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#9: Safety? In that industry? All I can think of right now are Buzz and Woody.
86 Plays7 years ago
Ever wonder what occupational safety looks like for a Hollywood studio?This episode of the podcast finds series host Jill James talking with Carolina, a safety leader at Pixar. Her fascinating journey to occupational safety included a pit stop in franchise motor vehicle service, aviation electronics, emergency medical technician (EMT) certification, and a decade with the municipal police department. Her credentials and diversity of experience—emergency management, security, workers comp—ultimately helped her score a job with Pixar, a Disney company.A demonstrated life-long learner, Carolina’s hands-on, knee-deep, sponge-like approach to safety professionalism is a lesson for any aspiring EHS leader. This discussion shares some of the resources she’s leveraged along the way, including CAL-OSHA trainings, OSHA 10-hour, peer mentoring, and safety industry expertise.
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Transcript
Introduction to Safety in Animation
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 nine. My name is Jill James, Vivid's Chief Safety Officer, and today I'm joined by Carolina, who is Senior Assistant to the Director of Safety and Security in the digital animation and production industry in California, specifically
00:00:31
Speaker
Pixar Animation Studios. Carolina, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, Jill. Looking forward to it. This is so fun to have you here today.
Safety Practices at Pixar
00:00:42
Speaker
And we think about, you know, the digital animation and production industry, specifically Pixar, and maybe everyone who's listening is thinking safety in that industry, like
00:00:56
Speaker
What does that even mean? All I can think of right now are Buzz and Woody. Maybe before we get into your story about how you accidentally became a safety professional, let's maybe paint a picture for our audience of what the industry looks like by way of just your physical location. I've been there, I've been on your campus, but maybe walk our audience through
00:01:23
Speaker
where your employees work and sort of what kind of what sort of hazards they have.
00:01:28
Speaker
Sure, absolutely. We are a studio of about 1,400 employees. Within our campus, we actually have a cafe. So you have the safety component there. We actually also have diesel fuel because we have generators that run in case of an emergency. And so there you have another component of it. We actually also have
00:01:54
Speaker
you know animators that use sculpting and all of that and we have classes here where people can come and paint and just have their creativity so we have solvents we have all that and then we have janitorial staff that we contract out who also have chemicals around and all that we also have officers here on campus and we do do a lot of training with them safety training as well on how to deal with
00:02:22
Speaker
you know, everyday walking or lifting. We do help and support our facilities department with our engineers who deal with the diesel fuels, like I've said before, and all of that. We also have a pool and those are chemicals that we deal with. We have forklifts. So it's a combination of a lot. We're a busy studio, you know, moving offices back and forth with our facilities. So there's training there for them as well.
00:02:50
Speaker
Yeah, and multiple buildings. Multiple buildings, yes. And even confined spaces exist in your industry.
00:02:59
Speaker
we actually do there's five of them on campus believe it or not right it's a it's a beautiful it's a beautiful campus and yes you do get to see buzz and woody and other characters as well as you move about the campus but um you know more importantly um is the safety of all those employees who are there and that's a lot of employees on a campus and i always think about campuses is like little cities you know essentially having
00:03:25
Speaker
many of the same types of hazards that exist in small towns and small cities. You kind of have a little bit of everything. So it becomes a really big job for safety professionals. It does. And I think the greatest part of it here is that it's a little bit enclosed. So like you said, it's our own little city within a city.
00:03:46
Speaker
So thank you for the description of, you know, painting the picture of what your beautiful campus looks like. I've been there myself and it's really beautiful and fun to, you know, walk around and yes, if anyone's listening, who's listening rather, wonders if there are like big statues of like buzz and woody. Yes, there are.
00:04:09
Speaker
And I remember seeing all of your Oscars in an area where employees have their breaks and things, which is pretty cool to be able to see that on your beautiful campus. But Carolina, starting in safety and this podcast is all about how people become accidental safety pros. So I'm interested to hear your journey on how you got to where you are in your career so far.
00:04:37
Speaker
And maybe I know you kind of have an interesting start on how you learned about all kinds of things mechanical, maybe starting back when you were a kid. So would you mind bringing us up to speed? What did your early life look like that kind of set the groundwork for this kind of career?
Early Mechanics Experience
00:04:56
Speaker
And I remember going through many different schools within the city. And then we established our life in San Bruno.
00:05:04
Speaker
Um, prior to that, though, my dad always worked on cars and I'm the oldest of three. So instead of my brother, who's the baby helping him out with passing out the tools and stuff like that, I was the one sitting there.
00:05:19
Speaker
while he was fixing the car, handing him the tools. And that's how I started learning a lot about the mechanical component. Then in high school, I decided that I did not want to do like HOMAC and all of that. I actually wanted to take auto shop because I thought it would be fun and different. So I did. And I was probably one of the few females in auto shop, but I loved it. It was super cool. Then I could relate it to helping my dad out.
00:05:49
Speaker
with the car and everything. So Auto Shop was it and that's where the mechanical component started kicking in. And I needed a job, right? So I'm like, I finished high school. My dad bought me a 1972 Camaro, which was my favorite car of all time. That sounds pretty fun.
