Deborah Hersman is president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and preventing injuries. Ms. Hersman is a recognized leader in safety, with a frontline understanding of the value of protecting human life through thoughtful attention and management of risk.
Acknowledged as a visionary, Ms. Hersman is a passionate safety leader who advocates for safety across all industries. She helps further the Council’s vision of ‘making our world safer’ to improve every workplace, home and community as well as the way we travel every day.
Prior to joining NSC, Ms. Hersman served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 2009-2014. Among her many initiatives as chairman, Ms. Hersman focused on distracted driving, child passenger safety and helping victims and their families. Ms. Hersman was an NTSB board member on-scene for more than 20 major transportation incidents, chaired scores of NTSB hearings, forums and events and regularly testified before Congress.
Ms. Hersman was a senior advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999-2004. She also served as staff director and senior legislative aide to former U.S. Rep. Bob Wise (D. – W. Va.) from 1992-1999. Her efforts contributed to the passage of milestone bills such as the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century and Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act.
Ms. Hersman holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and international studies from Virginia Tech, and a Master’s of Science degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University. She is a certified child passenger safety technician and holds a commercial driver’s license (with passenger, school bus and air brake endorsements) as well as a motorcycle endorsement.
Tim Dove is president and chief executive officer of Pioneer Natural Resources. Dove is a member of Pioneer’s management committee and has served on Pioneer’s board of directors since 2013. Under his leadership, Pioneer has become one of the most efficient operators among the U.S. shale resource companies.
Dove joined Pioneer’s predecessor company, Parker & Parsley, in 1994 as vice president of business development and was promoted to senior vice president in 1996, where he served until the formation of Pioneer in 1997. Dove’s initial role at Pioneer was executive vice president - business development until 2000, when he was promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer. He became Pioneer’s president and chief operating officer in 2004. In 2017, he was named president and chief executive officer.
Prior to joining Parker & Parsley, Dove worked for Diamond Shamrock Corporation and a successor, Maxus Energy Corporation. Dove holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.
Dove serves on the Corporate Development Committee of MIT. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas Foundation and the Energy Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Dane Parker currently serves as Vice President of the Sustainable Workplaces organization for General Motors. In this role, he provides leadership and oversight for all GM manufacturing and non-manufacturing facilities globally. His responsibilities include facility design, engineering, construction and operations, global workplace strategy, energy procurement and efficiency, environmental compliance and sustainability.
Prior to GM, Dane was Vice President, Global Real Estate, Facilities and Environment, Health and Safety, for Dell, Inc. Dane also spent more than 13 years at Intel Corporation in the Technology and Manufacturing organization in a variety of operational roles.
Dane has a passion for enabling peak performance in individuals and organizations, including how workplace environments can influence and support culture.
On a personal note, Dane has been married for 28 years and has six children and one granddaughter. He enjoys outdoor activities with family, serving others and constantly learning.
Nelson P. Repenning is the Associate Dean of Leadership and Special Projects, and the School of Management Distinguished Professor of System Dynamics and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Nelson currently serves as the faculty director for MIT’s Executive MBA program. His early work focused on understanding the inability of organizations to leverage well-established tools and practices. He has worked extensively with organizations trying to develop new capabilities in both manufacturing and new product development. Nelson has also studied the failure to use the safety practices that often lead to industrial accidents and has helped investigate several major incidents. This line of research has been recognized with several awards, including best paper recognition from both the California Management Review and the Journal of Product Innovation Management.
Building on his earlier work, Nelson now focuses on developing the theory and practice of Dynamic Work Design—a new approach to designing work that is both effective and engaging—and Dynamic Management Systems, a method for insuring that day-to-day work is tightly linked to the strategic objectives of the firm. He is also a partner at ShiftGear Work Design and serves as its Chief Social Scientist.
In 2003, Nelson received the International System Dynamics Society’s Jay Wright Forrester award, which recognizes the best work in the field in the previous five years. In 2011 he received the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
He holds a BA in economics from Colorado College and a PhD in operations management and system dynamics from MIT.
As the Regional Administrator, Richard is responsible for OSHA operations throughout the Mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. OSHA activities include enforcement, whistleblower protection, Virginia and Maryland state plans, consultation projects, compliance assistance and outreach, cooperative programs, and emergency preparedness.
Previously, Richard served as the Deputy Regional Administrator for OSHA Region 2 (New York) from 2009 to 2016, and as Director of OSHA’s Manhattan Area Office from 2000 until 2009. In 2014, Richard served as the Acting Director for the Directorate of Whistleblower Protection Programs. Richard began his career with OSHA in 1988 as a summer intern Clerk-Typist in the Long Island Area Office, where he later served as a Safety Technician and then a Compliance Officer. In 1996 he was promoted to the New York Regional Office as a Safety Specialist in Federal Enforcement Operations, also serving as the Regional Construction Coordinator, as well as Acting Assistant Area Director in the Bayside Area Office.
Richard is currently detailed as the acting career Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA.
Richard has a Masters Degree in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from Hunter College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from SUNY Stony Brook.
Ms. Warner currently holds the position of Vice President Human Resources for Enterprise
Offshore Drilling LLC. Her background includes over 15 years in Human Resources including
implementation and management of employee programs and a proven track record of
streamlining efficiencies and transparent communication.
Before joining Enterprise Offshore, Ms. Warner held senior roles in Human Resources at
BlueLine Rental, Vallourec North America and Grant Prideco, Inc. She holds a Bachelor of
Business Studies in Management from Dallas Baptist University.
Anthony Blake serves as the director of safety, security and EHS training for Martin Resource Management Corporation, a diverse set of companies focused primarily on terminaling, storage and transportation of natural gas, industrial chemicals and petroleum products as well as sulfur based product gathering, processing and manufacturing.
Mr. Blake provides corporate oversight and leads a team of transportation and industrial safety professionals working with each business unit to manage safety, compliance and EHS training for 2,000 employees working at 80+ facilities.
Mr. Blake specializes in hazardous material transportation and emergency response and actively participates with several professional organizations including The Sulphur Institute, ILTA, NFPA, and IHMM. He is a certified hazardous materials manager licensed as a private pilot and commercial driver with hazmat, tank, passenger, air brake and motorcycle endorsements.
Beliza Stevenson currently serves as Manager of Contract Administration at Universal Plant Services, Inc. with a focus on full contract lifecycle management for both customers and subcontractors for the energy and oil and gas industry.
Beliza started her career as training and development manger with Lucent Technologies, but as a paralegal transitioned to a Business Manager role in the Oil and Gas industry and has worked in contract management and compliance roles in upstream, midstream and downstream for the last 15 years. Prior to joining UPS, she held roles at Marsulex, bp and Spectra Energy.
Beliza resides in Sacramento, California and enjoys kayaking and hiking throughout the Northern California region.
