University. And one of the mock interviewers was an alum and he worked, he was a vice president for Baxter International.
00:06:21
Speaker
And I interviewed with him and I did, I guess I did pretty well. I'm like, I'm not sure what's up. Can you give me some feedback? Is it something that I'm doing wrong? And he's like, no, your interview was great. He's like, actually, can I have your resume? It's like, I golf with the vice president of Caterpillar, Aurora, and I'll just talk to him about you and see if you know he has any interest.
00:06:46
Speaker
And two weeks later, I got a call. Oh, that is awesome synchronicity. ah love it. yeah Yes. Yes. Had you told this person that you did the mock interview with that you had your site set on Caterpillar or was that just happenstance? that I did. I told him that I was interested in Caterpillar because I think maybe that came up in conversation or something. And told him that would be my dream job.
00:07:11
Speaker
and it's funny because when I got into Caterpillar, and it's a factory, right? But I'm like looking at the ceiling like, oh my gosh, I'm here. Think about that now.
00:07:21
Speaker
You know, this older factory and I'm just like, wow, I made it. oh And did they hire you in an EHS role or were they more interested in your engineering background or a little bit of both?
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah. So they hired me in an EH&S role. I was an EH&S associate. I believe that was my title, like an entry-level EH&S role. And I started on second shift.
00:07:46
Speaker
Oh, man. Wow. wow Yeah. So it was pretty fun. i and And also ah Caterpillar was pretty great because I was ah on second shift. They let me go back, they actually paid for my master's
Roles and Learning at Caterpillar
00:08:00
Speaker
degree. So I was able to work second shift and go get my master's degree in the daytime.
00:08:05
Speaker
Oh man. Yeah. Cause you were working second shift. So you're starting like at, you did three to 11 or whatever. Absolutely. Yeah. So i got my master's in, yeah, I got my master's in industrial management.
00:08:18
Speaker
So a master's in science and um industrial management. So more of the project management and strategic management. portion of it. So I like to mix little project management, Six Sigma and things of that nature and and treat all of my EH&S initiatives like a project.
00:08:38
Speaker
I love it. Yeah. You have a great, that's a great combination. Yeah. someone If someone's someone's listening and they're like, I think I might want to go back to school. Take note. Those are good ideas from Dana. That's awesome.
00:08:51
Speaker
Yeah. So was Caterpillar kind of what you, was it as magical as your mind had had made it up to be when you set your sights on it? I would say so.
00:09:03
Speaker
enjoyed Caterpillar. I was there for 10 Yeah. and started off in environmental health and safety as an EHNS associate. um Got promoted many times within Caterpillar. So i went from EHNS associate to EHNS engineer, to first shift.
00:09:24
Speaker
um And i you know i I also was able to, once I got my master's degree, um you know I'm always curious. So I asked,
00:09:35
Speaker
you know the question, you know, how I want to be able to learn how to put my Six Sigma, all this project management into the business and understand the business a little bit better. So they actually um gave me a position within supply chain and I was a sub supply chain engineer and I was able to do lean Six Sigma projects, ah plan for every part, understand how do we get the part safely and efficiently, effectively to, from the supplier
00:10:06
Speaker
And make the, all the way to building the tractor and shipping it out the door to the customer. And I was able to understand the business from the beginning to the end, understand how to make safe practices, make it with less waste, less ah ah ergonomic issues, all of those
Improving Safety at the Foundry
00:10:25
Speaker
things. So For that, it helped me to to understand that piece of it, not just the the secondhand piece, but understand how can we design EHNS into this whole process from beginning to end.
00:10:41
Speaker
um So that was exciting. And you know for me, I always kind of went back to environmental mental health and safety. So after I get that um understanding and experience, I went back into environmental health and safety as a ergonomist at a foundry.
00:10:59
Speaker
So again, another challenge. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what a, Oh, the first time I was in a foundry, I thought, Oh my God, this is hell on earth. yeah You know, when I left, it's funny when I left, I left a supply chain, my, one of the, the executives, the leaders said, who pissed you off? Or who'd you piss off? No, they said, who'd you piss Right. I mean, and I right. I mean, and if if no one has a if if listeners have never been into a foundry, it I mean, it's it's hot liquid metal with flames.
00:11:35
Speaker
So like, you know, when I say hell on earth, framing it up as who who did you piss off? That's that's about I mean, that's hard, hard work.
00:11:46
Speaker
Yeah. Hard environment, hard environment. I mean, I just want to back up for a second to your supply chain job. I mean, gosh, that makes you so powerful in EHS to be able to speak to leadership when you have that stem to stern knowledge that um that you honed there. That's fantastic.
00:12:06
Speaker
you You know, I bet you know how to spin up a story that explains and convinces really well from ah multifactorial perspective. Yes. And I would say that the the credibility piece is key.
00:12:23
Speaker
um When you're able to speak the language or say, yeah, I i know i've I've done it. I've been there. Even when I was at EH&S, I, you know, because like I said, I never had been in a factory before. When I came to Caterpillar, I started in a welding fabrication shop.