00:06:11
Speaker
Right. No AC rolling down the windows, but my dad taught me how to maintain it, how to check my oil. He always wanted to have me be independent in case I ever got stranded somewhere. I knew how to change a tire or try to assess what's going on with the car. And with auto shop, I learned all that because at that time,
00:06:33
Speaker
the vehicles were simple. There wasn't all this electronic stuff that vehicles currently have. So that was cool. So then I'm all like, I need a job. And then I try to be a server at this senior home. And I remember it was like, man, this is hard work. And I will never forget, but I accidentally spilled ketchup
00:06:54
Speaker
on one of the visitors who was wearing a white shirt. And I felt so bad. I'm like, yeah, this isn't me. I need to get out of this field. So I started looking and I remember Jiffy Loub, the oil changer place was looking
00:07:10
Speaker
for someone work the register and I'm all like, you know what? That sounds like a cool, easy job. So I applied and I was working the front and, but I was really intrigued by the pit. I'm like, okay, what's going on in the pit? And of course the person that's working the pit, they're full of oil, you know, they're dirty. And I'm all like, that is super cool. I want to work the pit. It won't matter if you spill ketchup there. Yeah, exactly.
00:07:37
Speaker
So, you know, at that time, the owner was like, no, girls should not be working in the pit. I'm like, why not? It's changing oil. That's not difficult. But of course, I was hired to work the front or the register. So that didn't happen. But I always asked questions, you know,
00:07:57
Speaker
It got me a chance to actually go into the pit and look at things. So that was really cool. And then from there, you know, I was like, okay, what am I going to do with life? And I thought I was going to become an airplane mechanic. So again, we go back to back to mechanical and I remember I told my parents, they're like, okay, you're going to school. You don't have to work. I'm all like, perfect. And I was in this.
00:08:23
Speaker
I had to take this electronic class and I was all excited. I walk in, I'm the only female and we're ready to build our first Ohm meter. I was like, yes, this is super cool. So I put my Ohm meter together, you know, it works and everything. And then I was like, okay, I'm going to love this class.
00:08:45
Speaker
And the next week, because it was only once a week, I went back in and now we started talking mathematical, how to trace from the beginning to end the electrical current. And I was like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? This is not working hands on with an airplane. Why do I need to know about an electronic component, which I am like, it was like a foreign language.
00:09:13
Speaker
And you'd already done that. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, I don't think this is for me. And, you know, and I'm like, I'm just going to take general ed. My parents were super supportive as long as I kept going to school or trying to have a plan, you know, and I started taking my general ed. I became friends with this guy at school and he was actually going. He was taking the fire.
Pursuit of Firefighting and EMT Career
00:09:38
Speaker
uh classes because that's he wanted to be a firefighter so he's like you know what you should actually see if you want to become a firefighter why don't you just come to my class one day and see what it's like i'm like you know what why not so i did and i fell in love
00:09:57
Speaker
I was like, this is it. This is what I want to do. You know, I knew I had it in me to always help for some reason. And you know, it seemed like a very rewarding career. Plus, of course, there's not too many females. So I was like, you know, this is a great challenge for me.
00:10:14
Speaker
And I think I can totally do it. And I fell in love and, you know, I finished my fire classes and the fire academy. And, you know, it was great. I became certified as an EMT. So we had that medical component in there, too. And, you know, I did that and I tried to apply, but this was like in the mid 90s where it was difficult. I mean, you had
00:10:40
Speaker
Hard to get a job. Yes. You had about 5,000 applicants to two hiring that a certain city was doing. That's how demanding it was. Right. So meanwhile, I was like, what am I going to do? I still need to work.
00:10:55
Speaker
you know, figured that out. And I had a friend that worked for the city of Menlo Park and asked, Hey, my aunt is looking for rec leaders for the summer. Do you want to work it? I'm like, Yeah, I like kids. Why not? It paid good for the summer while I was trying to become a firefighter. And so that's that found me actually that job and fell in love with working with kids. It was nice and rewarding, you know,
00:11:22
Speaker
safety came into play with that because we had to make sure that, you know, we had a safety plan for evacuations, carry our first aid kits and all of that. So I was exposed to that a little bit at the time. And, you know, the director asked me to stay on, the rec director asked me to stay on. And I did because I still was looking for a job.
00:11:44
Speaker
And from there, I stayed with the city of Menlo Park and I worked with kids. I realized that the fire field was going to be definitely hard to get into, but it was a little bit of a wait. But I fell in love with working with kids. And I realized, you know, yes, I can't be a firefighter anymore, but this is still rewarding.
00:12:09
Speaker
And I did that. So I stayed with the city for many years. And I worked my way up, ran an after-school program in summer camps, and that was a lot of fun. And again, you had to do fire drills. You had to make sure that, you know, everything was safe for the kids because we had kinder through ninth, eighth grade, I believe. And, you know, safety was in there too, you know. And you were using your EMT skills occasionally, I bet, as well.
00:12:34
Speaker
Yes. So we all had to get CPR and first aid certified and all that good stuff. So, you know, it was just really fun and intriguing, but I needed something, a change and.
00:12:46
Speaker
the police department was hiring an admin assistant for the commander.
Discovery of Emergency Management
00:12:51
Speaker
So I applied and I got the job and I worked for the police department for almost 10 years there. And within that, I ended up my, actually commander at the time, it was, she's one of the few female commanders within that area. And her background was emergency management.
00:13:10
Speaker
And that's where I got into it even more. She was not only my boss, but my mentor. And because of her, I really fell in love with the emergency management component, you know, of, you know, fire drills, making sure we are all prepared, training our city staff and all of that. So I did that and I fell in love with it.
00:13:34
Speaker
And, you know, I was loving what I was doing. So after that, a years back, like maybe a year, two years, three years ago or so, I was asked to work for, um, HR, human resource department needed help. So I said, of course, still within the city, within the city. Yeah. And I said, sure, why not?
