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I’ve met many leaders in my life, from corporate and business heads to entertainers and politicians. But no kind of leader has more passion or investment in their role than the safety leader. These are the men and women for whom work is more than a bottom line – it’s a mission.
Lorraine M. Martin
President and CEO
National Safety Council
For more than a century, the National Safety Council has worked to save lives through safer workplaces, roadways and communities. We know that for safety leaders, their role doesn’t stop at quitting time. They carry it with them every second of every day, constantly caring for their people and looking for ways to make them safer.
The 2023 NSC Rising Stars of Safety embody this drive better than anyone. Founded in 2010, the program recognizes up-and-coming safety professionals younger than 40 who have a proven track record of safety leadership in their organization and are dedicated to continuous improvement. This program is possible thanks to the generous support of our 2023 Rising Stars award sponsor, The Dow Chemical Co.
These 36 safety leaders, representing eight countries and a wide range of industries, are truly the best and brightest in safety. Through innovation, collaboration and communication, they have helped create safer workplaces and enabled people to live their fullest lives – both on and off the job. Though we know these leaders did not choose their profession for the accolades, they deserve our celebration and recognition.
I’m so in awe of everyone in this group. Tech. Sgt. Jalleshia Miller, for example, with the U.S. Air Force, who oversees the safety and well-being of more than 66,000 of our service members. Jalleshia has put inclusion at the forefront of her safety program, particularly for female personnel. She strives to connect female service members to safety professionals and has brought the percentage of women in the safety career field to 23. She has prioritized off-duty safety as well, overseeing the Air Force’s most extensive motorcycle training program.
Ryan Holsopple lives the value of safety, both on and off the job. As a safety specialist with Nutrien, Ryan has engaged frontline workers in reporting harmful exposures. He restructured the company’s safety program and introduced incentives that have increased exposure identifications by an impressive 50%. Where workers previously had to come in early or stay late for training, Ryan sacrificed his own schedule to ensure employees were trained during their shifts. In his downtime, Ryan is an active volunteer firefighter and responds to more than 300 events each year.
For Denny Yu, researching exoskeletons and other injury-preventing technologies is especially personal. Denny’s parents both served in manufacturing jobs, and both sustained musculoskeletal injuries as a result of their work. Denny’s ergonomics research is helping to find solutions that can stop these injuries before they occur. Read each profile to learn more about the NSC Rising Stars of Safety, Class of 2023.
Finally, I want to thank each of this year’s honorees. Your work is making the world safer for us all.
— Lorraine M. Martin
Rising Stars profilesUse these links to visit Rising Stars profile pages, or browse all profiles as a slideshow using the navigation arrows at the top of each page. |
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View Rising Stars profiles as they appear in the print edition of Safety+Health.
Join the Young Professionals Division
Are you a safety professional younger than 45? Would you like to connect with other “rising stars?” Develop your skills and advance your career in safety leadership by joining the NSC Young Professionals Division. All NSC member company employees are welcome to join this group to receive access to networking events, professional development opportunities and invitations to NSC Division meetings. Be on the cutting edge of safety and share your fresh ideas with your peers.
Learn more about how to get involved at nsc.org/ypd.
Fahed Ahmed AlAwadhi
Age: 37
Director, Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department
Dubai Municipality
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
“When construction on the Deep Tunnel Storm Water Project started, Fahed set the goal to deliver the project without a lost-time injury. He required frequent audits by the supervision consultant and support for the safety team. The project went through four Middle East summer periods without heat-related injuries. New measures to gauge the humidity and temperature above ground in comparison to deep confined spaces were initiated to keep the workers safe. Chilled ventilations were introduced in deep confined spaces, and all workers’ health was monitored frequently.”
Mohamed AlMarzooqi
Age: 29
Head of Accident Investigation Team, Health and Safety Dept.
Dubai Municipality
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
“Mohamed spearheaded a project to improve safety in graveyards by minimizing occupational hazards during digging and utilizing mechanical means to reduce risks for workers/human intervention. His goal was to ensure Dubai’s prominence in safety by covering all aspects based on best practices. He saved 245,000 dirhams (by digitalizing cemetery permits after using them manually. Mohamed’s proactive leadership and innovative thinking have made a measurable impact on safety.”