Bill Donato has been a Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) employee since 1988, having previously worked with BMS as a contractor since 1981. He currently serves as Associate Director- Bristol-Myers Squibb Contractor Safety Program, but has had many roles and responsibilities at BMS - educator, designer, project manager and contractor safety program manager, just to name a few. Bill has been associated with five capital projects at BMS that have achieved OSHA’s VPP Star Status and a key stakeholder in the development of the Work/Job Performance Evaluation process used to evaluate on-site contractor performance. Mr. Donato is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and Civil Air Patrol. He is certified in first aid/CPR and a certified competent person for scaffolding/excavations.
Watkins Construction Co., LLC is a general contracting firm and a family business with more
than 50 years of history serving the oil and gas industry.
Bob began working for Watkins Construction Company, LLC in 2001, and currently serves as the
Director of Safety and Compliance, and supervises the OQ, and Safety Training programs.
Prior to joining Watkins, Bob worked in the Construction Equipment Industry for 30 years in
sales and management positions.
Bob is a longstanding member of PCRG, and has OSHA certifications from Texas A&M
Engineering Extension Service, and the OSHA National Training Institute.
Ms. Monacelli currently holds the position of President for Advanced Indoor Air Quality Care. Her background includes over 21 years with the company, including a perfect safety record. They service the entire northeast and mid-Atlantic states with media blasting, soda blasting, dry ice blasting and sand blasting services. They are qualified member of the IAQA and IAQC. One of our most important attributes is our perfect safety record.
In addition to winning the Dorothy B Brother Scholarship Award, Ms. Monacelli holds degrees from University of Central Florida, Cocoa Beach and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
Mr. Lang is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where he leads a team of specialists in the development, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of Hydro Ottawa’s integrated ISO 14001/OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health, Safety and Environment (OHSE) Management System, and Business Continuity Management Program.
Hydro Ottawa’s core businesses are electricity distribution, renewable energy generation and related services. Prior to joining Hydro Ottawa and the electrical utility sector in 2011, Mr. Lang spent 26 years in occupational health and safety in the forest products, meat processing, automotive manufacturing, nuclear products and services and municipal government sectors.
Mr. Lang holds a Diploma in Personnel Management; an Honours Diploma in Safety Engineering Technology; a Master’s Certificate in Municipal Leadership and a Master’s Certificate in Energy Sector Leadership. Mr. Lang is a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP), a long standing member of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), and currently serves as a member of the Canadian Electricity Association’s Occupational Health and Safety Committee.
Hydro Ottawa has been an ISN hiring client partner since 2014.
Mr. McDonald currently serves as the EHS Compliance Manager at BakerCorp, a market leader in tank, pump, filtration and shoring equipment rentals with operations in North America and Europe. He is currently based out of Plano Texas with responsibilities over EHS policies and records compliance, EHS databases and insurance claims management. In addition to those duties he also serves as a Regional EHS Manager.
Prior to joining BakerCorp, Mr. McDonald retired from the U.S. Air Force where he had the opportunity to work in many different positions within occupational safety and risk management.
Chris holds a B.S. in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Mr. Lavergne serves as the Quality Health Safety and Environmental Specialist for the Tubular
Services, Gulf of Mexico Division at Nabors Industries. His current role includes incident investigation,
and managing all QHSE aspects of an Oil and Gas operation in an offshore environment.
Prior to joining Nabors Mr. Lavergne spent 15 years in telecommunications fiber optic engineering and
technical implementation. He has also served 8 years in the US Army Airborne Infantry, leading and
training soldiers in infantry tactics.
Through Alliance Safety Council Mr. Lavergne has received his Certified Occupational Safety Specialist
certification. He has also received Auditor Certifications through Axiom Logistics in API and SAI Global
in ISO 9001:2015. He is a Certified Yoga Teacher. He also has received multiple awards and
commendations from the US Army.
Dan Patino is a Sr. Manager of Contracting and Services for Enable Midstream Partners, LP, in Oklahoma City. He has over twenty (20) years of experience as a supply chain professional serving the Oil & GasMidstream, Electric Utility and Telecommunications industry. Throughout his career, he has and continues to focus on growing his skills in leading and managing teams, strategic sourcing, spend and data analysis, contracting, contractor/supplier performance management, Six Sigma and Lean. He lives in Edmond, OK and is the proud husband and father of one brilliant YouTuber, Lego builder, science guy and another amazing pianist, artist, soccer player. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Oklahoma, with a concentration in International Commerce.
Mrs. Gay currently serves as the Business Manager for D&L, Incorporated at their corporate office in Blytheville, Arkansas. D&L is a small construction company in the HVAC and Sheet Metal industry. D&L’s primary market is supplying HVAC services to steel mill manufacturing facilities.
In 1997, Mrs. Gay left an administrative position with the city Housing Authority to join D&L, Incorporated. Over the last twenty years, she has been instrumental to the growth of D&L by implementing a safety program and job costing program.
Daniel Groves is the founder and CEO of Construction Industry Resources providing market intelligence and project risk mitigation technology and solutions for large global owner and contractor companies building major construction projects (E.g. refining, power generation, chemical process and manufacturing). CIR owns and manages the Construction Labor Market Analyzer® (CLMA®) and the construction 20/20 Foresight Report which have emerged as a market leader for project labor risk analytics. Daniel was named by ENR Magazine as a global Top 25 Newsmaker for his work in developing and growing the CLMA®.
Daniel is also the Director of Operations and workforce consultant for the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT), an international organization of national and global companies representing nearly $200 billion in annual construction spending. CURT focuses on metrics, benchmarking and implementation of leading industry practices to help owners achieve the most productive use of every capital dollar. Daniel began working with CURT in 2007 on urgent workforce related issues and has been lending his expertise to the industrial construction market ever since.
After graduating from Asbury University in Kentucky in 1991 with degrees in the fields of accounting and business management, Daniel began his career with a law firm in Lexington, focusing on corporate and estate taxation and planning.
From 1991 to about 2007, Daniel founded and managed a contracting company, building, renovating and selling about 2 dozen residential and commercial buildings in the central Kentucky and Washington, DC regions.
In 1999, Daniel was named the Chief of Staff (one of the youngest on Capitol Hill) to United States Congressman Ernie Fletcher after managing his successful campaign. In 2003, Daniel managed Congressman Fletcher’s successful campaign for Governor then served as the Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Governor until leaving in 2005 to begin a strategic business planning and consulting practice.
Daniel has been honored to share his business and leadership experiences and learnings in various opportunities, including guest lecturing a leadership class for several years at the University of Cincinnati.
Daniel resides in Lexington, KY with his wife (Danelle) and two young sons (Nathan, 10 and Evan, 8). His passions include snow skiing, just about any sport with his boys and woodworking.
Dave is based in Springdale AR, at Tyson’s Corporate Headquarters. He currently serves as the Programs Manager for Tyson Foods Safety Technical Services Team. Additionally, Dave oversees contractor compliance and prequalification as well as implementation of the Power Industrial truck monitoring systems.
