My career in safety began as a maintenance professional in 2005. While maintaining buildings and grounds, I became interested in safety by surrounding myself with safety professionals. As a contractor at ExxonMobil and Phillips66, I was exposed to a safety culture, which catalyzed my safety career to grow in construction safety while at the same time earning my bachelor's degree at Rutgers University. As an Environmental, Health, and Safety Specialist at Air Liquide, I had a talent to learn fast and grow in Process Safety Management (PSM), Hazardous Waste Management, incident investigation, HAZCOM, HAZWOPER, fire safety, and Contractor Safety. My career path took an exciting turn, and I landed in the pharmaceutical industry. During this time, I attained more knowledge in PSM while ensuring the safety and welfare of technicians in cross-functional teams. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, I was mentored by my manager and desired more knowledge on OSHA standards, safety training, audits, process safety, and more. An opportunity came across my inbox on LinkedIn at Century Therapeutics as an Environmental Health and Safety Manager. This opportunity gave me the challenge to shape my safety career, prove my skills, and make it profitable to attain my Associate Safety Professional and Certified Safety Professional certificates.
Safety is not just a core value to me; it's a character trait. It comes naturally to me because I am genuinely concerned about dangerous work behaviors and occupational conditions. I believe all injuries are preventable, and I am committed to an injury-free and incident-free workplace. Holding the value of health and safety is a condition that comes with meaningful responsibilities coupled with courage while upholding high standards. Safety is not for those who settle by just getting by and accepting the norm - it's a tenacious attitude never to bow the knee to risk and unsafe conditions. We owe it to our families and peers to resist the temptation to let our guard down, even if it costs more or takes too much time. I read an article with a great catchphrase, "It's better to be late in this life than early in the next." If we genuinely believe this statement, how much can change in our microwave culture? It's up to us as safety professionals to encourage everyone to be safe and remember that the value of life is God-given and not to be taken lightly.