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#45: The Adventures of Attila the Hun & The Hammer
68 Plays6 years ago
In a series first, podcast host Jill James talks with a reigning American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) Women in Safety Excellence Safety Professional of the Year, Crystal! As far as impressive curriculum vitae goes in the world of occupational safety and health, Crystal is eating all the cake: Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Safety Management Specialist (SMS), past president of the Hudson River Valley ASSP chapter, organizer of the Blacks in Safety Excellence ASSP group, and published author in Professional Safety Journal. She owns her own safety consulting business and is known as the “Safety Diva”. Her story in safety is well worth the listen.
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Transcript
Introduction to Crystal Turner Moffitt
00:00:11
Speaker
This is the Accidental Safety Pro, brought to you by Vivid Learning Systems and the Health and Safety Institute. This is episode number 45. My name is Jill James, Vivid's Chief Safety Officer, and today I'm joined by Crystal Turner Moffitt, who is Director of Safety at Waters Construction in Connecticut.
00:00:29
Speaker
Now, Crystal and I have been trying to connect for a number of months to do this podcast recording, and we just were having a hard time scheduling because Crystal is busy like I cannot believe. So, Crystal, if you don't mind before we get into hearing your story, I just need to tell people what's been keeping you so busy. So, Crystal has been awarded ASSP's WISE
00:00:57
Speaker
Safety Professional of the Year, otherwise known as SPY. And if for anyone listening, isn't familiar with what WISE is, it's the Women in Safety Excellence. And she got the award for Safety Professional of the Year.
Crystal's Involvement and Achievements
00:01:14
Speaker
She's also past president of ASSP's Hudson River Valley chapter, and also the administrator of Blacks in Safety Excellence with ASSP as well.
00:01:25
Speaker
Crystal has recently published an article with the ASSP Journal on Women in Mentorship and Leadership. She also has been studying for and successfully passed on the same day both her CSP and her SMS. And she is the owner of her own safety consulting company and goes often by the name of Safety Diva, which I can't wait to hear more about.
00:01:54
Speaker
So welcome to the podcast after all this time, Crystal.
Transitioning from Pharmaceuticals to Safety
00:01:58
Speaker
Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction, Jill.
00:02:01
Speaker
It's a pleasure. Oh, I'm so happy that you're here to share your story with us. So we have a lot to dig into with your career and where you've been. So let's get right into it, Crystal. What got you into safety? And at some point, we want to hear about that safety diva piece. Okay. Well, my journey started
00:02:28
Speaker
in pharmaceutical safety, actually, because I had a whole nother career for 12 years as a researcher in labs. I was pre-med in college. And I didn't have a plan B when medical school didn't work out. I'm so glad the plan that did happen was to be a safety professional because I just love it. Safety is my passion. But I started out in pharmaceutical safety, having been in the lab. That was like the initial
00:02:57
Speaker
safety profession for me. And I had been a professional in New York City doing inspections for restaurants. And that's environmental health. And I saw someone reading a toxicology book and I was saying, like, where do you go to school? Because I had been looking to do a master's. They told me before, if you get a master's and reapply to medical school, you'd be OK. But I was already happy with the lab work.
00:03:24
Speaker
And I saw someone while doing restaurant inspections, I was a public health sanitarian, and they said they went to Hunter's School of Public Health, School of Health. And so I found a master's program that was at night so I could still work at Hunter. And I really liked it. I did my master's program at Hunter. And that led for me to learn about being a CSP and
Starting a Consultancy and Entering Construction
00:03:50
Speaker
I have been doing toxicology, so basically I started out looking at the human aspect of environment and how it affects human beings and their environment.
00:04:00
Speaker
And then I went to industrial hygiene with Hunter. And then basically people would say, are you industrial hygienist? Are you a safety person? And I was like, well, I'm whatever's going to get me the job. And so it just followed a progression. And then I got into construction because that's where the risk lies highest, where most people and workers are hurt is in the construction industry. So when I wasn't working for someone else, I started my own business, CDT, EHS Consulting, LLC as a safety professional.
00:04:29
Speaker
organization firm. And whenever I wasn't working for someone else, I did my own work and just found my way in the construction field for safety.