00:12:41
Speaker
And most of the most of the workers were you know, had been working there for 20, 30 years. um They were all men.
00:12:52
Speaker
And I'm coming in there, this lady, you know, from college, you know, and trying to tell them how to be safe. Right. And they're looking at me like, how are you going to, I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been doing this longer than you have been alive.
00:13:08
Speaker
And so I knew that I was a little intimidated. so One of the things that I did too is understanding what environment I was coming in is I actually, again, I never welded, never really seen a weld before. I'm from the city ah suburbs of Chicago, right? So that's not how I, I've never been in that like that setting.
00:13:28
Speaker
um So I actually took a couple day welding class. I said, hey, can I understand this? I want to understand the risks and how this works. And, you know, when I talk to the team and and I did that,
00:13:41
Speaker
And um ah one of the things I didn't realize that, you know, because this was a union facility that when the strike, what when we were preparing for strike, um they saw that as didn't know they documented it. They saw that and they actually called me out to be a welder. So I actually certified welder.
00:14:02
Speaker
ah Well, I don't know if i am anymore, but. Wow. what kind of What kind of welding did you did you learn, Dana? I did MIG welding, um did a little bit of TIG.
00:14:15
Speaker
Holy cow. Yeah. So um they I had to be actually trained and certified on how to how to properly weld just in case they had a strike.
00:14:26
Speaker
And the engineers and leaders had to go to the shop floor and make tractors. um Luckily, um the negotiations went well and I did not have to go time because it was about to be summer too. That was going to be be pretty hot.
00:14:39
Speaker
But yeah, yes I did learn how to do that. Wow. Dana's a welder. That is a hard, that is a hard job. that is a hard job. And I mean, it's such, it's a skilled, yeah.
00:14:53
Speaker
Yeah. Skilled to hard job. So what did you learn? What did you learn about people when you were at Caterpillar? what ah The main thing, especially in that understanding, you know when I'm coming into a you know facility that was mostly men and I didn't have the experiences, I learned how to build relations with people.
00:15:18
Speaker
um Because at the end of the day, people, they they want you to listen to them. They want to know, like, and trust you. to know like and trust you Right. And so for me, I i realized that. And once I, you know, spoke to them, not just about work sometimes, but how's your family? You know, I made it personal for them.
00:15:41
Speaker
And so it wasn't just more so the police cop Dana coming out to tell me to put my safety glasses on or tell me to, you know, make sure I have my PPE on or what have you.
00:15:52
Speaker
It was someone that they trusted. someone that they knew was looking out for the best for them. And they would do that not only when I was around, but also when I wasn't around.
00:16:04
Speaker
I had to do that a lot, especially on second shift, because a lot of leaders were not. you know That's not where a lot of leaders, you know they they're going home at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
00:16:15
Speaker
So that's where I had to learn a lot of that, where you build that trust, you make it personal for them, where they want to do it, not just are forced to do it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's such a hard challenge for us when we're... i same Same thing for me, Dana, coming in as a first-generation college graduate, going into an industrial setting. yeah I started with OSHA, walking into you know factories and every every place where human human beings work, and I'm like, how am I going... to yeah without getting eaten alive because i'm just i'm a young woman and we're in pretty much all men everywhere i went and um i had to teleport myself into my dad worked in a factory and so i just i just placed myself you know like what what would
00:17:05
Speaker
what would he think was an affront, you know, if someone came, you know, because you grow up hearing that stuff from your parents, like, oh, that's smarty, that's smarty pants, college person, blah, blah, blah.
00:17:16
Speaker
You know, like how, like, so I'm just like, carefully framing whatever was coming out of my mouth would be like my dad on my shoulder thinking, okay, how would he receive this message? How would I say it so that he, you know,
00:17:30
Speaker
that's right yeah absolutely and yeah funny funny okay so then so then you're you're in the foundry you found your way into a foundry somehow so but i mean i bet the engineer in you was like wow this is yeah it was interesting there's a lot of manual labor going on i'm like oh my goodness why are they beating that still thing with, uh, um, uh, just a mallet, right?
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah.
Implementing Kaizen Events
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Go ahead. That, that was the challenge, you know, ah the foundry, it was a lot of manual work and, um and some things that were kind of old school.
00:18:14
Speaker
Right. And so, um, they were, we were replacing shoulders with, at least once, you know, someone was going out to get their surgery, so ah shoulder surgery about once a month.
00:18:25
Speaker
oh And so yeah so that's one of the reasons why we would, um what what we were able to change the the environment there. We were able to implement, and I used my you know background in Six Sigma project management to do Kaizen events.
00:18:45
Speaker
So we called them, um at that time, it was um ah ah like that a week-long Kaizen event where we'll go in find it, fix it, work with the team, cross-functional team, including the operators, and and and find something to fix and make an ROI opportunity to to to make an implementation.
00:19:12
Speaker
And so we took this process where they were knocking fins, steel fins off of an engine block with a sledgehammer, and see how we can take that manual process out and make it where it's some type of automated way to do it without a person actually manually doing that.