Ali Ayub
Age: 31
Process Safety Engineer
Vantage Specialty Chemicals
Gurnee, IL
“Ali is actively involved in training the Gurnee, IL, site on hazards and OSHA process safety management programs. He introduced a weekly safety bulletin that helps enable operators to better identify potentially unsafe conditions and modify behaviors. He regularly publishes articles on LinkedIn and participates in webinars and conferences. In his first Vantage assignment, Ali involved senior production and technical resources to develop a Dual Check Safety protocol, clearly documenting parameters to record information and actions needed should deviations be detected.”
Srikanth Bangaru
Age: 31
Director of Construction Technology
Inncircles Technologies Inc.
Baton Rouge, LA
“Srikanth has assisted small and medium-sized construction contracting companies in digitizing their safety programs using the Inncircles Arena platform. Srikanth analyzed the safety program and configured the platform to provide a tailored digital solution for each company. This enabled the companies to transition their safety processes onto a digital platform swiftly. Digitalizing safety programs enhanced efficiency, accuracy, monitoring, communication, compliance and cost savings for construction companies.”
Mark Brogan
Age: 36
EHS Manager, APAC
Netflix Inc.
Pyrmont, Australia
“In 2022, Mark conducted 35 safety trainings and supported 34 film/series productions and 116 marketing/publicity events. He conducted EHS audits of offices and studios in 13 countries. In addition, Mark is passionate about putting people’s health and wellness at the center of office design. It takes a holistic approach to health in the built environment. He evaluated indoor air quality and other productivity parameters for all APAC locations. In 2023, due to Mark’s guidance, Netflix will achieve WELL Health & Safety certifications across numerous Asia locations.”
Cory Buchanan
Age: 38
Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
Boeing
Everett, WA
“Cory serves as a subject matter expert for service provider oversight and led a project to significantly improve the overall program at Boeing’s Everett facility. Cory took ownership of the SP program and coordinated with supplier management and F&AM to review site-specific safety plans. He conducted SP orientations in which 4,000 SP’s teammates were briefed on hazards, responsibilities and specific requirements based on the statement of work. The process improvements resulted in zero findings during the EHS audit in 2021.”
Natalie Centeno
Age: 32
Athletic Trainer
Pivot Onsite Innovations
Boston, MA
“‘Days without an incident’ on construction sites is always talked about, but sometimes it misses the bigger picture of what actually leads to reductions in injuries or incidents. Natalie runs a customized program called ‘Stretch and Flex.’ Every morning, Natalie leads the program to physically help workers prepare for the day ahead and get them in the right mental health space for the work to come. They participate in dynamic exercises targeted at injury prevention care and, like a yoga session, calming the minds of workers before the day begins.”
Austin Clary
Age: 35
Safety Engineer
Jacobs
Kennedy Space Center, FL
“Austin is a fall protection competent person, and his subject matter expertise has been critical in ensuring the safety of all those involved in operations at height at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. His leadership in this area has been instrumental in preventing falls during critical, technical and construction operations. But Austin’s impact goes far beyond fall prevention. He is a boots-on-the-ground leader who has successfully managed safety operations for numerous projects across the Kennedy Space Center.”
Sean Davis
Age: 30
Industrial Hygienist
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC
“When Sean joined our group, our respirator program was confusing. Services were sporadic and compliance was low. Sean revised the program website, directing users to the information most important to them. He streamlined the respirator request process and inserted an exposure assessment to provide a certified PPE hazard assessment. He improved the medical evaluation process by collaborating with the Occupational Medicine Department. And he modified the online training course to include a fit-test scheduling feature.”
Raffi F. Elchemmas
Age: 37
Executive Director, Safety, Health, and Risk Management
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
Washington, DC
“Raffi recently established a cross-trade partnership with four national construction associations to produce five safety and health videos aimed at transforming safety culture. The videos were made available to almost 10,000 construction firms and over 1 million workers in conjunction with Construction Safety Week 2023. The contents emphasize safety culture changes around fall protection, electrical safety, personal protective equipment, working safely at height and mental health.”
Paul Ferrara
Age: 37
EHS Leader
Owens Corning
Ocala, FL
“Paul recognized the serious risk due to the absence of a lockout/tagout program. He immediately put a control in place through the use of a LOTO special permit. In the meantime, he rapidly and in a high-quality way implemented our internal LOTO program. He leveraged the internal maintenance persons and other safety leaders within the organization to get this important program implemented, active and effective. The measure of this is that all 19 lines and subsequent process and ancillary equipment have the matrix, and all training is completed.”