Prior to joining the Tyson team, Dave worked in the power generation industry as corporate Safety Subject Matter Expert responsible for contractor compliance, prequalification and outage safety for Luminant.
David is a Senior Director of Information Technology at SM Energy, providing leadership and oversight with Applications, IT Operations, Cybersecurity, Service Desk and Information Governance teams. He has been with SM Energy since 2009, holding leadership roles in Information Technology and Business Improvement.
Prior to SM Energy, David worked at Chesapeake Energy as an IT Director, Manager of Technical Field Services, and Supervisor of IT Operations Account Management. He has also worked at ConocoPhillips and Burlington Resources, holding various leadership roles in Information Technology.
With nearly 20 years of dynamic technology leadership experience and a total of 26 years in the Upstream oil and gas industry, David has a passion for coaching individuals and teams to grow and increase their overall effectiveness and delivery.
Mr. Carter, based in PTW’s Woodlands, TX office, currently serves as PTW’s Corporate HSE Director –
US Operations, and in partnership with PTW’s Senior Leadership Team, is responsible for developing,
leading and the continuous improvement of PTW’s health, safety and environment programs and
performance.
Prior to joining PTW, Mr. Carter spent over 24 years in the Nuclear Power Industry while serving
onboard a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine in the US Navy, and later as a Senior Nuclear Specialist, for
TXU, at a commercial nuclear power facility. His many duties included Human Performance
Fundamentals Facilitator, and as a Licensed Internal Consultant through Behavioral Science Technology
Inc. (BST) ® was responsible for the implementation of the Behavioral Accident Prevention Process®
at TXU’s many mining and generation facilities.
Mr. Carter is a long-standing member of the Wyoming Oil & Gas Safety Alliance (WOGISA), and a
member of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and currently serves on the National
Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Oil & Gas Motor Vehicle Workgroup Council.
David L. Caruso is a senior health communication specialist and the coordinator for the NIOSH Oil and Gas Safety and Health Program. His duties include facilitating the NORA Oil and Gas Extraction Sector Council and representing NIOSH as part of a tripartite OSHA Alliance which also includes the National STEPS Network, an oil and gas industry group seeking to reduce injuries and fatalities. David joined NIOSH in 2002 working for the first twelve years in the mining program.
Mr. Dugas is based out of Fieldwood Energy’s Lafayette, LA office and
has served as Fieldwood Energy’s Contractor Safety Management
Coordinator for the past five years. In addition to those duties, he also
works as a SEMS Coordinator for Fieldwood Energy’s Central Gulf of
Mexico Production Operations. Mr. Dugas previously served in similar
roles with Apache Corporation prior to the inception of Fieldwood
Energy in November of 2013. Prior to going to work with an Oil & Gas
Operator, he spent 19 years in the HSE and Compliance Department for
one of the world’s largest offshore Drilling Contractors. In total, he has
over 37 years of HSE experience in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Mr. Dugas has been an active participant in a number of industry
groups and organizations over the course of his career, most
prominently the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the
International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), the Gulf Coast
Safety & Training Group (GCS&TG) and the Center for Offshore Safety
(COS) to name a few.
Don Smith serves as the Director of Health, Environmental, Safety, Security & Sustainability for Yara North America (Yara). Based in Tampa, Mr. Smith currently leads the North American HESS&S and Regulatory Compliance Program for the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producer operating in more than 150 different countries around the world. In conjunction with his current role, Don has also recently served as Director of Operations for the North American business unit for more than 6 years, where he led the first continuous improvement and lean efficiency efforts across nearly a dozen Yara plants in the U.S. and Canada - all during a time that saw an unprecedented number of greenfield capital growth projects and plant acquisitions as part of Yara’s ambitious strategy to expand both operational footprint and market share within North America.
Mr. Smith has relentlessly dedicated his professional career to environmental stewardship and improving workplace safety throughout the entire organization. During the span of Don’s career, he has led the operations management, environmental & safety regulatory compliance, product quality & stewardship and sustainability aspects for Fortune 500 companies. After leading Yara’s Operations for more than half a decade, it serves as a constant reminder to always take a practical approach to EHS - if it is to truly become culturally-integrated and sustainable throughout the organization and product lifecycle!
Don holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Wyoming and a Minor in Spanish from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico. He went on to earn a Master’s of Business Administration degree (MBA) in Executive Management at the University of South Florida. Mr. Smith is a registered Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) since 2001 and was nominated, and chosen as a finalist, for the “Tampa Bay Up & Comers Under 40” Award in 2013. This is an award dedicated to honoring the top up & coming executives and entrepreneurs in the Tampa Bay region.
Growing up in the Rocky Mountains, Mr. Smith has always had a profound appreciation for the environment…and he still continues to find ways to incorporate the outdoors into his family life! In the community, Don participates in volunteer work for charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters and most recently the Tampa Bay Watch.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr is a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, a leading national labor and employment law firm. He currently serves as co-chair of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management Practice Group, recognized as one of the leading national OSHA practices. His national practice includes workplace safety and OSHA compliance assistance and strategic safety planning, whistleblower compliance and litigation involving the 23 whistleblower statutes handled by OSHA, defense of employers in responding to workplace health and safety enforcement litigation including OSHA citations and providing advice and assistance to employers in responding to OSHA inspections, emergency response involving workplace fatalities and catastrophic accidents and in rulemaking, legislative and regulatory initiatives/ matters. Ed has extensive experience representing employers in thousands of OSHA inspections and OSHA citation contests during his 30+ year career and has assisted U.S. and international clients in developing and implementing internal safety and health compliance policies and strategic plans. Prior to joining Fisher & Phillips, Ed served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, having been named to this position by President George W. Bush in September 2005. As head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Ed directed a staff of more than 2,200 safety and health professionals, whistleblower investigators and support personnel. During his tenure at OSHA, workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities rates dropped to their lowest level in recorded history.
Nominated by President George H. W. Bush, Ed also served on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission from 1990 to 1995, chairing the Commission from March 1990 to February 1994. The three-member Commission is an independent federal adjudicatory agency that renders legal decisions involving workplace safety and health citations arising from OSHA inspections. He is the only person in the United States to serve as both head of OSHA and Chairman of the Review Commission.
Ed has worked in the labor and employment area for over 30 years, specializing in occupational safety and health issues, whistleblower compliance, workplace violence risk assessment and prevention, and accident and fatality prevention. He has been named one of the “50 Most Influential EHS Leaders” by EHS Today magazine for several years and named one of the “50 Most Influential EHS Leaders” in the United States by Occupational Hazards magazine. Ed has testified before U.S. Senate and U.S. House Congressional Committees on occupational safety and health issues and agency budgets. He has also conducted briefings with members of Congress and Congressional staff. Ed is recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on occupational safety and health and is a frequent keynote speaker and lecturer on workplace safety, leadership development and other labor and employment topics.
