OSH Generations is about family and the safety profession. Many OSH professionals have parents or children who are also in the profession. Our members share their stories of the people who influenced them to enter the safety profession or those who they inspired to become safety professionals. Here is the story of Ron Gantt, CSP, ARM, CET, a professional member of our San Francisco Chapter. This story was originally published in the June 2013 issue of Society Update.
I wanted to share the story of my father and myself. After retiring as a fire chief, my father, Paul Gantt, started an occupational safety and health consulting and training company while I was still in middle school. As my father grew his business, I, like many other sons, had a natural aversion to the whole thing. I always swore I’d never join the company. However, life intervened and after some failed tries at other careers, I came to my father looking for an entry-level job to hold me over for a while. My father was thrilled, but I still wasn’t convinced, always keeping an eye out for other opportunities. However, my father encouraged me to finish a degree in occupational safety and health, and I got a few certifications.
After a few years at the company, my father’s passion started to win me over. With his help, I’ve earned my CSP and my ARM. Now, in addition to working together, we meet regularly to talk about safety, trying to understand the topic in a deeper way so that we can better serve our clients. Having spoken at ASSP’s annual Professional Development Conference for several years, my father copresented with me at Safety 2011 and since then, we’ve spoken together at other conferences and seminars. A few years ago, we signed up for a Master of Engineering program in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management and worked through that together. Working with family doesn’t work for everyone but in our situation, we challenge each other and encourage each other’s passion for safety.