Raven Foster
Age: 31
Biosafety Officer
Houston Health Department*
Houston, TX
“Raven leads 12 safety committee meetings at department/lab levels and participates in four CBRNE Safety Working Groups annually. She manages 39 facilities’ safety, including six clinics/stat labs plus her Central Laboratory. Fifty-plus facility inspections occur monthly, with 98% safe work conditions identified. Monthly ‘Safety Spotlights’ recognize proactive safety. Weekly bulletins are distributed to 1,600 employees.”
*Raven currently works for the MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Ali Raza Ghori
Age: 32
Deputy Manager HSE
Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co.
Karachi, Pakistan
“Ali proactively addressed a surge in fire incidents through a high-impact campaign as per NFPA standards. He performed a gap analysis, resulting in a 90% reduction in fire incidents and improved worker awareness of safety practices. He orchestrated emergency response drills, conducted comprehensive incident investigations, and delivered cutting-edge risk assessment training, maximizing team expertise.”
Taylor Goyke
Age: 31
Division Safety Manager
Clark Construction*
Chicago, IL
“During the past year, Taylor piloted Hoist TVs on several projects in Clark’s Northern region. These TVs are posted at loading dock hoists and allow teams to post and update safety content as the job progresses to educate all members of the team. In addition to pre-populated content libraries with microlearning videos and other Clark messaging, project teams have the capability to create their own content based on specific project requirements.”
*Taylor currently works for Gilbane Building Co.
Ryan Gunther
Age: 34
Regional HSE Manager
Ampirical Solutions
Covington, LA
“One of the things we believe in at Ampirical is a ‘no-blame’ culture. Blame solves nothing, and you can accuse and blame or you can learn and improve, but you can’t do both. Ryan has taken these values and built a safety culture that is second to none. To focus on leading indicators, a company has to collect true and unbiased data from its field employees. When this data is tracked and trended, we are able to see an accident before it happens and get out in front of it. Ryan and his team led this initiative, and we are learning how to make it safe for employees to fail.”
Corey Hayes
Age: 38
Safety Director
Alberici Constructors
St. Louis, MO
“On each project, the safety teams Corey leads create ways for workers to anonymously report safety concerns and/or suggestions. However, most workers find Corey’s safety teams very approachable and communicate their concerns directly. Corey always invites the craft to come to safety meetings and jobsite safety audits. He has created ways to establish mass-communication opportunities on projects to share safety information, emergency notifications and reminders. Each project has a weekly/daily safety communication with the craft.”
Ryan Holsopple
Age: 39
SH&E Specialist
Nutrien
Aurora, NC
“One of Ryan’s consistent passions is engaging frontline workers, especially with our Exposure-Based Safety program. To increase participation in EBS, Ryan restructured the training program for new observers, added additional coaches and better defined a steering committee. The restructuring of the program has allowed shift employees to effectively participate while at work, rather than devote time on days off. Ryan has also created an in-house lottery ticket system with prizes such as lunch vouchers and company promotional items.”
Carissa Imrecke
Age: 39
Hospital Quality Manager
Memorial Hermann Health System – Sugarland Hospital
Sugarland, TX
“Carissa completes monthly hospital inspections, maintaining 96%-plus safe conditions with averages of five monthly near-miss reports/corrective actions. ‘Tracer’ inspection/observations performed twice a month show 100% hand hygiene, disinfection and chemical safety. Achievements include 100% prevention for patient pressure injury prevention and a new training campaign on suicide prevention.”
Delaney Jaworski
Age: 32
Senior WHS RME Lead, GDS/ATS
Amazon
Rincon, GA
“One metric that is used to measure safety culture is the Safety Leadership Index. To improve these scores and sentiment, Delaney created a requirement for her bottom-performing SLI sites to complete SLI action plans with details of actions to be taken to improve the overall safety culture at the site within a 30-day period. These action plan reviews were accomplished through regular phone reviews, site interaction and diligent follow-up with her business units. By the end of 2022, two-thirds of Delaney’s business units were performing at or above the network SLI-A goal metric.”