00:13:54
Speaker
you know, and I helped them out. And that's where I learned, you know, more of the safety component, because we had someone from an outside agency come in and do all of our safety checks within. So we had public works, we had, you know, of course, we had the police department, we had
00:14:10
Speaker
childcare centers within. We had the rec department, which had pool. We had many, we had a few pools there. We had classes running in and out and multiple work exposures. Yeah. And I always remember seeing the gentleman that would come out and do inspections and tell us, Hey, you know, you're not, you're out of compliance here. And I'm like, gosh, okay, this is kind of cool. And then I got involved with helping out with workers comp. So that was fun. And it was a great,
00:14:37
Speaker
exposure to that. So then I had to help set up safety meetings and stuff like that, but I wasn't fully involved. But I was a little bit exposed to that. And, you know, before you know it, there was an opportunity that came and I heard Pixar was hiring and, you know, they needed a senior assistant in the security realm. And I'm like, you know what, this is kind of different and cool.
00:15:05
Speaker
I think I've done everything I needed to do. I was very grateful in my career path with the city and the police department, but I wanted more. I wanted to be enriched even more so. So I decided to go ahead and update my resume and put in. But what was intriguing was the fact that it was safety and security, which was really interesting component.
00:15:29
Speaker
And you had that strong, basically had built a really strong security background, right? Right, exactly. So I knew my transition was going to be easy, but at the same time I figured I was going to not only learn private security, but I was also going to learn something about safety, which I didn't know what that looked like at that time. So I did a little bit of exposure.
00:15:50
Speaker
Right. So I looked into, I looked at what, cause the manager at the time it was environmental health, right? And safety manager. I'm like, what the heck is that? So of course I'm Googling it because I need to be prepared cause he's on my panel and I want to make sure.
00:16:09
Speaker
you know, what his job was. Yes. And so as I started learning about it, I was, I'm like, this is cool. I like it. It had a, you know, that job had a component of, you know, safety, which is emergency management as well.
00:16:26
Speaker
but it had a little bit more like training, which I helped assist with training components within the city. So it was really cool. I'm like, okay, this is cool. And I ended up getting the job. So, you know, I was excited. I didn't realize how lucky I was that I actually was working for Pixar because it was very hard. It's hard to get into. So I was like, okay. Yeah. I'm like, wow, I'm super honored. So I built a great relationship. Um,
00:16:56
Speaker
with the environmental health and safety manager. I learned so much from him. He was amazing. And I kept asking him questions. I'm like, I want to learn your job. What does it mean? You know, what are you doing? And he did. He was really a great.
00:17:12
Speaker
Great teacher in a sense and mentor and I said maybe one day I might want to you know do what you do because I knew I didn't want to stay just as a senior assistant not like there's nothing wrong with it but just seeing like this whole other component in in the world.
Role at Pixar and OSHA Compliance
00:17:29
Speaker
And, you know, protecting our employees. I thought that was awesome. The fact that, you know, the training is so essential to make sure that they don't get hurt on the job to prevent, you know, it's like this whole thing about preventable. And I was like, this is great. So that's how I started even falling more into it and, you know, learning about OSHA regulations and all of that. And then he ended up leaving and went
00:17:59
Speaker
on a whole new venture for himself. So then he suggested things that I should take on to our supervisor at the time when it came to safety. And that's how I was given the safety component. So that was my safety hat. I was not only the senior assistant to the director, but now I'm doing the safety component too.
00:18:22
Speaker
and fell in love and you know he had great resources like yourself you know with vivid training and all of that and I'm all like I'm gonna reach out because I'm just I don't know where am I going he the fact that the foundation was laid out was really nice and easy it's just maintaining it from there on right so
00:18:44
Speaker
Well you had you had built a really great foundation for yourself Carolina with all of the work that you had been doing you know in your previous job with the city and all the different all the different departments and exposures you really were building a really
00:19:00
Speaker
A great exposure list, you know, from from workers compensation to the security piece to the, you know, some of the medical management pieces and the emergency action, things that you are doing, you were really gearing yourself up to step into this role.
00:19:16
Speaker
And so I think by the time you and I met and you had accidentally came into that job, which really wasn't an accident because I know you didn't plan your path, but look at all the great things you had done to be able to get to the role that you're in right now. Exactly. It's been really fun to help where I can with your journey at Pixar. Thank you.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, so the day-to-day work that you're doing now with safety, you're not different than a lot of people in the safety field, whereas there's fires that you're trying to put out every day, not literal fires, but safety things that are happening. How has that transition been looking for you in terms of how are you able to work through those fires every day and kind of what resources are you reaching out to?
00:20:11
Speaker
Well, because we are a Disney company as well, I have my Disney partners that deal with safety and environmental health. And I've actually reached out and introduced myself to them in the beginning and asked if they could help guide me and answer questions for me if I ever had any. And that's how it all started.
00:20:35
Speaker
It's like there isn't always fires that we have to put out because we have our facilities department. They're really good about, you know, safety and believing in that our studio is a huge supporter of it. So just keeping up with the maintenance of, you know, making sure everyone's up to certifications that they may need, you know, from forklift operator to CPR and first aid to, you know,
00:21:04
Speaker
has come and all of that. So it's just making sure that I'm continuing on the regulations, making sure we're still OSHA compliant. And again, these things just surface up. I mean, I was on board. Maybe I want to say about four months in and I get a call from the environmental health inspector saying, hey, I need to schedule a visit.
