HazTek Safety Professional Connie Rogers has been in the construction industry for over 15 years, starting in the construction world after her children were grown. Her husband, Mark, traveled all the time as an assistant superintendent working in mechanical piping for power plants and Connie didn’t want to be at home alone. Mark told her that he would help her get her first job, but after that it was up to her.

Connie’s education started with an OSHA 10-hour and an OSHA 30-hour, along with her Emergency Medical Technician training. Her first experience was working in power plants for heavy industrial boiler outages. She started working with the boilermakers because there were no openings in the safety department at the time. Within two weeks, a safety position opened and that was the start of Connie’s safety career.

For the first few years, Connie continued to work with the pipefitters, the tool room, and taking care of payroll, time, accounts payable, and procurement. She learned more each day, while also moving back and forth into her safety roll as the need arose. Connie feels that her experience has given her a better perspective of what working in the field entails, as well as an understanding of the safety needs in the field.

Connie has also worked on projects for paper mills, data centers, and pharmaceuticals. Her break came when she was given the opportunity to become a full-time safety manager for new construction, building gas-fired combined-cycle power plants. Understanding how important it was for her to keep learning, she obtained her OSHA 510 and OSHA 500, her Licensed Safety Professional certificate, and other certifications including scaffolds, silica, CPR, AED, and NFPA 70E. More recently, Connie earned her CHST and STSC certifications through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and she is now studying for her ASP. Ultimately, she earned her associate degree in environmental health and safety.

Connie’s advice for women who are considering going into construction safety: “If you’re asking if this business is hard for a woman, I would say yes. But as you grow and continue to educate yourself, you will be better prepared to answer when the call comes to make those important decisions. Always build relationships with the people working in the field — you will receive the respect and trust of those people you are looking to protect.”

Thank you to Connie for all of the enthusiasm and hard work that she brings to our organization.

In honor of Women in Construction Week, HazTek is featuring several of our safety professionals who work out in the field.

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) created Women in Construction (WIC) Week to highlight women as a viable component of the construction industry and as an occasion for the thousands of NAWIC members across the country to help raise awareness of the growing role of women in the construction industry and the opportunities available to them.

HazTek Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive safety management services with a mission to enrich the health, safety, and well-being of our employees, our customers, and our communities.

Credit to: National Association of Women in Construction