00:19:32
Speaker
And we were able to find the the cost savings in that over time because of the fact that you know if a shoulder is expensive. If we're doing this and we can take that out and show them show the show the show the cost And also the people um where we're saving people, right? we're where' It's also the right thing to do.
00:19:53
Speaker
And show that to the leadership. I think that's the biggest thing that I've learned is You know at the end of the day, these are businesses, right? We do want to do the right things, but we also want to make sure that we can stay in business, right? Because we want to do the right thing by our people by keeping them employed as well, right? And staying a business.
00:20:10
Speaker
So we have to be able to show both sides. We need to show the the the people side as well as the the financial cost savings and speak the language of the of the business.
00:20:21
Speaker
And so that's what we were able to do ah in making improvements at the foundry. And that foundry, actually, it was slated to move to Mexico because of all the the issues that were going on with safety and quality. And we were able to keep it.
00:20:37
Speaker
It's still to- today in Illinois. um And it was actually slated to to move to to Mexico because of all the work called up and all those issues. Yeah. So it was a turnaround.
Recognition and Promotion to EHS Director
00:20:50
Speaker
What was, how was it received by the employees? I mean, I'm just, you know, I'm thinking about all the shoulders you saved. I mean, which are absolutely debilitating injuries and a replacement of a shoulder is just, oh, it's just the hardest joint.
00:21:07
Speaker
What, how did people receive you? The workers were they like, huh? Like you're an angel. Thank you. did that go? Yeah. It's funny because the when we first, when I first came in, and it was, you know, we did, we were talking about the Kaizen event that we were going to do. And it's like, Hey, I'm Dana from, and I was actually coming in from corporate, right? I'm Dana from corporate.
00:21:31
Speaker
Uh, EH&S and I'm coming here to save, you know, I didn't say it coming to save you, but I'm coming here to help. Um, and, and everybody was trying to be very pleasant, but you always have that one Heckler in the group that's been there 30 years, been there, done that. It's been told to him before nothing happens.
00:21:49
Speaker
and so Back of the room, arms crossed. Yeah, yeah that's exactly. His name was Del at the time. He he d basically told me just that. And everybody else was just, you know, they knew the same thing, but they're just like, oh, Del, you know, don no don't mind him.
00:22:07
Speaker
And I'm like, no, it's okay. You know, and i and what I told him, I said, you know what, Del, because, you know, you try to, you're you're kind of embarrassed at that time and everything. But I'm like, you know what? deal how about this how about we make a deal i said if we're able to make improvements with this kaizen event um then you owe me a christmas present but if not and we're not able to make any improvements then i'll owe you a christmas present and so it kind softened that whole uh thing and and after a while and you know he was still kind of you know
00:22:43
Speaker
You know, because he his he was Dell. he He's been there 30 years. He's seen it all. He actually worked in the pit of the foundry. keep but moon yeah was not a pleasant job. And he's heard it all. People have come there and said they're going to do something and never did.
00:23:00
Speaker
But I would say after it's all said and done, he was involved in that Kaizen event as well. um when Christmas came, we were able to actually get an Andromat, an automated tool to knock off fins and save that process from being done manually. He was excited about that. He he didn't real he he didn't think that we were going to actually put money into a project.
00:23:24
Speaker
And he saw that and he seen that we were putting our mouth, our money where our mouth was. And he was excited. He's like, wow, you really actually did something about this. You really do care. So um come Christmas time, I came to my office and the, um across from my office was the the shower room with, a because he worked on third shift. So he would go there before and I would be coming in when they're leaving, third shift is leaving.
00:23:52
Speaker
And I come on my desk and it's a bracelet, like this antique bracelet. And I went out and I'm like, hey, who put this on my desk? I'm like, Dale, did you, did you put this on my desk? And he's like, yeah, me and my wife actually went to um This antique store, this, and we saw this bracelet and we wanted to give it to you and thank you um for your contributions.
00:24:14
Speaker
So, and at that time it was for me, and I still have that bracelet. It reminds me of that. And it reminds me, it's not just. him, when you think about it, it's about our families, like his wife went with him to buy that as well.
00:24:29
Speaker
Right. So it's not just him. This is that if he's hurt or not able to work, this also impacts his family. And so for us to think about how the, the, you know, not being able to make improvements impacts the person as well as their family. So that was, ah that was enjoyable. I always think about that memory.
00:24:53
Speaker
I can't think of a greater gift. Like that's precious. That's precious. Yes. I agree. I agree. Wow. Wow. That's a great story. o o Yeah. Ergonomics in a foundry, like way to go big or go home.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah. so yeah wow well yeah So what was, you what was your next stopping point? So with with all the great things that happened there, I actually was promoted to um and environmental health and safety director for the engines division.
00:25:29
Speaker
So um I, it you know, that was Mapleton Founders, one of our engine facilities. And the next step for me was ah was the environmental health and safety for the engines division. So that was cool. I got to partner with a general manager um of all the engine division and kind of have a strategy for environmental health and safety. I got more into the strategic part of it in and a little bit away from the tactical.