Samuel Lilly
Age: 35
Senior Safety Manager
Rosendin
Sterling, VA
“Samuel implemented Rosendin’s Craft Empowerment Program while building the QTS Lockridge data center, where he helped ensure the safety of 350 union/nonunion employees. Implementing the CEP gave electrical workers a voice in the way work was performed by setting up checks and balances to be successful and safe. Samuel ensured CEP representatives talked with workers daily to understand their needs and hear concerns. Samuel showed co-workers that safety is a valued aspect and that employee voices regarding safety concerns mattered.”
Rachel Michaud
Age: 26
Occupational Safety & Health Specialist
The Boeing Co.
North Charleston, SC
“Rachel created and led an impactful safety initiative to revise a primer dust vacuum cleaning and maintenance process to reduce team member exposure to hexavalent chromium. Rachel took the initiative to identify the issue, find a solution and implement the project. The new vacuums are easily portable, require less maintenance and cleaning, and allow filter replacement without exposure to primer dust. This initiative has resulted in zero primer dust incidents or near misses, related to the vacuum cleaning process, since the initiative was implemented.”
Thomas Mihalic
Age: 33
EHS&S Consultant
Corteva Agriscience
Wilmington, DE
“Tom led a team of 18 employees in the development/implementation of our new global fall protection standard. He organized and launched a competent person training program that resulted in the qualification by 3M of eight internal trainers, purchase of necessary equipment and the scheduling/delivery of courses. Within six months, over 100 people were trained, near-miss reporting related to fall protection increased, and deficiencies in the use of fall protection equipment were identified and corrected.”
Amy Mika
Age: 30
Manager – Safety, Health & Environment
Ecolab
Naperville, IL
“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Ecolab, like many organizations, initially struggled with handling our ongoing SH&E audit programs, which relied heavily on travel-based onsite activities. Amy was not deterred by this and instead she quickly led the development of a remote audit program using online and remote viewing technology. She rolled out the revised program globally. As a result of her actions, we were able to continue delivering the program and, more importantly, still identify valuable compliance insights to improve safety at our global locations.”
Tech. Sgt. Jalleshia Miller
Age: 32
Occupational Safety Technician
U.S. Air Force
Ramstein, Germany
“Committed to nurturing a learning-centric environment that promotes growth, Jalleshia connects aspiring female service members with safety professionals for recruitment and retraining. This initiative has fostered the exchange of knowledge, expertise and insights among women – contributing to the increase of women in the occupational safety career field to 23%. Tech. Sgt. Miller’s unwavering dedication aligns with four-star Gen. Charles Brown’s initiative on diversity and inclusion. She has laid the foundation for a new generation of women leaders in the military.”
Katie Mulligan
Age: 38
Research Scientist/Reactive Chemicals Subject Matter Expert
The Dow Chemical Co.
Lake Jackson, TX
“Katie leads the global R&D Process Safety Event Prevention Project that delivers enhanced training for lab workers, which enables recognition, anticipation, and reduction or elimination of process safety hazards in the research environment. She’s recruited researchers and safety professionals to create engaging and informative training. Since 2019, 15 trainings and infographics have been delivered across many platforms, with 10 more planned.”
Angelica Nava-Gutierrez
Age: 40
Regional EHS Manager
Cardinal Health*
Los Angeles, CA
“There was a new warehouse being opened during COVID-19. Angelica went through hurdles to ensure execution of all the safety requirements to make sure patients could be treated and doctors had their necessary PPE. Monitoring equipment had to be installed and there were travel restrictions from programmers, so she spent several hours and weeks on calls with support via FaceTime and educating herself on the technology to have it safely and properly installed and programmed.”
*Angelica currently works for Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Chuma Nnaji
Age: 35
Assistant Professor
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
“In 2019, Chuma significantly revamped a safety engineering course at the University of Alabama by introducing emerging and critical concepts such as Prevention through Design, psychological safety, and intelligent systems applications in occupational safety and health. Over 250 students were instructed using the revised contents, and the revision was well received by students in his class. He also created a new graduate-level safety course at Texas A&M University in January.”
Mansoor Poozhithodi
Age: 37
Senior HSE Engineer
Kent PLC
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
“Mansoor understands safety is a mindset that needs to be injected into people, rather than a set of rules and regulations to follow. He walks that talk in the workplace by demonstrating health and safety practices, to the shop-floor workers through role-playing, case-study briefings, practical demonstrations and discussions. He consults discipline experts in reaching conclusions to the HSE and process safety challenges by engaging them through meetings and brainstorming sessions. This inspires his colleagues to embrace safety as a core business value.”