Navigating Safety Regulations
00:21:33
Speaker
And I'm all like, huh? Who is that? Who? Environmental what? And so, you know, I was very open and honest. And I think that's what's helped me out is I'm not afraid to say, I don't know the answer to that. Let me come back. Or, you know, I'm really, I have no clue what you're talking about, but I can find out. And I've always done that throughout my life in my careers. So of course, we had to update our,
00:22:03
Speaker
hazard material business plan and I'm all like, what? What is that? I have no idea. I have never seen it. And of course, my luck.
00:22:15
Speaker
It happened to be the five years that he was here to review it. Oh, it only happens every five years and then you get it. Yep, exactly. So I'm all like crap. Okay, I'll just get it together. I ended up finding it because the previous manager for environmental health, he had everything together. So it was easy and as well as my previous director.
00:22:37
Speaker
So I've got the information and I was ready to go and I swear to you I was like as we were walking through because he's looking at everything right making sure you know where we had hazard materials and all of that and then he mentioned SPCC I'm all like what the hell is that and he's like yeah he's like you do have your SPCC plan ready to go for me to review Mike I
00:23:04
Speaker
Mm-hmm, I'm sure. Yeah, I was like total confident about it. We definitely, I knew we had it. I just didn't know where. So I will never forget, I'm texting my director, I'm all like, S-P-C-C, huh? With like a question mark. And he's like, huh, we gotta figure this out. So as we're walking, I'm Googling S-P-C-C, what does that mean?
00:23:31
Speaker
And then I'm like oh my god the spill prevention blah blah I'm all like no I think I've seen this binder somewhere so you know that's where I ended up learning a lot about the environmental health component.
00:23:46
Speaker
which was really awesome to learn. And of course, you're dealing with hazardous material. I had fire background. So, you know, I was able to... It made sense. It made sense, you know. So I was like, this is so cool. So he was super cool and understanding when I said, hey, you're going to have to like walk me through this whole thing and I will make the corrections that we need to make.
00:24:11
Speaker
and everything so it worked out and you know we are in compliance now so that was something that I was like yay it's been accomplished you know when we so many of us when we are in our safety jobs no matter where it is and no matter how many times we've changed work
00:24:30
Speaker
Sometimes we walk into these organizations where there's nothing with safety and nothing's been done and we're creating things from the ground up. And other times we're walking into someone else's work, but we don't have the benefit of having had like a tour essentially of what that work was to be able to step into it, which is what your situation was. There was a foundation, but you didn't really know where to unearth it.
00:24:56
Speaker
because it wasn't presented to you in a way, but you've managed to figure it out. You were mentioning before the resources that you've built and you've reached out to Disney, but you've also reached out to other organizations and other governmental bodies as you're trying to educate yourself and continually training yourself. One of our other podcast guests, Dr. Todd Luchenes said,
00:25:24
Speaker
in a session that we did together, that your net worth is your net work. And I, that really stuck with me. And as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking how you've been building your net work of people to reach out to, to continue, to continue educating yourself. And you've not been afraid to reach out to other governmental, um, regulatory bodies rather. You know, California has a lot of.
00:25:51
Speaker
a lot of regulations, sometimes different than the rest of the country, oftentimes leading the rest of the country. But maybe could you share Carolina, how you've reached out to some of those other governmental bodies? Because I think a lot of people have a fear of doing that, but you've had success.
00:26:07
Speaker
I have, you know, I knew that Cal OSHA is different than Fed OSHA. So I decided to just Google Cal OSHA and Google has been like a friend of mine. And it looks like we actually Cal OSHA offers amazing free training.
00:26:27
Speaker
for, you know, new people getting into the field of, you know, all of that. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to start taking like the original, like the beginning classes of, okay, what is, what is environmental? What are OSHA requirements in California? And with the support of my director, which I'm blessed to have,
00:26:49
Speaker
You know, I've been going to these trainings because there's so many resources out there. It's just looking for them. And then when you go to these classes, you know, you're dealing with, of course, people that have, you know, they're running other types of different businesses, but at the end of the day,
00:27:07
Speaker
I realize that it's what's best in the safety of the workers. And that's the main goal. So, you know, OSHA, that has been a huge, huge help. Also reaching out to you as far as what kind of, you know, which background should I, what do I need a certificate? What? And, you know, taking OSHA 10 has really helped to open up my eyes and then I can relate. I love the fact that
00:27:32
Speaker
I'm a hands-on person already, so knowing that what I'm doing now makes sense when I'm taking my OSHA 10. It's like I can relate what I'm learning in the classroom, per se, versus what I'm actually doing hands-on, and that's been essential. You guys have been an awesome resource, and there's just so much out there, and I'm not afraid to call our environmental health inspector and say, hey,
00:27:59
Speaker
Did I do this right? Is this okay? There's nothing but so much help out there. I asked him, do I need to be certified to have environmental health under me? He's like, no. How you got into it is basically how we've all gotten into it.
00:28:19
Speaker
That's affirming. Wonderful. Yes, exactly. So yeah. Yeah, you know, I think it's just so important for anyone starting out in safety, particularly to not be afraid to reach out to those regulatory bodies. You know, I think people fear it because they think, well, now we're going to get inspected. Somebody's going to come looking around because now I've maybe admitted I don't know as much as I should.
00:28:45
Speaker
And that's really an urban myth. I mean, governmental regulatory bodies have to have probable cause to come and do inspections and asking for help is not one of those reasons. So for anyone listening, encourage you to follow Carolina's advice and reach out and help teach yourself. I think that's great.
00:29:09
Speaker
I know one of the other things that you've worked on since you've been with Pixar is really building relationships internally with some of your, particularly your department heads.