Ed currently serves on the EHS Today Safety Leadership Board of Directors and on safety committees for the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Georgia Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Poultry Association, the Solid Waste Association of North American, the National Association of Tower Erectors, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Ed is one of the most sought after speakers in the safety and health arena and has given thousands of speeches and webinars on the importance of safety to all employers. He has authored numerous articles and books on workplace safety and health for various entities, including the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, American Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, Bloomberg, BNA, EHS Today and the American Chamber of Commerce Resources.
A native of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, Ed graduated from North Carolina State University (with honors) in 1974, earned his law degree from Loyola University in 1978 and a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1993. He has served as an adjunct professor at New Orleans’ St. Mary’s Dominican College. Mr. Foulke was a high school and college All-American in swimming.
He is admitted to practice in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and the District of Columbia, and is admitted in the Fourth, Eleventh, and D.C. Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Ed can be reached directly at 404.240.4273 or efoulke@fisherphillips.com.
Mr. LeBlanc, is based in Houma, Louisiana, currently serves as Cased Hole Well Services VP of HSE and Compliance. Ed has worked in electric wireline since 1978.
Cased Hole Well Services was recently awarded the Berkley Oil & Gas Safety Excellence Award for 2017.
Mr. LeBlanc is a long-standing member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Gulf Coast Safety and Training Group.
Mr. LeBlanc holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana - Lafayette. Certifications include COSS, and COSM.
Elaine Seifert is the Contractor Health, Environment & Safety Management Advisor for the Chevron
North America Exploration & Production, Mid-Continent Business Unit and is based out of Midland,
Texas.
Elaine has over 15 years of Health, Environment and Safety (HES) and leadership experience in the oil
and gas industry. She started her career at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California in the
HES department as the Environmental and Safety Specialist. She joined Chevron in 2005 as a Safety and
Occupational Hygiene Specialist in the Downstream and Chemicals Organization at the Chevron El
Segundo Refinery in El Segundo, California. During her career, Elaine has held numerous HES positions of
increasing responsibility, including Field Safety and Occupational Hygiene Team Lead. In 2014, she joined
the Chevron Upstream organization and moved to Houston, Texas where she was the Drilling &
Completions HES Technical Team Lead responsible for Health, Environment and Safety compliance by
providing technical HES support. In 2016, she moved to Midland, Texas to support Chevron’s MidContinent
Business Unit (MCBU) base business operations. MCBU operates approximately 35,000 active
wells and is the largest net acreage leaseholder and one of the largest producers in the Permian. In her
current role, she is responsible for the contractor qualification process and managing all aspects of
contractor safety.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental & Occupational Health with an Occupational Hygiene
specialty and a Master of Science in Environmental & Occupational Health from the California State
University, Northridge in Northridge, CA.
Being a long-term member of the General Motors family, Francisco’s most recent venture was to create the Workplace Safety Risk Mitigation organization which is now the technical arm of Global Workplace Safety at GM. This organization encompasses Safety Contract Management, Safety Design-In, Management of Change, and specific Performance Standards for High Risk Activities such as Fall Protection, Electrical Safety and Hazardous Energy control amongst others.
With over 100,000 contractors at GM sites worldwide, Safety Contract Management (SCM) is one of Francisco’s organization foundational pillars and a key enabler of GM’s Safety Vision: Live Values that Return People Home Safely. Every Person. Every Site. Every Day.
SCM is a comprehensive approach that includes key elements such as Pre-Qualification, Preparation and Award of Contracts, Training and Orientation, Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, Worker Safety Engagement, Contractor Oversight and a Contractor Evaluation process that connects back to the Pre-Qualification stage and closes the loop. Under Francisco’s leadership, this process has been deployed at multiple global locations in Europe, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and, South and North America.
A family, life and safety enthusiast, Francisco is a Chemical Engineer graduated from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México and has dedicated his nearly 20-year career to successfully create, implement and improve mechanisms to help return people home safely from their workplaces through a series of leadership roles in Mexico, Canada and the United States with varying scopes from local, country, regional and most recently global. In his current role, Francisco has lead the implementation and execution of key Safety Performance Standards that have helped transform the way GM approaches safety controls and processes with an enhanced Risk Based Culture.
Frederick R. Chang is the Executive Director of
the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security,
the Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial
Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security, and
Professor in the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering in the Lyle School of
Engineering at Southern Methodist University
(SMU). He is also a Senior Fellow in the John
Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in
SMU’s Dedman College. Additionally, Chang’s
career spans service in the private sector and in
government including as the former Director of
Research at the National Security Agency.
Dr. Chang was elected as a member of the United States National
Academy of Engineering in 2016. He is currently the Co-Chair of the
Intelligence Community Studies Board of the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and he has served as a member of
the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National
Academies. He is the lead inventor on two U.S. patents and has
appeared before Congress as a cybersecurity expert witness on
multiple occasions. Dr. Chang received his B.A. degree from the
University of California, San Diego and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees
from the University of Oregon. He has also completed the Program for
Senior Executives at the Sloan School of Management at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been awarded the
National Security Agency Director’s Distinguished Service Medal.
Gary has 40 years of QHS&E experience in the oil & gas
industry serving in facility, regional and senior global roles
for four oil & gas industry service and manufacturing
companies including Baker Hughes, Grant Prideco,
Express Energy Services and today Oil States Energy
Services.
Gary has extensive experience in successful Quality,
Health, Safety and Environmental Management systems
and supporting development education assurance
processes. Gary presently serves as the Vice President of
Health, Safety and Environmental for Oil States Energy
Services based in Houston Texas.
In addition, Gary was the concept creator and Executive
Producer of the industry award winning movie production, “Left Undone.”
Mr. Walters, based in Smithfield VA, Corporate office, currently serves as the Smithfield Foods Corporate Senior Safety and Health Director, directing and leading a team that oversees more than 40 Meat Processing and more than 100 Hog Production and Feed Mill locations. Mr. Walters is a 33 year veteran of Professional Safety in the protein business and with Smithfield Foods.
Mr. Walters is a long-standing member of the National American Meat Institute, American Society of Safety Engineers, National Safety Council, Board of Certified Safety Consultants, International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration, and has served on many trade organizations and national committees such as OSHA VPP, OSHA Ergonomics Steering Committee and NIOSH.
In his spare time Gary is a devoted car enthusiast and has served as a member of the NHOF Board and is currently a directing member of various auto racing organizations.
Gary Phillipson is the Team Vice President over Global Operations, which includes Team Training, Recruiting and Staffing along with the Project Management group. Gary is an experienced professional with over 30 years of senior management and leadership roles with expertise in all facets of Global Operations. Gary is specialized in Leadership and Management, Logistic Operations, Global Workforce Management, Employee Training, Leadership and Development. Gary has a Qualified Master’s Degree from the City University of London, Business Management & Leadership with a National Diploma, HSE NEBOSH National Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental, Construction and a Fire Diploma.
