HazTek Quality Assurance Manager Sue Stager started her career in safety management back in 1985 when she was fortunate enough to meet someone who recognized that her strong work ethic would be a good fit for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sue began her work with the EPA as a technician — starting from the ground up. She set up training classrooms for 40-hour HAZWOPER classes, filled self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles, and learned about air monitoring equipment by calibrating the equipment herself. Later, when Sue found that people didn't want to take the time to create health and safety plans, she took it upon herself to write them — thereby immersing herself into the world of safety management.

When Sue first started working with the EPA, OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard (HAZCOM) had just been adopted two years earlier and there was no standard for Permit Required Confined Space — that standard didn’t become effective until 1993.

Early in her career, Sue admits that nine-and-a-half times out of ten she was the only woman on site. She wants women in the construction to become as common as men in construction and says, “I want women in construction to become an everyday sight – not just for the wow factor.”

Sue joined HazTek in 2016 as a Safety Consultant and was promoted to Quality Assurance Manager in 2019. She now oversees over 30 of our Safety Professionals in the Greater New York area and says, “The pride that I feel for my team and their participation in making sure everyone goes home to their families safely is immeasurable!”

Thank you to Sue for all of the dedication and professionalism 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’s 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