Building Trust for Safety Initiatives
00:29:20
Speaker
Can you maybe talk about how you've been doing that to be able to advance the work that you've been doing with workplace safety? Absolutely. I think you said it in one of your podcasts that you did where you have to build a great relationship with
00:29:37
Speaker
those that are going to help you succeed in safety. And to go in there as being a regulatory, I'm telling you this is what has to be done. So we're doing it. It's building a trust with them. And I think just since I've been here and my work ethics has already built that, started building that trust since I've been here and I'm almost two years on.
00:30:00
Speaker
that they trust me enough to know, okay, if we're doing this, there's a reason behind why we're doing it. And again, you know, super supportive, safety always comes first in our studio. So I have to say I'm really lucky to have that type of relationship. And my director also has a great relationship with management and all of that. So
00:30:27
Speaker
It helps, it's a team effort and they realize that and it's awesome. I think I'm really lucky to that because I know that it's not always easy, that you can always get pushback, but the facility director is just awesome wanting to protect her staff because there's engineers, there's techs, they're doing all these movement, they're working with, and like I've said,
00:30:52
Speaker
you know, just a lot of stuff. And the training for them is so essential that, you know, it's just having that dialogue and going in there, hey, we're in this together. For example, it's not just me, I need you because you're the expert matter on, let's say, electrical, you know. And I said, you're the expert matter, not me. So let's work together on making sure that we're doing everything correct.
00:31:20
Speaker
and bringing them into the safety world behind the scenes, I think helps build that relationship. Right, right. Do you think, Carolina, when you look back at the early parts of when you were learning all those mechanical things and you wanted to be working in the oil changing pit and you were learning how to do car maintenance and taking care of all of that, and even your background in schooling in the emergency services,
00:31:48
Speaker
When you're doing your job now, are there times that you feel like you're kind of bringing back some of that experience and applying it to relate to some of the employees or some of the training or how does that work for you? Absolutely. Yeah, it really does. It's not like I have to say, here's my resume, this is what I've done. I think it's when I've asked the questions that you
00:32:10
Speaker
When you ask the right questions with someone that deals with, for example, our generators, because, you know, it's just amazing equipment, right? But you still have the same mechanical components that some cars have. So asking the right questions, they're like, oh, okay. She actually has some knowledge when it comes to that. So that's how I bring it out.
00:32:36
Speaker
Yeah, same for me. I grew up in a blue collar family and my dad worked in a factory. I've often applied, you know, like would my, would this, whatever I'm trying to train or speak about or the way that I'm presenting would have my dad at his factory or the people that he worked with at the time would have
00:32:56
Speaker
What if they, um, been able to understand this in a way that was, you know, what's in it for them and relatable or what, you know, was I presenting something in a, in a manner that they'd look at me, you know, like she's got two heads. What is she talking about here? You know?
00:33:12
Speaker
And it's always been kind of my acid test throughout my career and has been very helpful to have had that background. Exactly. And I think too, before I even got into the safety component, it's just building relationships. It doesn't have to be as part of the safety or security. It's just being able to just get to know the people you work with.
00:33:37
Speaker
And I think that once you build those relationships, whatever you need as you move on and you're doing things within your career, they're willing to help and be a team member because they're like, yeah, she's actually pretty cool and nice. And I definitely would like to help her. And I think because I built those relationships prior,
00:34:04
Speaker
with especially our facility folks, that it really did make the whole transition into the safety component easier.
00:34:13
Speaker
Right. Right. Yeah. I call it trusted advising. You know, if you build those relationships with people, you become a trusted advisor and they become your trusted advisor so that when you're trying to tackle and unwind a regulation that's applicable to someone's specific job tasks, you're able to get with them and say, okay, this is what I'm seeing. This is what I'm reading. This is what I'm hearing.
00:34:36
Speaker
Tell me about how this works in your day-to-day work life. Let's talk about those exposures. Let's talk about the fact I want you to go home with all of your parts and pieces back to your family. And so together, let's figure this out. And then you become each other's trusted advisor.
00:34:55
Speaker
And that's how it's been. And, you know, it's awesome. And it's, and you see it as it comes out, you know, like, for example, we had an, uh, one of our engineers up on the roof hearing them call it into our, into the radio, letting us know that they're up there. You know, it was awesome because we had this conversation before. It's like, I know you guys are everywhere, but what happens when you're up on the roof? Do you let us know? They're like, well, you know, we're usually working. I go, but could you like,
00:35:23
Speaker
Do it for just our own sanity because if we do have an earthquake or it or you know Maybe something happens you may have a heart attack anything at least we'll know you're up in the you know up in the roof and we can follow up and monitor you and those things or else we will never know and then because you know at the end of the day we really just want to make sure that you're safe and
00:35:48
Speaker
And that's all it took. And they're awesome. And, you know, they've been doing that. They're like, hey, we're up on the roof. We're like, great. Thank you. Yeah. Letting people know where you are. That's so wonderful that you've been able to get people to do that. You know, people are often working solo or alone in places, particularly in those kind of maintenance jobs, or maybe it's one or two people working somewhere.
00:36:13
Speaker
In the time that I was with OSHA and I investigated so many workplace deaths, nearly all of them were people working alone.