Restaurant Inspection Tales and Safety Standards
00:04:39
Speaker
Yeah, wow. Interesting. So Crystal, I've got to back up because I'm wondering if anyone who's listening here is that you were an inspector for restaurants. Yeah. Yeah. So do you still eat out? Yes, I do. But I always walk into a restaurant and look for hats and look for gloves and look for
00:04:58
Speaker
certain key aspects that, because I could, in New York, I could have spent all day in one restaurant giving out, you know, fines, because that's how you're trained. But basically, you know, you learn to maybe do for a day or something like that. But it was very interesting work. And, you know, they called me Attila the Hun in some of the places because I was just very efficient with what I did. But I did love it.
00:05:23
Speaker
Uh-huh. That's funny. You were called Attila. I was called the Little Hammer when I was an investigator because I was trained by an investigator, when I was an investigator with OSHA, rather. I was trained by a guy who was known as the Hammer.
00:05:40
Speaker
because he hammered out so many citations. And it wasn't that he was trying to be terrible to employers. He just knew the regulations book, memorized them. He had them all memorized. He could spit them out and write them down and he trained me. And so when I started doing my work, people called me the Little Hammer. He was known as the Big Hammer and his last name actually was Hammer. And so,
00:06:08
Speaker
And so that's how that went. So you're Attila the Hun, I was the hammer. So we have that in common, high five, Crystal. Oh, that's interesting. So from pharmaceuticals to construction, wow, what a change. How did that go for you? Because I had the laboratory background, it was a good transition for my first safety role when I graduated from Hunter to be in the pharmaceutical realm, being familiar with labs.
00:06:39
Speaker
and laboratory work. So I worked for a couple of bio, bio, biotech firms. Yes, biotech firms. And it was just a natural progression for me because I had had that lab background. Yeah, interesting, interesting. And the toxicology as well, because I used to belong to the Society of Toxicology and the AIHA as well, before I settling in with the ASSP.
00:07:06
Speaker
Yeah, right, right. And did you, I'm trying to remember from our previous conversations, did you do something with the transit authority as well? Did you do some work there?
00:07:17
Speaker
Yes, well, with my own company, I worked for Port Authority for like a short time before I went to Marsh. I've kind of run the gamut where I started out in pharmaceutical safety. I went to regulatory work and worked for the New York City DEP, New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
00:07:37
Speaker
didn't want to be in the office anymore. I kind of felt like I wasn't being utilized and I actually ended up going out into the consulting field and being one of those consultants that I used to regulate. So that was very interesting. Yeah, you got to see both sides. Yes, I
Challenges and Credibility in Construction Safety
00:07:54
Speaker
did. And then I've run all the way through working for an insurance company. I worked for Marsh USA as a vice president and it gave me the perspective, I guess like 360.
00:08:07
Speaker
yeah yeah and so how long have you been working in the in the construction trades now or with them about 15 years now wow interesting what do you like about it i mean it's that's hard it's hard work and sometimes hard to get people to work safe
00:08:26
Speaker
Yes, and to take you seriously, especially as a woman in the field. I often would hear, like, how did you get here? And what's your story? And how did you get into construction? Because they just couldn't believe. And they would see my resume. And people would call me in and just want to sometimes just to see. They could believe what they saw on paper. It was a bummer at times. But I would be going for a job. And they really just wanted to see
00:08:56
Speaker
What's your credibility? What's my credibility, right? Yeah. And that's kind of like what construction is all about. When you learn the different trades, you really have to know the vernacular of the trades because then the tradesmen will take you seriously. So that's basically how I built my credibility was learning, asking questions. Yeah. Yeah. How did you, how did you do that piece, Crystal? What were some of the things that you did early on? Well, before I would,
00:09:24
Speaker
go and tell someone they were doing something unsafe. I had to know what safe was. So I would watch and ask, you know, an electrician or, you know, what is that called? And they tell me I was working with conduit or I asked the pipe fitter what they're doing. I asked the carpenter and I just like studied and to study what they did. And then once I was able to get that, that amount
Collaboration and Mentorship in Safety
00:09:45
Speaker
of knowledge, then when I went to someone,
00:09:48
Speaker
I didn't go to them and say, just stop working and stop what you're doing. You know, I basically said, how can we work together to get this to be safe? Um, cause I had a fresh set of eyes. Some of them like, you know, I've been working 40 years doing this for you to tell me, you know, but, um, it's, it's basically just working together because you want them to go home and they basically know what's safe. And the guys would be very, and women would be very, very respectful of me once I'd showed them that I cared. And that's basically what you have to do.
