ASSP member Mitch Transtrum was selected as a Top Young Professional by ENR Southwest for his commitment to safety as an employee of the architecture, engineering and construction company.

ENR Southwest evaluated nominees for four primary criteria: professional achievement, involvement with the larger construction community, contributions to the southwest region’s built environment and service to the community.

Transtrum was lauded for his commitment to finding new solutions to complex safety issues. He spent summers working on construction sites in his youth and went on to earn a master’s degree in occupational and environmental health and safety from University of Utah in 2011. In his current role as a safety manager at Mortenson in Phoenix, AZ, Transtrum is responsible for planning, developing, coordinating and administering the safety and health program for the company’s Arizona projects.

“Transtrum consistently challenges the status quo, helping to ensure that our team members are spending time on processes that add increasing value,” says Ian Small, sports and entertainment group safety director at Mortenson. “If he finds we are just going through the motions, he works to identify opportunities to increase the value or to eliminate waste in the process.”

“I feel deeply honored to be recognized as a top young professional in the construction industry. As injury rates have become stagnated in our industry, I am striving to change the psychology of social norm when it comes to at-risk behavior,” says Transtrum. “I focus on creating a safety climate and culture of caring for each other. We do this by setting clear expectations, removing barriers to success and holding each other accountable. If we don’t look after each other and fail to speak up, we will continue to hurt people. I take pride in being a change agent in this necessary cause.”

Transtrum is a member of ASSP’s Arizona Chapter.