00:36:25
Speaker
In fact, I can't think of a single one out of the 30-some deaths I investigated where there was a witness. Someone was there. People were always working alone. It was always putting together those pieces. For any of us in the safety field,
00:36:44
Speaker
you know, what you've instituted with having your employees let you know where they are on a big campus or in a big facility, any kind of large facility that someone's going to be in a particular area, it helps inform you whether, well, should this be a solo job? Should somebody be working with them? Is this really meant for more than, you know, two people or when it's those one-off situations,
00:37:08
Speaker
where you as the safety person can say, hey, what are you doing today again? I know you told me you're going to be here, but what's the job task? And then it cues you in to know, should there be some air monitoring happening? Do they have all the right gear they need? Should there be more than one person? Do we have to be thinking about confined space rescue planning or whatever it is? That's a great relationship that you've built with your staff. Thank you. Well, they're amazing.
00:37:37
Speaker
I mean, all of them and again, safety is a priority for them too. So I've been really lucky because it's just a bunch of great people to work with. And it's not just me, it's a team effort. Right, right. What has been maybe one of the more
00:37:56
Speaker
uh, fun challenges that you've, that you've, uh, been able to tackle at Pixar and say, Hmm, I didn't know how I was going to do this, but I did it. I succeeded something that you're particularly, um, maybe proud of, or that was a fun professional challenge for you. Um, it was definitely when the environmental health inspector came on and, you know, there were certain things we needed to fix. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm like, I have to fix this. You know, I took it in and it's like,
00:38:26
Speaker
Of course, I'm like the one that thinks like the worst case scenario, we're going to get cited. We're going to have to pay all these fees. And, you know, oh, my goodness, I have to do it and I'm going to figure it out a way to do it. And, you know, it worked out really well because I was able to.
00:38:45
Speaker
fix the corrections that were needed. And when I see this email coming back from the Environmental Health Inspector saying, you have met everything, you're in compliance, it felt so good. I was just like, I cannot believe that I actually accomplished it. But it wasn't just me accomplishing it. It was reaching out to my resources and saying, hey,
00:39:14
Speaker
how do I update this, my hazard, you know, the HM, whatever. See again, acronyms, they're just like horrible sometimes, but the HMVP, how do I, how do I do all this? How, how do I fill it out? And, you know, asking the inspector, do you have time to show me how I need to go into Koopa and
00:39:37
Speaker
Kupa I've never heard of Kupa in my entire life until he came on until he was here So, you know just asking that and giving me those resources that I was able to accomplish it You know also we have the bloom energy System here on campus and because Cal OSHA is a little bit more stringent than fed OSHA They actually had copper
00:40:03
Speaker
copper in one of their chargers or something, but copper is considered a hazard material in California. Didn't know that. So, you know, they did, of course, that's what they do. And speaking with whoever deals with all of these HM, see again, HMVPs, you know,
00:40:27
Speaker
We built a great relationship. I connected with him. He's like, I do these all the time. Let me help you. Here's how you have to go through it. And then I was able to do it on my own. That's a great success story. And what a, you know, it's the work ethic that every employer wants the, how you're digging into these things and figuring it out. And you're talking about safety, but Carolina, you have learned a lot about environmental as well, which often is.
00:40:52
Speaker
which is often another avenue that safety people end up having under their purview as well. So many of us are self-taught in the environmental and unless of course you went to college for that and maybe know a little bit more about it.
00:41:10
Speaker
It's often a part of the safety practice that those of us who accidentally got into it didn't know we were going to have to get so dangerously knowledgeable or very knowledgeable in that. I was remembering a story that you had told me
00:41:27
Speaker
about when filming was taking place on one of Pixar's latest, I think maybe was it Coco? I'm not exactly sure. And you needed to do something with set safety. And this was also a first time adventure for you with set safety. So do you want to talk about like, how did you approach that one?
00:41:48
Speaker
Well, apparently we have a motion caption studio here on campus. And I was, and someone said, Oh, yeah, we're gonna be doing some filming in the mocap. Am I like mocap? Huh? What the heck is that? You know, and then I was educated by I'm like, Oh, that's pretty cool. But this is where I learned about
00:42:11
Speaker
having a safety person on set. And I'm all like, oh, shoot, we have to have a safety talk. They need to know about things. And then I started putting two and two together. Now, Fast and the Furious is one of my favorite movies in the world. And there were so many things in there.
00:42:30
Speaker
And then they just hit me. I was like, Oh my gosh, there must have been a safety person on set to make sure that everyone's lifting the ladders correctly, making sure they're not too close to the fire, whatever, wearing fire retardant. I was like, Oh, it was like an epiphany. It just like my mind just blew up. And I was like, this is craziness. Um, but exciting at the same time, not realizing that
00:42:57
Speaker
Also, that's part of safety. And then I reached out to you and I said, oh my goodness, how do we get a safety person out there? What do we do? And again, of course, it's having that confidence.
Set Safety for Motion Capture
00:43:12
Speaker
And I think sometimes I question it, could I do it? But wait, I actually do because it's just all about how to lift things correctly, making sure we have enough fire extinguishers in case.
00:43:25
Speaker
teaching people that are working on the sets where our fire extinguishers are. I'm like, okay, wait, wait, this is all making sense to me now. It's hazard recognition skills, no matter where you are, whether you're on a motion capture set or, or you're in a power plant or you're in your cafeteria, you know, it's all identifying the hazards.
00:43:43
Speaker
Right. So we were able to go ahead and, you know, create add a little another fire. I mean, we just fixed the little things where it came to the safety component, because at the end of the day, if you're looking at a set and you see any trip hazards, you correct them or, you know, and then you give them a chat, a talk about, hey, if there is a fire alarm, here's your exit routes, things like that. So that was actually pretty cool to say I learned how to do that.