00:10:16
Speaker
you can't really go in as a cop, you have to be more of a coach. And that's when Safety Diva was born because I would come in and I have nails and I like to look good, but you know, on the construction site, you know, it's not always, it's kind of dirty and messy or whatever, but I basically would tell them, you know, you can call me Crystal, call me Safety Diva because I consider myself a diva and they would laugh and it would be an icebreaker.
00:10:42
Speaker
Uh-huh. Nice. So that worked. That worked for you. Yeah. I mean, I think this is good information for people who are listening, who are trying to break into our field. You know, sometimes people in those first jobs and particularly in construction and it's like, you know, how do you do it? If you're young or don't have experience in a trade and you have to come in, yeah, being the authority, but not being the cop. And what's that line that you walk? Yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. Mm hmm. And so you found you found your way to I like what you said. How can we work together to keep you safe? And yeah, show them that you care. So how did you how have you figured out how to do that in your in your career for people who are listening? How did you demonstrate showing people that you care? Well, like I said, it's speaking their language. I know a little bit of Spanish. So if I was speaking to a Spanish professional that, you know, a Spanish
00:11:41
Speaker
a tradesperson, I try a little bit just to let them know, you know, I care, you know, try to speak their language. So just as if you would do that with a non-English speaking person, let's say you do that with a person who speaks in a trade language. So I just let them know.
00:11:57
Speaker
When I, when I see them, even though they say they've been doing it 30 years, 40 years, I'm like, yeah, but maybe there's a, maybe there's a better way you can do this. I'm not trying to tell you that you're doing anything wrong, but you know, we, we want you to get home to see your family. We want you to see your grandkids. If it's a hearing issue to hear your grandkids 20 years from now.
00:12:16
Speaker
Yeah. To see your grandkids, you know, if it's an eye protection issue. Yeah, that's great. That's a great way to relate it. Yeah. To see and hear, feel. Yeah. Like you can touch them with literally all their senses. Yes. Which safety can impact all of them. Yes. Yeah. And most of all, in construction, to have your life, you know. And when you bring that home to them,
00:12:43
Speaker
sometimes younger people think they're invincible, older people think they know a lot and it's not going to happen to them or that they know so much that it's not going to happen. But the statistics show that basically in that young range and in that older range is when most things happen in construction with older workers and younger workers.
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, right. That was always my experience when I was working with OSHA as well. When I was called out to do fatality and serious injury investigations, it was almost always, in my experience anyway, people who were just getting started in their careers, like very, very, you know, within weeks or months of starting their jobs or really close to retirement. And there didn't seem to be a lot in the middle, but those extreme ends always seem to be where people got hurt.
00:13:33
Speaker
Yes. Interesting. When you were talking, Crystal, about the different agencies you worked for in New York and in New York City, what came to my mind right away was Frances Perkins, our first labor secretary who came out of New York, who worked maybe for some of those same organizations that you did.
00:13:59
Speaker
Now I feel like I need to find out which organizations in New York she worked for before she came our labor secretary, but she was doing some kind of inspection and enforcement work in New York when the Triangle Shirtwaist fire happened. She watched people, women in particular, as they jumped out of that building because the exits were blocked.
00:14:24
Speaker
And I'm just, as I'm listening to your story and all the places that you, that you worked and did advocacy for in New York, and I'm thinking, man, Crystal, I think you were following in Frances Perkins footsteps.
Safety Training and Career Development
00:14:36
Speaker
Oh, that would be an honor.
00:14:39
Speaker
that's so that's so cool so anyway now we have to find that out and maybe somebody who's listening to this will be googling as we're looking i know we can ask um ask uh one of our one of our friends who's in one of the early episodes of the show who's a historian in safety um oh gosh his name is escaping me right now um mark uh and i forget the episode number we'll have to link it up he's a he's a historian who has talked about francis perkins and as well and has um he
00:15:09
Speaker
curated all of these films on historic people who've done the work of safety. And she's among them. And I think you're standing on her shoulders, which is pretty cool. Wow. Yes, wise for the 100th anniversary of ASSP then did a hundred year history of different women and safety and how they've impacted safety. So yes.