00:25:59
Speaker
And so we were able to create a strategy to make a step change in safety and and and to make improvements and proactive improvements in how, um, we facilitate we At that time, we had 10 facilities for the engineering division. and How do we improve in that area?
00:26:15
Speaker
And so that was really fun. i I love that. It was a global role. So I was able to do things on a global stage. Wow. Wow.
00:26:26
Speaker
I mean, isn't that... I don't know when I, it's Dana, it sounds like you and I grew up in, you know, um maybe a little more humble beginnings. First first people that went to college in our families, don't you sometimes look back and go, how'd this little girl from this place end up doing all these things?
00:26:44
Speaker
ah All the time. always just say, I'm just a girl from Chicago, from the suburbs of Chicago. scrap
Leadership Influence on Career
00:26:52
Speaker
yeah And it's funny because my dad, you know,
00:26:55
Speaker
you know, when he was living, he would always brag about me all the time. And I'm like, dad, don't do that. Like he he would be in the hospital telling all the nurses about his, oh, that she's a boss.
00:27:09
Speaker
And I'm just like, dad. um my mom just My mom does that still. And I'm like, oh God. you know, you you walk into somewhere with your parent and they're like, this is my daughter. they And then they'll be like, oh yeah, I heard about that. like, oh man.
00:27:24
Speaker
Exactly. It's funny. So when, when did, I said in the, in the introduction that you have some John Maxwell certifications, when did all of those pieces come together? As I'm listening to you tell your story and you know, you're on a global stage now. ah When did, when did that piece come in or is that still get to come in your story?
00:27:47
Speaker
So that piece came, but well, I'll say, it it actually came. I've always been a fan of John Maxwell. So I would read all the books, a lot of the principles and things that he talks about, or that he, he writes about, he, he you know, he teaches about is, is just common things and values that I hold dear, just about leadership in general.
00:28:12
Speaker
Right. Like I talked about people want to know I can trust you. Right. Those are, those are things that I have a value for that I realized that you have to be able to gain the trust, right?
00:28:24
Speaker
and When I was at Caterpillar, a lot of the sites that I was working in were union facilities. And it was a lot of the company, the the union did not trust the company, right? And it was a lot of history um between the conflicts.
00:28:42
Speaker
And so for me to come in and in in actually, if I want to make a change or influence people, whether it's on the shop floor or the leadership, they need I need to be for them to be able to know life and trust me.
00:28:56
Speaker
And so those are some of the principles that John Maxwell talks about. He talks about leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. In EHNS, one of the the that the key things that you need to be able to do is influence others, whether it's the shop floor or the the key leaders.
00:29:16
Speaker
And so those are the principles that I've always read about and studied um while I was you know in my entry-level phase or as I was going through my career.
00:29:29
Speaker
And so I actually did not really go into ah John Maxwell team ah you know, trying to get more of a certification until 2020.
00:29:41
Speaker
I got my, so I got certified at 2022. um And actually one time I looked and I'm like, I want to be, John, John is getting ready to retire. Like he needs, he needs a protege. That's what I said.
00:29:56
Speaker
I love it. I love it. You manifest what it is that you want. Yes. thats the But and what I thought I'm like, John would not. I'm like, If I think about it, John would tell me that I needed to do the things that he did to to get to where he is today.
00:30:12
Speaker
And so that's what I did. I said, well, John would say I need to do the things that he did. So that's what I'm going to do. And I'm going to get certified and I'm going to practice and I'm going to make this something that I do with my career learning and development. And so that's what I did.
00:30:26
Speaker
Mm, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Yeah, I want to, I want to hear more about what what you do with that in practice. But do you want to, do you want to go back to the, to the, you're on the global stage at the Foundry? you want to continue with your story?
Move to Dow Chemical and Safety Culture
00:30:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:39
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's pretty much it. I went to that and I ah was able to go to, you know, environmental health and safety as a director. um And, but I will tell you one time, um You know, I love caterpillars moving up the ladder really well.
00:30:54
Speaker
um But, um ah you know, at that time i do have a husband, right? My husband is actually from Florida. He's like, why are we still in Illinois with all this cold? So I wanted to have, is you they always say happy wife, happy life.
00:31:08
Speaker
I'm like, well, I need to have a happy husband at this time. So we actually, I started looking for other um options, um because at that time, Caterpillar had not moved ah headquarters or or a lot of the jobs to the South. Now they are. They're they are in Dallas area.
00:31:26
Speaker
But at that time, they didn't. And so I started looking for other jobs and other companies and wound up ah Dow Chemical. I'm like, who is Dow Chemical? I don't know who they are, what they do.
00:31:38
Speaker
And I did an interview and they hired me over the phone. So Dow Chemical, they they make ah chemicals and um and as a supplier of different chemicals and ah materials ah for companies ah in Houston, well, one of the largest sites in the Western Hemisphere is in Houston, Texas. Their headquarters is in mit Midland, Michigan.
00:32:02
Speaker
And I decided, um okay, I got this job offer over the phone, um but I don't know. I still don't i still don't know. i was like, can i can I come to the Dow Chemical Site? And they said, sure.
