2018 Rising Stars of Safety

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CHOOSE A PROFILE -- Select a Rising Star -- - Introduction Ali Hassan Radhi Abdulwahab Mary Baird Adam L. Bates Brandon Tyler Batt Micah Copeland Ryan Dalessandro Brandon J. Hody Ammar Hussain Josh Jones Randee Johnson Muhammad Suhail Khawaja Kyle Kline Evan J. Kutzin Kristi May Kevin P. McCann Cody McFatrich Stephanie Miller Jarred Milliner Justin Musall Jack W. Norray Eugen E. Oana Leslie E. Pallister Philip Glen Pickle Cecilia Pierce Geoffrey Pinkney Rachael Leone Phillips Seth Randall Christopher R. Reid Muhammad Rizwanullah Ryan J. Shore Hammad Tahir Guliz Talay Haley Uhl Thomas Van Leer Michael Vahldick Ryan Villani Brandon Wiseman Clinton T. Wolfley

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A fresh perspective to address hazards on and off the job

The National Safety Council was created by business leaders who saw that workplace fatalities and injuries didn’t have to be the cost of doing business, and who turned to new solutions to make a difference. More than a century later, people today are more than nine times safer at work than they are on the job. Each year, we strive to make a difference for the millions of workers across the country who depend on their employers to prepare for and prevent injuries at work.

For the first time in nearly a decade, fatal work injuries have surpassed 5,000 – marking the third consecutive annual increase in workplace deaths. We know that this increase comes at a time when a record number of safety professionals are nearing retirement. Nearly every industry has been affected, and because employees are far more likely to be injured or killed on the job, it also affects us at home and on the road, as injury deaths are rising across the board.

In this atmosphere, we need fresh ideas and new approaches. The Rising Stars of Safety examine age-old problems through a new lens, seek out hidden hazards and come up with creative solutions. Today’s young safety leaders aren’t afraid to take risks or try a new approach to help keep their colleagues and communities safe. The goal of eliminating preventable deaths in our lifetime means we need their ideas and initiative now more than ever. They certainly deliver.

Scientist Mary Baird used humor and creativity to address one of the most persistent types of workplace injury – slips, trips and falls. Turning a commonplace incident into a Tyrannosaurus rex character named “Trip,” Mary gave new life to a standard safety awareness initiative with great results – reducing slip, trip and fall injuries by 45 percent for the 5,000 employees at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in Aiken, SC.

Safety Manager Brandon Tyler Batt started a program that not only engaged employees but encouraged family safety pledges to help Manhattan Construction employees in Washington, D.C., focus on safety through a “Family First” mindset.

Corporate HSE Engineer Muhammad Suhail Khawaja empowered workers at the First National Operation and Maintenance Co. in Saudi Arabia to stop unsafe jobs by developing stop-work authority guidelines to prevent dangerous operations and injuries, reducing the incident rate at NOMAC by almost 12 percent.

Each created a thoughtful campaign, developed effective communication and engaged others in his or her mission to eliminate preventable deaths and injuries on and on the job. Each member of the 2018 Class of Rising Stars of Safety embraces zero as the only acceptable number when it comes to injuries and deaths. They see a specific problem, they figure out how to solve it and then they act. Our Rising Stars not only help make safety visible at their respective companies, they help make safety visible for all of us.

We are honored to recognize their achievements and present their examples for others to follow and inspire the next generation of safety leaders.

Deborah A. P. Hersman
President and CEO
National Safety Council

View Rising Stars profiles as they appear in the print edition of Safety+Health.