Prior to ten years in the industrial services specialty service sector, Gary served in the Military with a distinguished 25 Years Career. A native of The United Kingdom, Gary resides in Houston, Texas with his wife Amelia and four Children.
Greg currently supports the Johnson & Johnson, DePuy Synthes Medical Device facilities located in the
Northeast region of the US. In addition to his facility EHSS responsibilities, Greg has been involved with
the development of the corporate standards for Construction Safety Management, which has included
bringing the ISNetworld platform into the Johnson & Johnson facilities in the US. Since 2011, Greg has
worked to expand the ISNetworld platform within Johnson & Johnson with several of his EHSS
counterparts across the US.
Since joining the Johnson & Johnson EHSS organization in 1995, Greg has held various levels of
responsibility within the company supporting several Consumer, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device
facilities during his tenure. Greg has been intimately involved with the Enterprise Facility Management
and Worldwide Engineering communities within Johnson & Johnson for several years to develop
consistent EHSS management systems for contractors across the globe; including contractor orientation,
qualification and program review.
Greg also is a Certified Machine Safety Expert® and currently resides in North Wales, PA with his wife
and two children.
Ms. Henkelman is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and currently serves as Monsanto’s Environmental, Safety and Health Lead for Canada. She is also the North America lead for Monsanto’s Contractor & Guest Program, and was actively involved with the implementation of ISN across Monsanto’s Seed & Trait business in 2015.
Prior to joining Monsanto 9 years ago, Ms. Henkelman spent several years working as a Regional Specialist for the Inspection and Regulatory Management Branch of Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. She also spent time working at a consulting engineering firm.
Ms. Henkelman is a Professional Engineer, and holds a degree in Biosystems Engineering.
Jacob is based out of our Denver office and leads teams working with our Energy clients. He
is currently engaged with companies driving innovation and disruption in the InsureTech
space. His clients value Jacob’s strategic vision in a changing risk environment, particularly
regarding technological innovation, information security and regulatory risk.
Jacob joined Marsh in 2015 to lead the Denver Energy Practice. Jacob began his insurance
career with Travelers’ Special Liability Group 17 years ago, focused on complex coverage
analysis and litigation management. In 2008 he moved to Traveler’s Denver underwriting and
product development team. In 2012 he founded Risk & Chance, a boutique consulting group
focused on innovative methods to leverage technology and data to manage risk. He is
happily married father of four children living in Lone Tree, Colorado.
Jason Kilchrist is the Vice President of Operations and HSEQ at Hudson Services, Inc. Mr. Kilchrist attended the University of Louisiana Lafayette where he studied business management. Mr. Kilchrist has over 30 years of experience in health and safety in the oil and gas industry. During his career, he has worked in both North and South America.
Mr. Kilchrist believes strongly in collaborative communication and brings that belief to his work in the form of building strong teams. Mr. Kilchrist is an accredited PEC trainer and OSHA Safety / Oil & Gas Professional.
Jason Nieuwenhuis is an EHS manager at Devon Energy responsible for the Shared Services Team and Delaware Basin Business Unit. His group handles Enterprise wide EHS Training, Protocols, Industrial Hygiene and Contractor Management in addition to other programs that apply broadly to the company. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, a Certified Safety Professional and has nearly 20 years of experience in various areas of Health & Safety.
Jim Smart, Director of EH&S for Conagra Brands, has managed project execution and contractor safety for over 25 years, in industries including nuclear, food, paper and brewing. Since arriving at Conagra in 2007, Mr. Smart has overseen in excess of $800MM in capital installations as well as the development and implementation of Conagra’s current contractor safety program. In addition to his master’s degree in Engineering Management, Mr. Smart is a Licensed Journeyman Steamfitter, OSHA outreach instructor and holds a PMP®.
John W. Lambdin is Director of Insurance and Assistant Corporate Secretary for Weyerhaeuser Company, the international forest products company headquartered in Seattle, Washington and an Associate in Risk Management (ARM). He is responsible for the establishment of operating policy, planning, management, and execution of the corporate risk management and insurance program for the company and its subsidiaries worldwide.
After graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor of science degree in engineering, he worked as a fire protection engineer for Kemper Group and American International Group before going to Weyerhaeuser to join the company’s risk management department in 1988. John held several positions in the Insurance Department before being named Director of Insurance in 2005.
Jon Holztrager is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Tennessee and Director of Supply Chain Partnerships for the Haslam College of Business. Prior to joining the Haslam faculty, he was Director of Sourcing for the Tennessee Valley Authority where he was responsible for $3.5 billion in materials and services contracts.
He is a career supply-chain professional with expertise in total delivered cost reduction, operating asset strategy, supply chain transformation and best-in-class supply-chain results.
Jon also had prior roles with Sony and Kimberly-Clark Corporation where he had multi-site, executive responsibility for North American supply chain operations in the functional areas of distribution and transportation.
Jon has guest-lectured at The University of Texas on various Operations Management topics and is also a member of ISN’s Customer Emeritus Group. Jon and his wife Michelle have two boys, Andrew and Matthew, and live in Knoxville, TN.
Jon Levin is Senior Program Manager at Pacific Gas and Electric. Based in San Francisco, Pacific Gas and Electric Company is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Delivering to 16 million people counting on our more than 24,000 employees for far more than the delivery of utility services. Jon is responsible for managing both Contractor Safety and Vendor Risk in the Supply Chain organization supporting evaluation of ~4,000 vendors with over $5 Billion non-energy spend. Jon in partnership with the PG&E Contractor Safety team helped lead the charge reporting 100% success implementing their enhanced contractor safety program reviewing safety risk requiring subscription and prequalification of ALL medium and high risk vendors in ISN during 2015. In 2016 PG&E performed the same task for all subcontractors contracted by the primes.
Joy Inouye is the Research Associate for the Campbell Institute. She has worked on several research topics for the Institute including EHS leading indicators, risk perception, and contractor safety management. She is co-author of a recent journal article on leading indicators research and has co-presented on leading indicators at various conferences in the past year. The research on contractor safety has recently been featured in the BNA Occupational Safety and Health Reporter, the NIOSH Science Blog, and other online safety communities.
Julian is the General Manager HSSE at Z Energy. In this role he supports Z to reduce operational risk and improve performance. Julian has worked in the areas of health, safety and rehabilitation for close to 20 years in both the private and public sectors and he is passionate about how exceptional leadership creates the conditions for safe productive performance to flourish.