00:32:14
Speaker
So once I came to the Dow Chemical Site, I immediately could feel the culture there. Like everyone new e h and s They knew how they they were all part of this EHNS. It was immaculate. You wouldn't see ah any paper on the floor, like anytime that that that was innate, that was embedded in everything that they did.
00:32:36
Speaker
And they they ah kind of said, you know, yeah kind of as a funny joke is we're a safety company that makes chemicals because they need it to be safe because of the the risk that they have.
00:32:51
Speaker
And so that's one of the reasons why I said, okay, I can do this. I can, you know, I love to have a company where I don't have to make people be safe. I can go in and in and try to um make things better. and i And I learned a heck of a lot, right? Process safety and especially environmental, a lot of environmental regulations. So ah we actually moved. That was one of the hardest decisions that I made because I've lived in Illinois all of my life at that point.
00:33:19
Speaker
And Caterpillar was my first job. I've been there for 10 years and i was just doing so well. um But we made that decision not just for, you know, for me, but for my family. Wanted to make sure that we um I didn't want to just put my career first and things I wanted to put family first.
00:33:36
Speaker
um But it was a great opportunity. um and And I wouldn't change it for the world. I did a lot of things at Caterpillar. I started off. I'm sorry, at Dow Chemical. I started off as a EHNS R&D director for EHNS.
00:33:52
Speaker
And that was a different opportunity as well. R&D is much different than manufacturing. So learned a lot there. um And then after about four years, I went into, they they actually tapped me on my shoulder and asked me to run a chemical plant.
00:34:08
Speaker
Wow. Yes. Right. this um This industrial engineer, I'm not a chemical engineer. That's what said. I'm not a chemical engineer. And they're like, we're well, what we need is a leader. we we we We know you have the leadership qualities.
00:34:22
Speaker
to come over and help to structure leadership and lead our team in the way for next generation. And so that is...
00:34:34
Speaker
and so that is you know, who'd have thought that I would run a chemical plan and the plant? That's amazing. And that's what brought you to Texas.
00:34:47
Speaker
That's what brought me to Texas. Yeah. when you When you said you walked in and you could feel the safety culture, I'm wondering if listeners might want to know more about what that felt like.
00:34:59
Speaker
You know, like you've been in your career now. How how many years are you into this career, Dana? About 20 years. here sir Yeah. And so what does, when you feel a culture, what does it feel like? that's ah I just love the framing of that you could feel it.
00:35:14
Speaker
Yeah. So for me, i go in and I observe, I observe how people walk down the stairs, holding the handrail.
00:35:25
Speaker
I observe, you know, even the coffee maker machine, they have signs in the coffee maker machine, you know, do not take the coffee before, you know, all of those details. It's like, they are serious about safety.
00:35:39
Speaker
You know, the, how, how the, uh, the environment looks. Is it clutter? How's the housekeeping? Is everything in place? Is it 5S? you know what You know, how do, how to ah when you look into the labs, when you're on the tour,
00:35:53
Speaker
Are all the researchers wearing the right PPE? e Are they, you know, what, how do they introduce you? How do they, before you do anything, they're like, Hey, before we do anything, you have to go through this orientation and how detailed, all of those things matter.
00:36:11
Speaker
yeah if you've you've been If you've been to something like that, where they're very structured on, this is the process. yep This is how I need you to do. You've been to factories like that.
00:36:22
Speaker
And then you've been to factories where you don't, you you have to ask the question, like, do I need safety glasses? You know, that's the different cultures. Right. And you can tell in that first 30 minutes when you walk in how that's approached.
00:36:39
Speaker
yeah Yeah, i I agree with that. And also, i don't know about you, but I like to look people in the eye, you know, like just paying attention to the faces of people in a facility.
00:36:53
Speaker
Like, what are their faces telling me? Yes. yeah Do they look like they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders? do they Is there brightness? Is there lightness there? Is it heavy? you know, like looking in the faces of the workers. And i that's something that I...
00:37:11
Speaker
paid attention to a lot as an investigator with OSHA and the things that made me feel like, oh okay, I can walk away from this place and trust that they're going to take care of these things, or I'm going to have real close attention here because of what the weight was that I saw on the faces of the people.
00:37:29
Speaker
Absolutely, Jill. I do that too. i kind of When you're walking through and you're doing the tour, are people, when you walk past, are they looking up and smiling and Yeah.
00:37:40
Speaker
And saying hi, or are they just keeping their head down? Like, okay, I don't want to, I don't want to get in trouble. Right. You can tell what leadership culture is. Yeah. Just based on how, you know, how they look up and they, or they feel like they, they, they just have to not look you in the eye and not talk to you, do their work and keep their head down.
00:37:58
Speaker
Yep. agree with you. Yeah. And it's, I mean, and we're not talking about the Dells of the world. That's a different, that's a different level. That's a character, but we're talking about the people who are, like you said, they're scared, right? Yeah.