00:44:11
Speaker
Right, right. Yeah. And so for the people listening, you're wondering what motion capture is. And I'm, you know, not an expert in this, but we have people who do motion capture for the training that we produce at Vivid Learning Systems. It's essentially people acting things out with
00:44:31
Speaker
Specific electrical, it's probably not electrical, but components on their bodies where the film is able to pick it up and maybe they're animating it later. And so they're acting things out. So if you can imagine, Carolina, you may have people that were climbing on ladders or maybe they were standing at heights or they were jumping off of something that would later turn into some piece in an animated film.
00:44:54
Speaker
You're, you're looking at those kinds of hazards and you're looking at electrical hazards with all the, with all the electrical, um, components and cables and cords that are going to get to cameras and lights and all of that business, making sure that you didn't have, uh, you know, things were grounded properly and you didn't have trip hazards and, and all of that business. Yeah. So congratulations on figuring and figuring that out too. Um, I think, did, did your name end up being in the credits for that film for safety as well?
00:45:24
Speaker
For this smoke-up, no, it has not been yet, but no, not at all. It'll happen. It takes a while. You're still young in this part of the job, but when I go to movies now and I sit around at the end and you're watching the credits and you're reading everything, you do get to see safety and the people who have the safety jobs on those film sets.
00:45:50
Speaker
And so it's just another piece of the safety profession is really literally everywhere that human beings are working. You know, I'm often asked, you know, like, Jill, who does safety apply to? It's every work environment. It's everywhere that people, everywhere that human beings work, we all have different degrees of hazards that people are exposed to and our work applies to all of them, which is
00:46:15
Speaker
which is so great and enriching and gives us so many opportunities and places to work in our profession. Yeah. And you actually bring it home with you too, because I've noticed that I'm like, okay, this is crazy. I'm like walking around my apartment complex and I see like this total violation. I'm all like, why are they running electricity from this place to that? I'm like, okay, wait, I'm not at work.
00:46:39
Speaker
This is my home. And of course I went to the manager and I'm like, um, you need to really check. Cause someone's using an extension cord that shouldn't be used for outdoors. And I'm all like, whoa, what the heck? It's hilarious.
00:46:54
Speaker
I do the same thing. I think we'd be hard pressed to find a safety professional that doesn't bring it home. It's just to what degree. But I do the same thing. I was at my CrossFit gym this morning and I noticed that an electrical cord was hanging out of the outlet a little bit. And when they do that, it can build heat.
00:47:15
Speaker
and my eye is tracked to see that stuff. I'm getting a drink of water, but I see this cord and I stick it back in the outlet and tighten it up. I'm not telling anybody that I'm correcting a hazard at the gym, but you just see these things and you do it because it's how we're wired now to be able to do that. Exactly.
00:47:38
Speaker
Oh, that's great. So do your, do your kids think that mom, you know, what are you, what is the safety business and does it spill into their lives as well? And are they, are they, are they thinking you're a weird mom? Like my son thinks I'm weird.
00:47:55
Speaker
I think they always thought I was weird only because, you know, working in a police department, you know, I've made them aware of things. And, you know, so I would always come home with stories so they could learn from them and things like that. So they've always thought I was weird when it came to that.
00:48:14
Speaker
I remember when my daughter started school in San Francisco and I'm like, Oh my gosh, my daughter's in downtown San Francisco and she's going to the school that's in a building. And I'm all like, Hey, do they have an emergency evacuation plan? And are you aware of it? She looked at me like, what?
00:48:37
Speaker
I said, I'm just saying, if there's an earthquake in San Francisco, do you know what you need to do? Because there's not going to be, we have BART as our transportation, which is a train. I said, oh, that's gone. You can't cross the bridge. That's the only way you're going to get to me. I said, does school have a plan? And she's like, not that I'm aware of. I was like, can you ask? She goes, no. What am I going to look like asking mom? Really? I'm like, then I'm going to ask. She's like, no, please don't. Don't embarrass me, mom.
00:49:07
Speaker
But you asked, right? I sure as heck did. That's right. Me too. I've asked the same question. Every year, school starts and I'm walking through the building with my child trying to find where the classrooms are and all of that stuff. And at the same time, I'm asking him to notice his exits.
00:49:27
Speaker
Now when we're in this, yeah, right? So you've done this too. Oh my gosh, yes. If there's a fire, if there's a violent incident, if there's a chemical release, I live in the middle of the country so I don't have to worry about earthquakes like you do, but we're identifying exits and I'm talking to him about his emergency plan and where the gathering space is going to be and all of that. And he's gotten used to it, but his eyes certainly roll. He was recently with his friends at a Panic! at the Disco concert.
00:49:56
Speaker
A big giant venue they were at and I had said to him in the morning before he left, I said, I want you to remember situational awareness when you get to that venue. And he looks at me and he knows what those terms mean because he's my child. And he says, okay mom, you know, rolls his eyes.
00:50:17
Speaker
And I get a text from him right before the concert's starting. He sends me a picture of the stage and he says, I have my merchandise, I've got my concert t-shirts, my two exits are identified.
00:50:31
Speaker
I love that. This is my child. It is so cute. It's not that we're raising our kids to be fearful, we're raising them to be prepared. Right. I think that that can be sort of...
00:50:49
Speaker
people in safety or who talk about safety or who worked in law enforcement like you have, it's like, oh, if we talk about this, we're just going to drum up fear in people. But it's so not that. It's so how to be prepared. It's so that it becomes part of your daily life to just kind of bake this into how you walk through the world.