Mr. Campbell currently serves as the Director of Health, Safety, and Environment and is also Director of Operator Qualification for L. E. Bell Construction Co., Inc. of Heflin, Alabama. In this capacity he oversees the activity of 357 employees who complete pipeline installation and maintenance activity in 26 states. Within his tenure, Mr. Campbell has overseen creation of a Corporate Health and Safety Management System accepted by National Corporate clients and most notably was awarded a Canadian Certificate of Recognition (COR) by the Canadian Oil and Gas Industry Association. Mr. Campbell has advanced with L.E. Bell Construction Co. Inc. from a variety of Field Level positions such as Field Level Management to his current position. He holds an Associate Degree in Science from Gadsden State Community College, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Safety and Health from Columbia Southern University. He has been deemed a Master Trainer by NCCER, a Certified Evaluator by Veriforce, and is an Outreach Instructor for the United States Department of Labor - Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Currently, Mr. Campbell is working to complete a Master of Business Administration degree and is the 2nd Vice President of the Pipeline Contractors Roundtable Group (PCRG). He is also a member of the NCCER Pipeline Users Council. He is married to Jennifer Campbell and has two beautiful daughters, Allie and Collins.
Laura Ayala-Huntley is the Manager of Supplier Relationship and Qualification Operational Services at Southern California Edison. Southern California Edison (SCE) is headquartered in Rosemead, California, employs over 12,000 employees and is the 4th largest US based electric utility. SCE serves 15 million people over a 50,000-square mile service area. Laura is responsible for leading the Supplier Qualification Program for SCE’s Supply Management ($4B non-energy spend) using the SAP Ariba tool. The program includes evaluation of incumbent and new suppliers using risk management tools, of which one element is Contractor Safety. Prior to SCE, Laura has over 20 years’ experience in Procurement and Strategic Sourcing in the Healthcare, Medical Device, Commercial Real Estate and Insurance industries. Laura has a B.A. Degree Business Administration from the College of Business and Economics at California State University. Laura has a Fullerton Project Management Certification and Management Certification from the California Institute of Technology and is a FEMA Certified Logistics Section Chief, SCE Incident Command Team.
Laura is the Senior Engineering Coordinator and ISN Champion with Nestlé Purina Petcare Co. Laura’s role has included piloting ISN at the Nestlé Purina Atlanta factory. Laura’s focus is partnering with ISN to improve the selection and relationship-building with Nestlé Purina’s contractor partners. A graduate of Georgia Southern University, Laura has over 20 years’ experience as a paralegal. Laura’s diverse background including office management, health and safety, and Workers’ Compensation legal issues, lends to a practical approach to the development and implementation of safety programs and management systems. Through the Georgia Institute of Technology Professional Education program, Laura is pursuing OSHA and Lean Manufacturing certificates.
Mr. Tully, based in Invenergy’s Headquarters in Chicago,
currently serves as Corporate Director of EHS,
overseeing their HS&E compliance and best management
practices across their fleet of wind and thermal electrical
generation facilities across North America.
Prior to joining Invenergy in 2014, Mr. Tully has spent his
professional EHS career overseeing EHS compliance in
various industries to include, coal-fired power plants,
electrical utilities, plastic thermoforming, as well as paper
mill/paper conversion and distribution operations.
Mr. Tully is a long-standing member of the American
Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the National Safety
Council and the American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA) where he is a member of the EHS Steering
Committee.
His industry outreach also includes numerous industry
conference presentations and panel mediations.
Mr. Tully received his B. S. degree in Occupational
Safety and Health from the University of Dubuque.
Lisa Hartnup has served in several safety-related roles for Praxair Services, Inc. over the last 30 years. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts (BA), Business Administration, in 2013 from Ashford University. At Praxair Services, Inc. her primary roles include serving as the Safety Administrator, Compliance Specialist, Compliance Manager, and is currently the Associate Director of Compliance. As Associate Director of Compliance Lisa oversees Regulatory Compliance including Operator Qualification, DOT FMCSA, Safety and Health organizational policies and procedures, Training and Customer Compliance. She has been an active user in ISNetworld since 2002.
Furthermore, Lisa has gained industry insight while participating in various committees. She is a longstanding member of the Pipeline Contractor's Roundtable Group (PCRG) and currently serves as their 1st Vice President. In addition to serving on the NCCER Workforce Development Committee, and she was Chair of the NCCER Pipeline Users Council from 2008-2016.
Ms. Zasada, based in General Mills' Minneapolis corporate headquarters, currently serves as
the Engineering Manager of Project Management. In this role, she leads the talented team of
project managers that execute corporate capital initiatives around the world. She has served as
General Mills' ISN lead for the last two years.
Ms. Zasada has over 17 years of engineering and manufacturing leadership experience with
General Mills in the food and beverage industry. She has a Chemical Engineering degree from
the University of Wisconsin- Madison and a MBA from the University of Chicago.
Mario Bruno has been Director of Training at Island Operating since 2006 and has over 12 years of training management experience in the Oil and Gas Sector. She is directly responsible for overseeing all training requirements for Island’s 1300+ offshore/onshore production operators. She graduated Cum Laude from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2002 where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Technology.
Matt interacts with Corporate and Local Engineering and Operations to negotiate and procure the goods and services for Global Capital and major expense projects across the organization. Additional areas of responsibility include the Mobile/Heavy Equipment leasing/Fleet services as well as working with the local field procurement operations. Matt’s previous role within WestRock was focused around the growth, development and coordination of the paper mill procurement teams.
Matt started his career with Beloit Corp before joining the Georgia-Pacific team. Working in engineering, maintenance and operations before moving into strategic sourcing. His most recent position before joining the legacy RockTenn organization was as the Global Sourcing Director for Georgia-Pacific.
Matt completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. He also holds an MBA from Purdue University, West Layfette Indiana and ESCP-EAP in Paris, France.
Michael Kerins joined Worthington Industries in January 2017 as EH&S Corporate Compliance Manager. He is responsible for the development, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the Company’s integrated ISO 14001/ISO 45001 and contractor management programs.
Prior to joining Worthington Industries, Kerins spent four years in ISO Management Systems for Bosch Rexroth’s Hagglunds Drive Systems division and four years overseeing the North American quality department for Power Engineers Inc.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Kerins attended The University of Dayton on full athletic scholarship and double majored in Business Entrepreneurship and Communications. He resides in Dublin, Ohio with his wife, Stephanie, and their two children.
Mike Pavia is the Senior Health and Safety Specialist for Ferrero Canada Industrial, a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products and it is the third largest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world.
Prior to joining the Ferrero team 13 years ago, Mike has worked as a Licensed Millwright in the automotive manufacturing sector.
Mike Phillips is the Director of Global Safety & Health Compliance for Georgia-Pacific. He leads a team that has responsibility for occupational safety, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, contractor safety, and talent development. He has worked in the pulp and paper industry for more than twenty-three years supporting manufacturing operations, capital projects, and EHS. Mike is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the National Fire Protection Association, and holds multiple certifications with the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Old Dominion University and a master’s degree in safety, security, and emergency management from Eastern Kentucky University.