00:15:39
Speaker
Yes, please. I'd be interested to hear more about what that was like. And it's Mark Catlin that I was trying to remember who is the curator of all of the people in history and in safety. So he's got a YouTube channel where he curates all these films and vocal recordings of people who've done our work from centuries past.
00:16:00
Speaker
Um, but Crystal, yeah, talk about that, about this, um, safety professional of the year and what that's, what that's like. And maybe if, um, if people who are listening, who are a woman who's working in our field and isn't familiar with wise, do you want to give a little shout out to what that's about? Oh, yes. Well, wise is our women and safety excellence for ASSP. And basically, um, I had been a mentor for wise.
00:16:29
Speaker
As well, I had great mentees over these past two years. In 2018, I received the Wise Mentor Award. And in 2019, I had a great mentor who mentee who just did great things. So it feels good. That program helps you impact another safety professional's life, guide them, they inspire you. So that's one great program that's involved. And it's basically just we have a month
00:16:56
Speaker
calls if you're a representative from your chapter and everyone discusses things that they do in the community, things they do for safety, networking events. And we just shared in our annual PDC, wherever we have it, last year was New Orleans, this year is Orlando in 2020. We met before reception and we all get together.
00:17:18
Speaker
So that's a great time. Yeah, wonderful, wonderful. And then I had mentioned early on, as long as we're talking about some of the organizations that you're part of, you're also the administrator of Blacks and Safety Excellence with ASSP. Can you talk about what that is for anyone listening who's not familiar and might be interested in being a member of that?
00:17:38
Speaker
Yes. Well, just like women in safety excellence, we have a specialization called blacks and safety excellence. And, um, I was the membership chair, um, assistant administrator and now administrator. And it's very important to, to be a role model for safety professionals that are up and coming and to also have a specific, um, way to help those that, um, might not know about the profession and also.
00:18:04
Speaker
You don't see that many of them. I know for me, I did not know there were any CSPs of color before I got into ASSP. And when I did see that, I really wanted to come to the National Convention. I wanted to meet more.
00:18:21
Speaker
got inspired by others. Our mission is just to bring the safety profession to people of color and who may not know and young people, they have a young safety professionals organization as well, Hispanic safety organization. And so blacks is just in safety excellence is just for people of color who are African American to learn more.
00:18:45
Speaker
about safety. We have a mentorship program as well. Oh, fantastic. So if someone is getting started, who's listening, who is interested in being mentored, how do they, you know, whether they're a woman or whether, or whether they're a minority, how would they go about, like raising their hand and saying, Hey, I'd like a mentor, how does that part work?
00:19:07
Speaker
Well, both wise and buys do have their mentorship applications on the website for a SSP. Okay. So if you were to go there, which is a SSP.org and you go to either of those communities, you would see how to get in touch with the mentorship program.
00:19:26
Speaker
Okay, okay. That's fabulous. Thank you for sharing that. You know, it's one of, one of the questions that I do get asked by people is how do I find a mentor? Like, how do we do it? And I think it's so important in our field in particular, because, you know, we're often solo operators, wherever it is that we're working. Yeah, that's why I wrote the article for, I was asked by the administrator for WISE to, to do a best practices article in the,
00:19:56
Speaker
first thing I thought of was, and this was the August article, it came out, it was an all women's article, all women's edition rather of PSJ. And I vote on the power of mentorship and how it strengthens women in leadership roles because women tend to get in certain areas where we can't break into the C-suite roles like I've been able to do at Waters and we haven't had mentors. And when we do have mentors, it's not always,
00:20:23
Speaker
what we expect or what we can access. I just believe that leadership roles for women benefit definitely from mentors because they can show us the way and how to maintain those roles.
00:20:36
Speaker
Mm hmm. Crystal, you're definitely laying your hands on change with with doing that. There's a there's a really unfortunate statistic that is out about women in leadership roles right now, and that it will take us get this 208 years to reach gender parity, meaning having equal representation at the table.
