As General Manager, I am currently the head of safety and health for a multi-national industrial minerals mining company. A tour of a meat packaging plant as a teenager, and the many hazards that required control within that environment, solidified my decision to become a safety and health professional. During that tour, I witnessed workers using large knives while preparing the meat for packing, unguarded rotating machinery, the cattle being euthanized with loud bolt guns, and was shown pictures of worker injuries by the safety and health manager. Motivated by that early experience, I have remained strongly committed to this profession for years and I derive great satisfaction from facilitating improvement within the construction, industrial, and mining environments and protecting miners. Seven years after graduating from the Safety Engineering Technology program at Mythic College, a member of Polytechnics Canada, I began the process of becoming a Certified Safety Professional. This endeavor involved a two-year concerted effort of balancing study and work. During late 20xx, I earned the Certified Safety Professional designation from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Since then, I have maintained my designation through earning sufficient continuance of certification points by attending and presenting at national professional conferences, such as those sponsored by the Society for Mining and Metallurgical Engineering and the American Industrial Hygiene Association. Evidence of my ability to solve problems and think “outside the box” may be found in my initiation of formal research projects with engineers and scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). During 20xx, I initiated a seven-year research project with NIOSH which culminated in the development of a quick, safe, and effective technology that allows workers at mineral processing operations to clean their dustsoiled clothing periodically throughout the workday. A former Bureau of Mines report documented a 10-fold increase in worker dust exposure on a number of separate occasions from dusty work clothes.1 This technology, referred to as the “clothes cleaning booth,” can significantly reduce worker exposure to dust and is gaining traction within the mining and industrial industries. Since 20xx I have also initiated NIOSH studies involving ergonomic interventions and Age Awareness Training. The objective of the Age Awareness Training is to increase worker awareness regarding physical and mental changes associated with the aging process – the more aware workers are of these changes, the better equipped they are to avoid injury and illness. Most recently, I have initiated a project with NIOSH with the objective of merging real-time aerosol monitor data with web cam videos for the development of state of the art training materials. My intent is for the training materials to visually quantify how small changes in work practices can significantly impact personal exposure levels to dust. The objective of this research and development project is to lower worker exposures to respirable dust.
During my career as a safety professional, I have gained extensive experience evaluating personal workplace exposures to potential toxic materials, to include development of control measures as needed. The potential toxins I have evaluated and controlled have included quartz, cristobalite, asbestos, diesel particulate matter, welding fumes, and radiation. Other physical hazards I have often evaluated and controlled include noise, heat, cold, and illumination. I have also managed an extensive occupational health program for approximately 3,000 miners as well as developed and managed a robust internet-based safety and health data management program which is used on a daily basis by our mining operations globally. I am a strong believer in continuous improvement, both within the working environment and professionally. My professional development converts directly into improvement of the working environment which translates directly into safer and healthier miners. Attaining a Master of Science degree in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech is the next step in my professional development process. My two primary reasons for continuing to advance my professional development are (a) to prepare myself to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist, and (b) to improve my ability to quickly and effectively identify and control hazards. Achieving an MS in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech would most certainly derive benefit for me and the workers I endeavor to protect. If admitted, as I have effectively demonstrated in attaining my Certified Safety Professional designation, I would successfully balance work and studies and eventually become a graduate Montana Tech would be proud to call one of its own.