Jordan Roberts
Age: 29
Senior Safety Engineer
Cummins
Fridley, MN
“Jordan created a heat stress monitor project. During the summer, the HSE team would walk around filling up, checking and recording the monitor readings to send out emails when heat breaks were occurring. Now, the system is always running and each department has its own monitor. When we hit a heat break for five minutes, the system notifies the department contacts via email. When we come off breaks, it emails the same group to let them know the breaks are completed. The system can be viewed by all of HSE and operations online.”
Courtney Smith
Age: 32
Occupational Safety and Industrial Hygiene Program Manager
Central Plateau Cleanup Co.
Richland, WA
“The company president tasked Courtney with designing and implementing an all-employee ‘Healthy and Mission Ready’ initiative with 12 health-related pillars focused on one area for each month of the year. The initiative tasks various projects with creating a video, weekly safety topics, webpage information and activities for workers. This initiative has increased worker involvement and focus on total worker health.”
Jamie Sydykova
Age: 36
Safety Specialist
City of Rockville
Rockville, MD
“Jamie led an initiative to improve the safety of our employees working in confined spaces. This involved working with our operations employees and supervisors, as well as with outside vendors, to purchase multiple permanent and mobile confined space entry and retrieval davit systems. Another example of an initiative to improve the safety of our employees was the installation of perimeter guardrails around multiple city facilities. Jamie solicited feedback from our facilities’ employees who regularly have to perform maintenance from our roofs.”
Adam Tallman
Age: 34
Occupational Safety Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge
U.S. Air Force
Okinawa, Japan
“Mr. Tallman manages the base safety briefing and training that reaches more than 28,000 personnel. The safety brief changes each month depending on the time of year, associated hazards of the area and any trends that are in focus. Due to the location of Kadena Air Base, water activity is very popular. Mr. Tallman co-coordinated an Ocean Safety Expo for more than 400 members and their families. The Ocean Expo taught an abundance of activities, including proper use of personal protective equipment, how to react in a rip current and how to evaluate sea conditions.”
Carlos Umana
Age: 35
Regional EHS Manager
Swire Coca-Cola
Denver, CO
“Carlos’ unique management style shows interest in all associates, which includes getting to know them professionally and personally. The associates, in turn, want to collectively help improve the safety culture. He establishes clear expectations and takes the time to understand everyone’s concerns and continuously makes people feel appreciated and valued. The number of incidents/claims has dramatically dropped over the past year due to his time investing in transforming the culture and investing in safety programs that go above and beyond the normal safety standards.”
Robert Vannice
Age: 35
Senior Industrial Hygienist
Amazon
Olympia, WA
“Rob identified associates with potential exposure to noise due to their work activities near material handling equipment and conveyance systems. He immediately began to measure noise at 65 sites. At the same time, he partnered with operations and engineering to pilot test noise abatement measures and ‘design in’ noise controls for new equipment. His efforts are protecting associates from the possibility of noise-induced hearing loss, changing the design and specification of new noise-producing equipment, and ensuring associates have a more pleasant work environment.”
Nathaniel Winkelmann
Age: 30
Corporate Safety Director
Hartung Glass Industries
Tukwila, WA
“Nathaniel took it upon himself to develop and implement an entire international corporate safety program from scratch that focuses on changing the entire culture of the organization across North America. In the development of this program, Nathaniel ensured the corporate safety program maintained regulatory compliance in all eight occupational health and safety jurisdictions, while also making sure that best practices from around the industry were included. In two years, the entire enterprise has witnessed a reduction in safety incidents and injuries by over 30%.”
Denny Yu
Age: 36
Associate Professor
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
“In a recent study, Denny evaluated a tactile pressure-sensing glove system to determine whether the glove system could provide safety practitioners with a tool to monitor worker hand loads. The study found that these gloves could provide a continuous measure of hand loads. Mitigating forceful exertions is a major challenge in health care, with sustained postures and non-modifiable task loads. Denny was one of the first to publish on the use of exoskeletons as an intervention in the operating room. This paper has already been cited 40 times and has received media attention.”