00:21:04
Speaker
Wow. So maybe the work, it is unsettling. The work you're doing, however, maybe we are going to see it shift from 200 to 207.5, and someone else does something like you're doing, and someone else does something like you're doing, and we can change that. So thank you for that work and advocacy. Thank you. That is wonderful. Yes.
00:21:29
Speaker
I wanted to ask you, since your work has been in New York, New York City has done some changes with regard to safety training specifically for the OSHA 10 and 30 hour
00:21:49
Speaker
And I think it's through the Department of Buildings or something, but since this is your state and where you work, for anybody else who's listening who has contractors or people who are working in New York City, can you kind of explain what's going on with the law there so people understand what they need to do? Well, basically the Department of Buildings felt that
00:22:11
Speaker
The standard OSHA 10 that was needed on a construction site was not enough safety training for the construction workers who were working there, um, or the superintendents or journey persons, foremen, um, all of that, um, because it was still too many incidents and accidents and injuries that were happening. Okay. So they have acquiring 30 hours of training, which most people would get the 30 hour OSHA.
00:22:37
Speaker
that that's required, but there's something called an SST, Site Safety Training Card, that as of December 1st, which has passed already, 2-19, everyone on the site has to have it, and there's gonna be an additional 10 hours of training needed by September 2020. So that's basically what they're enforcing now, that supervisors have to get 62 hours to be a competent person. And if you go to the Department of Builder's website, you'll see
00:23:06
Speaker
all the different changes, but basically it's based upon the fact that they felt that that standard 10 hours of training for a construction worker was not enough. And this is something that's specific to just New York City? Yes, it is.
00:23:23
Speaker
Okay, okay. And so this SST card that you're talking about, how do people go about getting getting that? Are there particular trainers or yes, online trainers that are able to do this? How does that work? Well, online is pretty difficult. Just, you know, some of them have just the OSHA part is online. But the
00:23:46
Speaker
Some of it, it depends on what you need. There are like fall protection for eight hours. There's drug and alcohol training. There's job hazard analysis training. So depending on what you might need it, you would go to the Department of Builders website and see what you already have. You'll go again and then you see if what you have
00:24:12
Speaker
is compliant with the SST. Okay. So you can, so it can take into account training that you've had before. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's good to know. Interesting. And so does that, um, does that website also like list who, who they should seek out for trainers or do they source that? Okay.
Unions and Safety Roles Dynamics
00:24:32
Speaker
If you need your card, how to register for it. If you need training, um, different courses, um, there's several,
00:24:40
Speaker
Department of Builders always has several providers that they list, but basically there are a lot of providers, so it's not hard to find. Okay. Okay. Well, that's good. Thank you. And so there was New York City, basically it sounds like sort of said, Hey, we're having way too many injuries. We need to try to impact change here. Is that what? Yes. And construction workers, especially because they didn't feel that that 10 hour OSHA was doing anything.
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, Crystal, since you've been working in the trades for so long, I bet you've had opportunities to work with unions as well. Yes.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah. So can you talk about that for people who maybe don't understand completely kind of the nexus between unions and employers and how that works with safety? And, you know, if you're a safety professional, you know, how do you, what, how, how does that impact your job and what do you do? What are those relationships like? Well, I mean, they have advocates that are different from non-union jobs. And so sometimes it could be,
00:25:47
Speaker
a little frustrating dealing with unions because sometimes with safety you want to impose certain things that you can't as far as getting people like not to be on a site or
00:26:02
Speaker
It's just a little tenuous sometimes. And it could be good as well because union shops come with people who are trained professionals that are different. They come with cars that usually have all their credentials. It's not anything that they can make up. They usually keep on track of that. So there's good and bad.
00:26:21
Speaker
Yeah, so you've done both, I'm guessing. Yes. Yeah. In your work history, I know unions often have their own safety trainers as well. Do you sometimes come alongside and work with them? Does that happen sometimes or not? Well, I'm an OSHA 500 trainer for construction. So in the past, I've trained at unions for electrical units, for example. I've trained
00:26:51
Speaker
Um, some of their workers, and so they do, they do do training. Well, they keep their workers compliant because that's, that's means that they can be placed on sites, especially government sites.
00:27:03
Speaker
where there's, you know, prevailing wage and so forth to move them to have their workers trained well. Yeah, right.