With over 38 years of experience in the steel industry, Mike Ryan is currently Manager, Health & Safety Best Practices, for ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon USA. In this position, he provides assistance with establishing, implementing and auditing best practices for employees and contractors which are designed to prevent serious injuries, fatalities and catastrophic events. Mike serves as a member of the Steel Manufacturer’s Association safety committee and is the ArcelorMittal Planning Committee representative for the annual United Steelworkers District 7 Safety and Health Conference. Mike earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University. He is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).
Patrick Weyers is a utility professional who has focused his efforts on creating strategic improvements to the business units he has served throughout his 20 year career at American Electric Power (AEP). He is currently supporting the contracting of labor & services contracts for Distribution; Representing AEP on Regional Mutual Assistance Groups (RMAG) for Emergency Restoration; and Serving as a facilitator for AEP’s corporate cultural initiative “Power Up & Lead”.
Mr. Cox , currently serves as the Manager- HSSE, Quality and Training for the Stork US GoM and Offshore Division. Prior to joining Stork Mr. Cox has spent over 20 years in a global HSE/Compliance role serving the Offshore drilling, construction , Oilfield services and emergency response industries.
Mr. Cox is a Certified Emergency Medical Technician and Professional Rope access technician. Mr. Cox is a member of the National Association of Safety Professionals and currently serves on various committees including IADC’s HSE and Rig Pass committee, Safeland USA and Safegulf.
Rena Cutno, PSMC, Purchasing Specialist, has been with AmSty for 20 years. Rena is the purchasing category lead for service and capital projects for AmSty US facilities. She is located in their St. James, Louisiana facility. AmSty has been a member of ISNetworld since 2011 and Rena began working with ISN in 2015.
Robert W. Braun is the Director of Safety & Health Programs at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), Division for Enterprise Development which includes the UTA Region VI OSHA Education Center. He is an instructor and senior safety and health consultant. He has more than forty years of experience as a safety engineer and safety and health manager with the Department of Defense, experience as a consultant providing safety and health solutions to clients in the OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs, and has held positions as a senior safety and health manager. Bob received his Masters in Industrial and Safety Engineering from Texas A&M University, a baccalaureate in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University. In 1984, Bob was awarded a Masters in Business Administration from Boston University. In December 2008, Bob received his certificates as a Trainer in OSHA Standards for General Industry and Construction and is a Certified Safety and Health Official. He has presented at numerous state, regional, national, and international conferences on a variety of technical and leadership topics.
Mr. Braun has been active in safety engineering and occupational safety and health since 1972. He served as a military safety and health professional for over 34 years, being selected for positions of ever increasing responsibilities. Ultimately, as the director of safety for the United States Army, Europe and Seventh Army with responsibility for over 500,000 soldiers, civilians, and families stationed and deployed in Europe, Bob was responsible for garrison, operations and tactical, and off-duty safety and health programs. He was instrumental in creating and managing safety and health procedures and programs for peacekeeping deployments and combat operations. As director of the largest Army safety program, he was also a leader in creating Army-wide programs and standards. His knowledge of safety and health is vast but incredibly strengthened because by his unique experience managing a myriad of safety and health programs in complex organizations.
Robert Sherrill is the Director of Indirect Global Sourcing for GEC Packaging Technologies, which consists of Graham Packaging, Evergreen Packaging and Closure Systems International. He is responsible for managing all global sourcing across North America, Brazil, and Asia Pacific including MRO, Plant Services, Packaging, Material Handling Equipment and other indirect categories.
He has an MBA and Accounting Degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Robert currently resides in Colonial Heights, VA with his wife, Annette. Has two grown daughters who are or will be graduates of Virginia Tech by May 2018. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time at Lake Gaston, completing ‘DIY’ projects and golfing.
Robert Spangenberg is a Contractor Safety Advisor for ExxonMobil Pipeline and Fuels Operations in the Houston area. He has been with ExxonMobil for over ten (10) years. He previously worked as a Field Regulatory Specialist in Patoka, Illinois and handled environmental and regulatory compliance as well safety and training for the Pipeline group. He attended school at Texas A&M University and was a member of the Texas A&M Corp of Cadets.
Ron is Vice President – Risk Management for NuStar Energy L.P. He manages all aspects of the corporate-wide property/casualty programs including insurance placement, premium allocations, surety bonds, risk analysis, establishing insurance contractor requirements, insurance clause contract negotiations and claims handling.
Prior to joining NuStar, he spent 9 years at AT&T with responsibility for their corporate insurance and workers’ compensation program. The company generated workers’ compensation claim payments in excess of $100MM a year. He served on the Board of Directors of the Workers Compensation Research Institute from 2000 until 2007 and as Vice Chair from 2003-2007. He also spent 10 years in the insurance industry as a claims representative and supervisor. Ron received his BBA from Baylor University and his MBA from The George Washington University and has obtained his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Associate in Claims (AIC) designations. He has served as a Director of the South Texas Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Chapter after serving various officer positions.
Scott Churbock is Senior Vice President, Health, Safety, and Sustainability for Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. Mr. Churbock brings 25 years of organizational management experience to the Company, with expertise in environmental compliance, sustainability, and occupational health and safety. Prior to Montrose Environmental Group, Inc., Mr. Churbock was Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety with Northern Star Generation in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Churbock’s accomplishments include the implementation of ISO-based EHS management systems including Behavioral Based Safety Systems that led to multi-million dollar regulatory and loss prevention savings as well as injury reduction rates of more than 75% in his last two positions. Programs under his direction have received multiple leadership and excellence awards from the National Safety Council, representing top 5% performance in the industry. Mr. Churbock has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Robert Morris University.
Scott brought over 14 years of experience in project development and management to Kinder Morgan in 2012. He leads their contractor safety program on major construction projects. Scott received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Truman State University and his Masters’ in Business Administration from William Woods University (both schools in Missouri).
He currently serves as Chair of both the Field Audit Network and Lessons Learned Committee of the INGAA Foundation. He is an active member of the Pipeline Construction Safety Roundtable Coordinating Committee as well as the SafelandUSA Advisory Board.
Scott is also an approved OSHA Trainer in Standards for Construction. He resides in Klein, Texas with his wife Molly and three children.
Mr. Roberts currently serves as a manager of safety and health at Georgia-Pacific, one of the world’s
leading makers of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. He is currently
based out of Atlanta Georgia in the Global Safety and Health group with responsibilities in contractor
safety, fall protection, emergency preparedness, auditing and incident investigations.
Prior to joining GP’s Global Safety team, Mr. Roberts spent 15 years at the GP Leaf River Cellulose
facility in New Augusta, MS. There he served in many capacities to include technician in the Pulpmill as
well as the Safety and Compliance Leader.
Scott holds numerous certificates in Public Safety and worked in the public fire service for several years
before joining Georgia Pacific.