00:38:10
Speaker
Yeah. And you can see it. Yeah. Oh, fabulous. Okay. So you're running a chemical plant. Oh my gosh. Wow. Yes. Yeah. And that's the thing, the big part of, you know, that is especially having an EH and SOI, you know, not only, know,
00:38:26
Speaker
you know you telling, you know, giving people the EH&S, you know, rules, policies, all that. I'm actually using those things that we created and actually going out in the field and making sure they're they're done.
00:38:40
Speaker
So I would, have you know, put on my blues, put on my nomacs and go out and and and I would be the one that would authorize the the high risk work or the working at heights and things of that nature, making sure that it's done in the field.
00:38:57
Speaker
So it was,
Facing Challenges and Growth
00:38:58
Speaker
i was actually on the other side, ensuring those things got done and in in training my team and telling my team how to do that and in in influencing them in those ways.
00:39:09
Speaker
You know, they they would have to take a procedure every time they went out to the shop floor, I'm sorry, into the field and and make sure that those are done. So It was actually in the process.
00:39:22
Speaker
Everything ah you know that we do in EHNS, we're actually able to get down and dirty and see it and make sure that it gets done and implemented. So it was just ah another side of ah that EHNS journey.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah. One of the things that we talked about when we were preparing for this call is you said that you like to run after a challenge and that's evident in your story. what What do you think that is in you? Like, what does it feel like when you're like, oh, you want to run a chemical plant?
00:39:52
Speaker
Yeah. Hey, I'm going to or, you know, but whatever, whatever it is, whatever it is, because you've described so many things today. tell Tell us about what's that like in in you to run after a challenge?
00:40:05
Speaker
You know, it'ss it's funny because sometimes I ask myself like, and I try to, ah have this drive inside of me that it's hard to just keep in, right? And sometimes, you know, you kind of put your hand over your chest and like try to pack it down. Like, okay, no, let's calm down. And it seems like everything but every time I do that, I get like bored. Like, okay, what what's next? You know, come on, let's let's learn.
00:40:33
Speaker
I have this learning drive in me. and i And again, that's how I just realized that's how um that's how I'm created. um To be able to have that drive, that impact, that curiosity.
00:40:44
Speaker
um And I, I now am okay with it. At first I thought it was, you know, I have had people tell me that it can be intimidating.
00:40:55
Speaker
Um, and so, but I've had to learn that's me. That's how I am. Um, that's how I'm wired and I'm okay with it. And so, you know, I will say that, um,
00:41:06
Speaker
it is uncomfortable a lot of times at first it's like fun and interesting, but once you get into it, i do ask myself like, what was I thinking? Right. Cause you go through the, the, the floor, the storm and, uh, you know, all of that and the forming, the norming, the storming, however, that's, yes, because, you know, at first is you're on a high, it's a new role, you know, you're learning, but after a while you, ah for me,
00:41:34
Speaker
um i I usually say i go through this period. It's like you a yeah a year curve. The first part is the high. And then I go down after three months. It's like, okay, i I need to start learning this stuff. And you try to learn as much as you can to be to feel, I guess, credible and like you like you know your stuff a little bit. But that I think that's the low part for me because I don't know as much as everybody else.
00:42:01
Speaker
And so I have to have to learn. and i don't like not knowing things. And so that is low, but, but it is, it is part of the learning part. It's uncomfortable. And you have, and I have to be, I've learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
00:42:18
Speaker
And then after I get past that three to six months at about nine months, I know enough to be dangerous. right and they're just enough to be dangerous I think in about a year, I'm like, okay, I got this.
00:42:31
Speaker
And every role, every change that I have, I go through that. And I realize now that that is, and it's and you just have to be um comfortable being uncomfortable because that's part of the learning process.
00:42:44
Speaker
John Maxwell always says, everything happens on the other side of of of your comfort zone. And so again, that though that's that's the learning process. Oh, that's beautiful.
00:42:57
Speaker
That's beautiful. And, and so good to know about yourself, like you know what your pattern is. And you know, kind of where you're at in that in that phase, does your does your interest and drive for learning things? Does that transfer into your personal life to are you in pursuit of knowledge?
00:43:17
Speaker
i would say i would say so because, you know, I always call myself an introvert, but everybody's like, you are total extrovert. But that that's in my drive for knowledge, like ah even at home or wherever, I'm always looking at different things that I could do to just learn or um be able to make impact, whether it's in my community or whether it's, you know, again, I have three girls.
00:43:46
Speaker
So I'm always trying to make a mark on them, right, to to make an impact, whether it's themselves or or or someone else. um And so that's where my drive is on a personal level, because I have to show them, you know, how to lead, how to make an impact, you know, how to live, how to live out their values.
00:44:08
Speaker
Yeah. It feels, it's a, it's a great responsibility. you feel, you feel that on the inside. mean, at least
Transition to Merck Pharmaceuticals
00:44:15
Speaker
I know I do. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, um, you're with Panthers. That was that your next stop after, after, um, Dow?