Diverse Industries for Safety Professionals
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, when, when we talk about like, where do safety professionals work? Unions are one of those places. And so for people who are, you know, interested, like, where can this career take me? What can it do? Um, unions are a place where you can also work as a safety professional. Yes. That's one thing I like about safety. It really is my passion. But one thing I love about it is,
00:27:30
Speaker
that no matter what industry that you want to go into or that you want to work in, safety is a part of it now. I mean, ever since the OSHA Act of 1970 and things have progressed, you can go to any industry and work in safety. Just pick an industry and you could be a safety professional industry. I don't think there's not one that doesn't have safety involved or risk assessment or some form of safety.
00:27:56
Speaker
Yeah, you are so right. And I think that's one of those things that people often miss. You know, you talk about safety and people think, well, that's just for construction or that's just for a factory, when really it's everywhere that a human being works.
00:28:14
Speaker
Yes. And that's with job security. Exactly, exactly. I had an opportunity to do some guest lecturing this week in a safety program in the upper Midwest. And I asked all of the students, I think they were fourth year safety students, and I asked them to go around the room and talk about what their first jobs were, the very first thing they ever did to earn a paycheck.
00:28:39
Speaker
And people talked about agriculture work or landscape work, food service work, naming off some of those first jobs that you might get when you're young. And then I always follow up when I ask people this question, did anyone have any safety training? And inevitably, it's crickets.
00:29:04
Speaker
those first jobs that people have when they're young. Yeah, or you're the barista, or you're working in some of these part-time jobs when you're
Educating Youth on Safety Careers
00:29:18
Speaker
essentially a kid, and safety's often missed, and then we start talking about, but what hazards were you exposed to? And then I list off some things like, did this ever happen, or did you have this, and they're like, yeah, yeah. I'm like, well, safety is literally for everyone.
00:29:34
Speaker
It does apply to every single person who's working, but it's often not regarded that way.
00:29:43
Speaker
So we need to keep evangelizing, right? Yes. That's a good name, the Safety Evangelist. So you can be the Safety Diva and the Safety Evangelist. That's great. I feel that that's really, really important. I've been involved in a couple of events, working with sororities, working with other
00:30:12
Speaker
Oh, interesting. There's a sorority in Brooklyn that has a career day. I've done White Plains High School Career Day when I was working with Hudson River Valley Chapter to just make children and young people aware of ASSP and what the safety profession has to offer. Because the earlier we can get them involved, because most people say, I didn't know about safety until I was well into my career, and I kind of fell into it. And it's not something that they knew about. Like for me, I didn't know until grad school. And some people didn't know.
00:30:41
Speaker
until college, they were lucky. So it's something that you kind of fall into. Like you just said, the accidental safety point, you just fall into it. And you were the safety guy on the site. And because you were the construction guy that didn't have that much to do, or you were the super that they said, you do safety. And it kind of became a passion for you. Because once you get bit by the safety bug, it's kind of hard.
00:31:04
Speaker
You can't turn it. You can't turn it. Yeah. Yeah. And like now as a safety professional, as a CSP, I have an oath and that, you know, the ethics part of it is that I can't turn my back from different things that I see. And no matter where I go, when I'm driving or looking around, I'm always seeing construction sites. I see something and it's like, you know.
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, you feel compelled. Yes, you do. Yeah, you feel compelled. Yeah. What a great number of ways that you're giving back and talking about the profession and really letting people know when you said you volunteer and you speak at places, you know, the safety is a STEM practice.
00:31:41
Speaker
And it's not often on the list when we're trying to talk with young people about the different STEM fields they can
Continuous Learning in Safety
00:31:49
Speaker
go into. So that's an excellent way to give back to our profession for people who are listening, who want to be able to contribute to those career days, whether it's at your kid's school or in your community or college, raise your hand and offer that up for people who are thinking they'd like to give back.
00:32:07
Speaker
So, Crystal, you started out by telling us that you have a background in toxicology. Yes. Yeah. How has that served you throughout your career? Well, definitely it gave me that background in chemicals and how, because we were talking about how I got started. Well, I told you I had a whole career as a researcher before and it was a neuroscience research.
