Interesting Time to Start a Safety Career

There are few times that we as a human race endure the exact same thing together, we just so happen to be doing that now. While scary and uncertain at times, it has helped me to try and look at positive impacts as well. Just under a year ago, I was asked if I would be interested in moving out of my Civil Operations role and into the Safety Department at Haydon Building Corp. Even though this had not really been on my radar, I jumped at the opportunity knowing this prospect would completely change my career path. I worked closely with Jim Harbor, our current Safety Director, to learn as much I could prior to his retirement. Then, suddenly, the world of construction safety completely changed.

Enter the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, which requires social distancing and mass quarantining, creates a shortage in daily needs (even those we never thought of like #toiletpaper), increase in daily stressors, and the need to change the norms at break-neck speed to keep people at work. While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and keep the kids at home and continue their education at home to round all of the additional changes to daily life.

So back to the positive side I was talking about. I never thought my wife and I would have the opportunity (even if forced) to home school our two boys. Balancing that part of parenting, even when difficult, has also been a gift. I’ve found out I’m a pretty good cook on top of being a decent educator. My family has gotten stronger whether out of necessity or the ability to spend so much more time together.

I had to dive into the Safety side of construction rather than ease my way into it. We, as a society and industry, are now seeing the viability of telecommuting, even in areas we previously thought there was no way. As a company, we got to see our shortfalls for what they were and make improvements to make us a much stronger and united Haydon Family. I do believe once we come out of this global pandemic there is true potential for us to be a more empathetic and kinder society. Our teams will be stronger and know we are all working together for each other’s highest good. Our families will realize the amazing things we can do when we work together. And, we’ll show up for our friends like never before.

#businessUNusual #WeAreHaydon #HaydonCARES