00:51:10
Speaker
and how you're how you're preparing yourself to stay safe. And you know the incidents that happen nationwide is also another our kids are all about social media and everything you know the Las Vegas shooting I mean that was that was an eye-awaking I think for the entire nation and even for our the young gender this generation of going to concerts and things like that
00:51:36
Speaker
You know, something that we've always preached to our kids. Make sure, you know, your exit signs do not get too front. Make sure that you're able to access. Don't forget where your car is. Those things that you instill in them, you know, when they go out and they actually see something horrific as that incident, then they relate it. And they're like, well, this is what mom was saying. Now I understand why she was saying what she was saying. And it's okay to have those conversations.
00:52:02
Speaker
What I do, it's so funny because my daughter goes to concerts too, but it's with a group of friends. When they're all sitting down together planning the next day, I sit there and actually, they don't know it, but I actually give them a safety talk. I'm all like, do not go in front of the stage because if anything happens, you're not going to be able to get out. Blah, blah, blah, blah. They're like, yeah, okay, great. Thanks. I appreciate that, but they don't even realize it.
00:52:31
Speaker
Right, yeah, makes sense to them. I do these little, well, I guess maybe pop quizzes with the family, right? And I live in a state where the Mall of America is, you know, giant mall. And I was with my mother there, oh, maybe two years ago. And I said, let's just stop for a second in one of these halls. And we stood against the wall. And I said, I'd like you to find two exits right now.
00:53:00
Speaker
that are not the way that we came in. That it's not the stairs, it's not the elevator, show me two exits. And she starts looking around and she said, oh, I see them. I see them over there and I see them over there. And I said, right, but you know, when we're going through our life in these really big places, we're not necessarily noticing where those signs are because it's not the same way that we came in. And it's not, you know, it's not the normal traffic pattern, but they exist everywhere.
Promoting Safety Awareness in Community
00:53:28
Speaker
We just have to
00:53:29
Speaker
tune our eyes to be able to look for those things. And then give yourself permission that if there is an emergency for any reason, that it's okay to go through those doors. It might not be the ones that people are using all the time, but they'll always lead you out. And so she's made that part of her practice and something that I've taught my son as well.
00:53:49
Speaker
It's part of what we put into our active shooter response training course that we offer at Vivid is really trying to teach people that situational awareness, which we use for lots of things in our life, but it's just making it part of our practice.
00:54:05
Speaker
Very true. Yeah. Yeah. So Carolina, I was wondering, you had said that you were a Spanish speaker when you started out and now you're bilingual, maybe you're trilingual by now, not sure. Do you ever get to use your language skills in your job?
00:54:29
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Definitely in the city that I worked for, I used it all the time. Translations to when it came to within the police department. But here too, I've been able to use my Spanish because we have actually, we contract out our services for cleanings and all of that. And I
00:54:54
Speaker
actually get to use my Spanish when it comes to that. You know, one day we have someone splash a little solution. I think it was detergent solution in their eye. And I was able to, you know, translate into Spanish because they were more comfortable speaking Spanish than English. And I was able to do that. So I love every time I have the opportunity to continue to practice my Spanish, even though now I feel like Spanish is my second language. I mean, it's like so weird.
00:55:23
Speaker
I'm like, wait, when I came to the States, you know, Spanish was my first language. English became my second. And as I transitioned through, now I feel like English is my primary and Spanish is my secondary. But so powerful to be able to to be able to do your job being bilingual. Yes, it has definitely helped. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jealous of that. Jealous of that. Wish I had that part.
00:55:48
Speaker
You know what? You just need to take a year off and then just emerge yourself in Aladdin. Yeah. That's all you have to do. Oh, that's simple. Thanks. So what's it like working every day in somewhat of a famous place, Carolina?
00:56:06
Speaker
You know, I still can't believe I'm here. Uh, every time I pull into our, our studio and seeing just the writing Pixar in the entry, I was just like, Oh my gosh, I'm actually working for such an incredible company. And just seeing the films, you know, from beginning to end, it's just, I'm just such, it's just like, ah, I'm still in awe and I'm going to be here almost two years.
00:56:34
Speaker
Yeah. How fun. How fun. It's a lot of fun. And you know, it's just an amazing company. I just can't, you know, again, this is my first private company I've ever worked in my entire life. So I'm lucky that it's Pixar. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Karolina, as we close our time out together today,
00:56:56
Speaker
I'm wondering if you have any particular advice for other safety professionals, particularly women starting out, anything that you'd like to share.
00:57:08
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. I think it's hard for us to have somewhat of a command presence and have that confidence that we know what we're talking about. And I think it's doing your homework, researching it, reviewing it, asking questions, go to your resources, find a mentor that you know that will help you out, and just go in confidence. I think that is such a huge key, and I'm still learning that.
00:57:38
Speaker
But I think that is the hardest thing for us women to we of course walk into a room and oh my gosh, it's a female that's dealing with safety really because majority of them are men. We know that but just to have that confidence and that command presence like yeah, you know what? I know what I'm talking about.
00:57:59
Speaker
Mm hmm. Wonderful. Wonderful. Carolina, thank you so much for the generosity of your time today. We really appreciate it. Really appreciate it. And thank you all so much for joining in and listening today. And thank you for the work that you all do to make sure your workers make it home safe every day. You can listen to all of our episodes at vividlearningsystems.com or subscribe to the podcast in the podcast player of your choosing.
00:58:25
Speaker
or you could also find us on YouTube. If you happen to have a suggestion for a guest, including maybe if it's you, please contact me at social at vividlearningsystems.com. Until next time, thank you for listening.