00:32:32
Speaker
And basically neurosciences, you know, the pharmacology, toxicology of the brain. So everything that was environmental that affected the brain, um, interested me. And so that it served me just to know how you really are a jack of all trades. When you're a safety person, people think you're just babysitting for the construction field babysitting construction workers, but you really have to know.
00:32:56
Speaker
sociology, psychology, biology, pharmacology, toxicology, biology, you just name it, you have to know it. And when things hit the fan, then you're ready to act. But there's so much going on, regulations, compliance, so many areas that go into safety. And you'd be surprised for people that don't know, people think you're just babysitting, or you're just going out to inspect, or you're just a policeman for safety. And it's not, it's just so much evolved.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah, right. And that it's more than just the OSHA regulations, you know, when it's like you just listed off all of these areas and fields of study, which 100% accurate, I agree completely. Yeah, right.
00:33:45
Speaker
electrical. I mean, it's so it's a lot. Yeah. And so that CSP exam was everything I ever learned in life. Oh my gosh. Wow. Wow. Congratulations again on passing that. Yeah. But you know, when I when you when you think about the list of things that you just listed off and you come across things as a safety professional in your career that you're like, I
00:34:07
Speaker
I didn't learn that in school or I have no tribal knowledge of that just from my work history and background. It's like, where do you dig and where do you go if it's not specifically covered in the OSHA regulations? And I'm thinking about how we really have to be researchers in this field. I know that at one point in my career, I was working in healthcare and I needed to learn about oncology.
00:34:34
Speaker
and specifically chemotherapy drugs. And we know that we have the Hazcom law, but I didn't know anything. I didn't know where else to dig, so I really had to start digging and discovered, is it called the United States Pharmacopeia laws with medications and things and kind of had to go down all these rabbit holes to figure out how am I gonna safeguard these people? What does this look like?
00:35:02
Speaker
And I think that's part of our, that's part of our career is knowing, you know, what rocks to turn over and where to look. Yes, I think that's why I love safety so much because inherently I love research, I love digging and finding things and looking for the truth. And I've always worked in the health profession or in some level of hospitals, like you mentioned, or research in hospitals. So I mean, it was just a natural progression for me. And even though I didn't become a doctor, I found out that I really love preventing
00:35:31
Speaker
people from getting sick rather than treating afterwards. That's my calling. Yeah, yeah, prevention. How many years have you been in the field now? Oh, 25.
00:35:44
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, so we're same. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. That's great. So, Crystal, you've written about supporting women in safety. Would you have any tips for people who are females in this field who are on their way? Do you have any specific things that you'd like to offer up as best practices or advice? Well, one thing,
00:36:14
Speaker
I would say, I mean, in order to be credible, you do have to get your certifications. And one thing I do like about safety is that if you're not a person who, to be a safety professional, yes, but just to be a safety manager or a safety engineer, if you're not one who decided you wanted to go to college or you could get your OSHA 30, you could build on your certifications, you could become employed in the field without necessarily going to college.
Crystal's Future Ambitions in Safety
00:36:37
Speaker
But I'm a proponent of education, so I would say, you know,
00:36:42
Speaker
Get educated, get your degree. There's so many programs you can get involved in. Find a mentor. Find someone who, once you get there, you can mentor as well to keep the cycle going. Whatever you decide, whatever area you decide to go into, just do your research. Get to know if that's an area you would like to
00:37:06
Speaker
to be in, you know, but one thing I do like about safety is very malleable. You can always change, but you know, when you get locked in, it's like a specialty when you're a doctor, you know, you kind of keep finding a niche for yourself. So I would say do that, find a niche for yourself, because it's so much in safety to know you to be in a general list is kind of hard, and it's better for you to find a niche.
00:37:26
Speaker
And I think you've said that with your career, you followed the risk as well when you were discovering your next move and your next move with jobs. Do you want to talk about how that process worked for you in your head? So as far as following the risk goes, just being involved in different projects on construction sites, I just saw that that's where most people were getting hurt was in construction. And that's, you know,
00:37:53
Speaker
Like I said, I followed the risk. I followed where most injuries were happening. And it just was like an inherent thing for me. Yeah. And so it's kept you not only engaged professionally, but also employed. Yes. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, Crystal, you're 25 years into it. Doesn't sound like you're slowing down. I know. What's next? What's next? Yeah, right. What's next? What are you working on now?