00:44:26
Speaker
It's funny. No. oh okay. One more stop after that. One more stop. And that was, that was Merck Pharmaceutical. So another industry. Yeah. ah Very, very different. Oh my gosh. Pharmaceuticals. Okay. And so then the reason why, you know, and I'll tell you when I was at Dow and I did the, um, the facility, uh, the facility leader role, um,
00:44:52
Speaker
that was during COVID. Who knew? So I went in in 2019. I'm like, oh, I'm going to learn some things. But guess what? COVID came and it came even harder. I mean, it was exhausting during that because I had to leave, but I also was leading blindly.
00:45:10
Speaker
Everybody was leading blindly through that time. um So it was a great opportunity. i did a great job and that art didn't blow anything up. Right. It's ah good. But um it was exhausting because of everything else that was going on.
00:45:25
Speaker
I was in the plant most of that time there. I was a, what, what did they call it? um A central worker, central worker. numb And, but after that, I was ready to go back to EH&S, my comfort zone, right. Just because it was that recovery mode.
00:45:43
Speaker
And at the time it was two options. I could go back my, my, ex my leader that was in R and D E H and S was retiring at that time. And she's like, Hey, how about you come over here? i'm like, okay, I'll think about it.
00:45:55
Speaker
And I also had a job offer for Merck. And that's, and I just said, you know, I took a guy that said, well, whatever door you keep open for me first, that's what I want to. And Merck sent the offer first. So that's where I went.
00:46:09
Speaker
Yeah. And so Merck, what I loved about Merck, again, i think as I got older, I said I wanted to work for companies that, and the other companies had my values as well, but Merck really had ah my value when, you know, they're making Keytruda.
00:46:27
Speaker
One of the the um the area that I supported was the business was for Keytruda, which is a life-saving company. treatment for cancer.
00:46:40
Speaker
And I appreciated the fact even, I even had a friend that had, you know, a real severe form of breast cancer.
00:46:52
Speaker
And she was, her one of her treatments was Keytruda and she's in remission to this day. And so it was personal to me, right? of It was you of those being able to save lives and work at a company and be a part of saving lives.
00:47:07
Speaker
It was impactful for me. So that was my next stop was Merck. And a lot of the facilities that I had for Merck was in Ireland.
00:47:18
Speaker
So did a lot of global trips to Ireland and the Netherlands and things. And so that was, it was really fun. it was different because, you know, thinking about pharmaceutical, that is very highly regulated.
00:47:32
Speaker
And so it's just a little different. And, you know, as you as you look at, I guess a chemical plant versus a heavy machinery plant. I think more so what I learned from Merck plant, what what they asked asked me to come there for was to help um increase not just the compliance, but the the people, the behavior side.
00:47:53
Speaker
And so that's what I was able to bring um to Merck in my position. Yeah, fun work. and And you got to learn about all of these different global compliance. I mean, that's that's a big deal and ah can be really overwhelming. Absolutely.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. It was fun too, though, because, you know, like you said, um work you know, especially being remote and working with ah other um people from, you know, in Ireland or overseas and understanding their regulations, their rules, um and just the culture and itself was was this great ah to be able to just learn and have and in your tool belt.
00:48:37
Speaker
Wow. Wow. Well, and so here you are today, Pentair. Yes. yeah Back into industrial. Yes. Back into industrial. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:47
Speaker
And does it feel like coming home in a way or? It does. it does. It's funny because when I toured, um ah one of my first sites that I toured when I came back to Pentair was our North Aurora, Illinois facility.
00:49:02
Speaker
which was right down the street from the Caterpillar Illinois facility. And it was very similar. And I'm like, whoa, I feel like I'm back, back home. So it it was just, ah it it was, it was ah reminiscent.
00:49:19
Speaker
And what I liked too about, you know, one of the reasons why I decided to to come to Pentair because I was doing you know great at and in Merck and mer and learning a lot and just a great company. That's a Fortune 100 company.
00:49:35
Speaker
But what I liked about Pentair was the opportunity to build a culture, strategy and a transformation from from scratch pretty much and make it my own and and leave a legacy there building the team.
00:49:54
Speaker
Yeah. And where did you start? Like, where did you, when you, you're wanting to build a culture and a ah like, what was your starting point? Yeah. So when I've gotten there, they have already been partnering with another consulting company by the name of Milliken. Milliken is they, yeah, they, yeah, they're performance solutions.
00:50:18
Speaker
They, they actually use the same process to build their own safety culture. And now they they do consulting work as well in that space. And so they'd already been working on that, having like a bottoms up approach in the safety culture transformation.
00:50:34
Speaker
And so I came on and... my boss is just like hey let's we'd like for you to make this because you know consultants they're there for a time being but we wanted something more long term so he asked me to you know start with the millican process and make something um that's that's long term and so what i came up with is i've said because when i first came in we were focusing on about 20 priorities like with the team and they were all great priorities and and that's the thing we all it's all We always want to to try to do as much as we can.
00:51:08
Speaker
But as we know, EHNESS is pretty lean. And yeah it's only so many things that you can do um or you you don't get anything done because it's only so many resources. So I said, hey, now you know what? Let's focus on the three um the three things that are most important. And these are themes that I got as I went around and I spoke with a lot of the leaders in the sites, my EHNS team, and stakeholders.