Steve Ash is the HSE Manager for PK Industrial, an industrial coatings and fireproofing company. He has
spent his entire working life in the Safety and Service Industry. Along with his 10 yrs as HSE Manager at
PK, Steve is a Captain with the Butler County Rescue Squad, an OSHA Certified Instructor, a NCCER
Certified Instructor, an EMT and certified by the National Safety Council for Incident Investigations.
Steve’s tenure with PK has given him the opportunity to help build the company from a small Midwest,
one location entity, to a very established, multi-location company with shop and field services around
the country. According to Steve, this growth has been hand in hand with ISNetworld and the partnership
the companies have had over the years. PK started with ISN in 2006 with only a few companies on their
list and now have upwards of 75 clients which has been instrumental to the value of the overall
company.
Outside of work and Steve’s service to the communities he is involved with, he spends and enjoys most
of his time with his wife and kids.
Steve currently serves as vice president of NCCER (originally known as the National Center for Construction Education and Research). He has over 40 years of construction management experience (superintendent, project manager, director of human resources and senior director of global workforce development) with three major international contractors – Fluor, KBR and Bechtel. Steve has been the COO and owner of an industrial construction services company and has been the vice president of operations with two post-secondary career college systems.
Steve’s diverse background encompassing both industry and education has made him a valuable source of information for many boards and committees. He has held Board of Trustee positions with the American Vocational Association, NCCER, the National Technical Honor Society, the Piedmont Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Education Foundation and the Fluor Foundation Scholarship Board.
Steve currently participates on a number of workforce development boards and committees to include the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) National, CURT local user councils, SkillsUSA and industry specific organizations.
Steve’s breadth of knowledge has also made him a preferred speaker with industry and education groups doing over 40 presentations across the United States annually.
Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Medical Science from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Steve LeFors is the president and chief executive officer of Sava Energy. Under his leadership, Sava has become the most efficient well swabbing provider in the Denver-Julesburg basin and is spearheading the search for new opportunities that complement Sava’s current work in oil well production.
Prior to joining Sava Energy, Mr. LeFors has worked over 20 years in the oil and gas industry as Country Manager for Nabors Industries’ directional drilling division, based out of Houston, and as Latin America Regional Manager, based in Brazil, through the acquisition of PathFinder by Smith and eventually Schlumberger. He worked his way up from field operations to the Executive teams of these companies and prides himself on being able to relate with all levels of an organization.
He has Masters in Business Administration from Rice University and a bachelors in Geological Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Susan Lum has been the Supply Chain Contracts Manager for Southwestern Energy Company since 2011. She has over 25 years of experience in management functions across Human Resources, Corporate Trust, Mortgage Banking and Energy. She managed trading contracts for power, natural gas and financial derivatives for El Paso Energy Marketing for 10 years; spent 2 years in Project Management for Nisource in Houston; leading to her current position with SWN. She holds a BBA in Marketing from Stephen F Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Suzanne started her insurance career in 1978 while attending The University of Texas in Austin. She has been employed with insurance carriers, independent adjusting firms and a self-insured association. With a major insurance carrier, her career had been focused on Construction industry claims, before transitioning to specialize in the Oil & Gas industry since 2003. With Berkley Oil & Gas, she leads liability and claims litigation including educating others on the industry’s unique contractual risk transfer mechanisms.
Mr. Taylor Abel has dedicated his professional life to improving workplace safety and environmental stewardship. recently joined United Rentals as the Director of Safety for the Power/HVAC Region covering 70 branches in the US and Canada. He is also the chair of the Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention working group for the Campbell Institute. He worked for The Mosaic Company for 25 years in various roles from the site level to corporate governance, including corporate Assistant Vice President for EHS Performance Improvement, Assistant Vice President for Health Safety & Security of the Phosphate Business Unit, EHS Director for their Global Supply Chain, and Senior Manager of Health & Safety at the world’s largest underground potash mine in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
Mr. Taylor Abel recently joined United Rentals as the Director of Safety for the Power/HVAC Region covering 70 branches in the US and Canada. He previously worked for The Mosaic Company for almost 25 years in various roles including corporate Assistant Vice President for EHS Performance Improvement, Assistant Vice President for Health Safety & Security of the Phosphate Business Unit, EHS Director for their Global Supply Chain, and Senior Manager of Health & Safety at the world’s largest underground potash mine in the world located in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
Mr. Abel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida, a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from the University of South Florida, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Florida. He also serves on the State Emergency Response Commission in Florida. While on expatriate assignment in Canada, Mr. Abel was the founding chair for the Saskatchewan Mining Association’s Serious Accident and Fatality Elimination working group. He is currently the chair of the Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention working group for the Campbell Institute. Mr. Abel has dedicated his professional life to improving workplace safety and environmental stewardship. He has a wonderful wife of 20 years and three amazing children who keep him busy.
Mr. Oliva serves as a Learning and Development (L&D) Regional Manager for Frank’s International, a global oil services company that provides a broad and comprehensive range of highly engineered tubular running services, tubular fabrication, and specialty well construction and well intervention solutions with a focus on complex and technically demanding wells. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, he oversees L&D efforts for more than 20 offices spread across North and South America.
Mr. Oliva joined the Engineering Department of Frank’s International in 2006 as a Production Drafter. He later transitioned his focus from equipment to personnel, serving as a Training Supervisor prior to his current role, which includes oversight of all training qualifications duties and activities for Frank’s field personnel. Since joining the L&D department, his team has managed both instructor-led and eLearning courses using the ISN Training Manager system, and more recently has used the system to manage skills and knowledge training as well as a competence assurance program implementation.
Mr. Oliva earned a Master of Science in Systems Technology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he also serves as a member of the Industrial Technology Advisory Board. He served as an Industry Partner during the development of the Oil and Gas Production Technology Program at South Louisiana Community College.
Mr. Reeves, based in the Nucor’s Alabama sheet mill,
currently serves as the Division’s Safety Coordinator helping
to oversee the site’s safety and health management system,
training development and implementation and conformance
with OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program.
Mr. Reeves is a Special Government Employee for OSHA,
which assists OSHA VPP Officers in conducting initial and
recertification evaluations at sites across the United States.
He is also an active member of the U.S. Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) for development of the newly issued ISO 45001.
Additionally, he is a Certified Lead Auditor for both ISO14001
and ANSI Z10 & OHSAS 18001. His expertise in safety
management systems helped Nucor Steel Decatur become
one of the first sites in the world to achieve VPP Star, ANSI Z10
and OHSAS 18001. His industry outreach includes numerous
national industry conferences such as Voluntary Protection
Program Participants Association (VPPPA), Steel
Manufacturers Association (SMA) and at ISN’s Steel & Metals
Roundtable Meetings.
With nearly 20 years of experience in the Environmental,
Health and Safety field, Mr. Reeves has worked in both
regulatory and public sectors including the State of Florida and
Emerson Electric prior to working at Nucor Corporation.