00:38:24
Speaker
Well, one of my goals is that I'm interested in a safety school so I can empower and educate more safety professionals, those people who are underemployed and unemployed to help them get into the safety field. So that's one thing I am working on. Wonderful. Yeah, that's fabulous. And there are a number of ways. They have Sophie Davis grants with OSHA.
00:38:51
Speaker
I've looked into that, working with several nonprofit organizations to see how we can train professionals for the future. Yeah, to try to get more people into it. Yes, as I often find that I can't find, and a lot of companies say this, they just can't find credentials and they can't find experienced individuals or people who are already working. One good thing about safety is that there is a demand.
00:39:16
Speaker
for people and jobs. Yeah, and it appears to be growing right now. As so many of the people who started out in the safety industry after OSHA came into being are retired or long retired, and there's just kind of this, there's a need right now out there for safety professionals who know what they're doing. Yeah.
00:39:43
Speaker
The president of Waters basically said one thing to me when I was hired. He said there are a percentage of safety professionals that he feels like don't know what they're doing and don't care. And that's like a certain percentage. Then there's a percent who might know what they're doing, but they don't care. And then there's the top 2% that know what they're doing and they care. And that was one of the reasons why he hired me is that he felt that I was one of the top 2% which really
00:40:11
Speaker
Um, we had a synergy and we really, um, brought us together to try to, um, continue to make the safety culture and waters better. So, um, I just strive. And I hope that, um, those professionals that don't care start to care and, um,
00:40:29
Speaker
You really do stand out when you are one who is a vocation and a passion. Yeah. And I do think that's something that runs true in our career. Well, Crystal, as we are rounding out our time today, are there any last thoughts you have, things that you'd like to share with the audience, or best practices you'd like to leave people with?
00:40:57
Speaker
First and foremost, I'd say the most effective safety professional is one that cares, that coaches, that is charismatic in a way that you just show workers that you are on their side and that it's not just about the bottom line. Yes, you know, production matters. You want your employer to
00:41:24
Speaker
to get jobs done on time and under budget and all that. But mostly as a professional, you're the advocate for the worker. And so that's basically what I want to get across is that we want people, especially in the construction field, whereas the highest fatalities, we want workers to go home safe to their families the way they came in. And you don't want to be a policeman on the job because people will not react to that, that you want to be
00:41:50
Speaker
a coach, you want to be a confidant. I mean, my main thing on the job site is that I don't want people running from the safety diva, the safety lady, when she's coming, they're running away. I want them to come to me and say, Crystal, I need safety glasses. Crystal, I need you to work with me on this particular project. How can we make it safe? We want to work together as a collaboration. And you get that through earning trust, through learning what they do, putting yourself in their place. And as an emerging professional,
00:42:20
Speaker
That's what I would suggest for anyone in the field. And if you're not doing that right now, to get on board.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, right. Fabulous. Crystal, I've taken a couple of notes just listening to you right now, and you have a number of C's associated with you that I think are wonderful ways to leave to close out our time today. So, Crystal, who emphasizes being caring, being a coach, being charismatic, being a confidant, and collaborating.
00:42:51
Speaker
That's beautiful crystal. Thank you so much for your time today and sharing your wisdom. You're welcome. It was a pleasure Jill
00:42:58
Speaker
And thank you for spending your time listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution, making sure your workers, including your temporary workers, make it home safe every day. If you'd like to join the conversation about this episode or any of our previous episodes, follow and join our page on the Accidental Safety Pro Community Group on Facebook. And if you're not subscribed and want to hear past or future episodes, you can subscribe in iTunes, the Apple Podcast app, or any other podcast player that you'd like.
00:43:28
Speaker
You can also find all of our episodes at vividlearningsystems.com slash podcast. We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review us on iTunes. It really helps us to connect the show with more and more safety professionals like you and I. And of course, you can share any episode you'd like with your friends. If you have a suggestion for a guest, including if it's you, you can please reach out to me at social at vividlearningsystems.com. Special thanks to Will Moss, our podcast producer. And until next time.
00:43:58
Speaker
Thanks for listening.