00:51:35
Speaker
And the three things that continued to come up was safety culture, um The second thing was um policies and procedures, having a consistent policy and procedure policies procedures that we send out to the sites. Not everybody every site having their own policy and procedure.
00:51:54
Speaker
And the the third thing was metrics and data and systems, right? Having
Role at Pentair and EH&S Culture
00:52:01
Speaker
a system, user-friendly system that we're able to track all of our data, our metrics, and be able to proactively use it to see how we can, what spots do we need to tackle next?
00:52:16
Speaker
Right. And so those were the three things that we focus on for now. Right. To put, to put into place as our, as our baseline, our groundwork for a safety culture transformation.
00:52:28
Speaker
Beautiful, beautiful. And in the midst of that, you were earning your, your certifications with Maxwell and I bet you put that right to work. I did. Yes. And I think a lot of the things, even when I was at Dow chemical,
00:52:43
Speaker
You know, I knew and I like to I like to focus on my strengths. And I remember one of my leaders said, your secret sauce is the way that you're able to connect and relate to people and influence people.
00:52:58
Speaker
And so, ah again, the what I what I've learned and I continue to practice ah being on the Maxwell Leadership Certified, a certified team member is,
00:53:09
Speaker
Those things, the people side of things, how do you connect with people? How do you build relationships? How do you influence? And I think, again, mixing the ah technical skills, right? Because I am a CSP, so I continue to to have those technical skills and learn those technical skills.
00:53:28
Speaker
But mixing that with the leadership principles and the soft skills is that secret sauce that I have had great success in getting results in EH&S.
00:53:40
Speaker
It sure sounds like it. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. um yeah Yeah, before we end, i want to ah i mean I have a couple more questions, but one of them, when you're talking about your strengths, it sounds, I mean, you know what your strengths are, but I'm curious, have you also taken the StrengthsFinder assessment?
00:53:58
Speaker
I have. I have taken the strength finder. oh It's funny. Do remember what your number one is? I mean, I've been listening to you this whole time. Like, oh I think I know. But now I want to know. If I can remember correctly, I believe my number one was futuristic.
00:54:15
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That makes so much you sense. what What did you think it was? Well, I was thinking of Maximizer. yeah Yes, that's one of them too. And I was also thinking about um um Activator.
00:54:33
Speaker
hey Yeah, that's good. I can't remember Activator being in there, but Maximizer the one. Maximizer is. hu Mm-hmm. That makes a lot of sense. I'm sure that's in your i'm sure that's in your top five.
00:54:47
Speaker
And futuristic, oh, yes, you're you're manifesting what you want to see for yourself and others. So that makes that makes a ton of sense. Wow. yeah That's great.
00:54:59
Speaker
Yeah. So Dana, what ah you know when you think back on a 20-year career and and you know these things about your about yourself and the things that you've learned, what is the impact and legacy that you'd like to leave?
00:55:14
Speaker
Good question, Jill. So my impact and legacy that I like to leave is to be able to my my plan is to embed environmental health and safety within an organization where it's felt where it's embedded in not just the operations side, but throughout the organization where when you come in everybody feels that EH&S, keeping people safe, keeping themselves safe, is part of their, is embedded in their role. It's not really something that's a second thought. It's something that they do on a daily basis.
00:55:55
Speaker
And not just when they're at work, but when they get home as well, they carry those to their home lives and to their children and and it's instilled. Those are the things that um I love about E18S, making an impact where it's a visible impact where you can see you know from where you started to seeing that lasting impact to where we're going and seeing that vision and not just and making an impact on just the shop floor,
00:56:27
Speaker
But even you know above me, right, we're able to coach and and give guidance to senior leaders and CEOs and and help them um really feel that EHNS is a value um and it's part of the the company's value.
00:56:45
Speaker
um I love to see that where you know you go to a company and you can't mistake it. Even the CEO is singing about EHNS, right? They're setting tone.
00:56:57
Speaker
And so that's the impact and and legacy that I like to leave, not only only within my company, but within EH&Us, where we're making an impact on lives, where it's embedded in the things in every in our everyday lives.
00:57:10
Speaker
Well, Dana, it sounds like you're doing it. It sounds like you've been doing it and you are doing it. What ah what fun what a fun career. Thank you so much for sharing your story.
00:57:21
Speaker
Thank you for having me. i appreciate it and um continue to learn from you as well. Love to hear all your stories. Can't wait to talk to you on a personal basis so we can talk and and share stories together. i would I would love that. Hopefully we see one another at the conferences this year.
00:57:38
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Very good. Well, thank you all for spending your time listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution toward the common good. May our employees and those we influence know that our profession cares deeply about human well-being, which is the core of our practice.
00:57:54
Speaker
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. Or if you prefer, you can read the transcript and listen at hsi.com.
00:58:08
Speaker
We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review us on iTunes. It really helps us connect the show with more and more yeah EHS professionals like Dana and Special thanks to Emily Gould, our podcast producer.
00:58:18
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for listening.