CTE Instructor Safety Day Runs for Fourth Year

In partnership with San Jacinto College and the Construction Maintenance Education Foundation (CMEF), Turner Industries sponsored the fourth annual CTE Instructor Safety Day. Centered around training instructors the various aspects of safety, the event accepted educators from around Texas.

For the last four years, Turner Industries has invited high school instructors that are teaching NCCER curriculum to come for a day and receive industry safety training. The tools they learn can then be taken back and shared with career and technical education students. The main topics on this year’s agenda were Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Hazard Awareness.

Job Safety Analysis is defined as a safety tool that can be used to find and control potential safety risks associated with a job. After JSA training, a professional has the competencies to examine and document each task within a job to identify the hazards and control the safety of the job. Hazard Awareness training follows a similar process. After going through training, instructors will be able to identify hazards in a workspace, assess the level of risks associated with them and control these potential risks. The practice of consistently monitoring hazards or potential safety risks and coming up with plans to encourage safety will empower instructors to teach students how to demonstrate safety in the classroom and in the workforce.

The day also included a presentation on career pathways and an information session about being “Fit for Duty.” Sessions were conducted by Turner Industries’ Houston Workforce Development personnel Jay Roberson, Carla Thompson and fabrication safety manager Tim Johnson.

Chris Loosemore, regional safety manager for Turner Industries, and Dr. Allatia Harris, from San Jacinto College, welcomed the instructors to the session. Dr. Harris talked to the instructors about dual credit craft training programs at the college and offered a tour of the new LyondellBasell Center for Petrochemical, Energy, & Technology (CPET).

This new center aims to train the next generation of petrochemical professionals in the face of growing demands in the industry. Serving as a training hub for four different campuses, CPET serves the largest petrochemical manufacturing complex in the United States and the second largest in the world.

Brazosport ISD, Deer Park ISD, Dickinson ISD, Galena Park ISD, Goose Creek ISD, Houston ISD, Pearland ISD, Sheldon ISD, Texas City ISD and Spring Branch ISD sent their career and technical education instructors to the event to encourage continual education and safety training. All of the instructors must teach NCCER curriculum under the sponsorship of CMEF to have attended. Dr. Steve Horton, director of education for ABC and CMEF, also gave instructors information about an upcoming event, Ready for Industry Boot Camp, that students can apply to attend after graduation. ABC and CMEF sponsors the boot camp in partnership with Turner Industries for CTE graduates, veterans and the underemployed or unemployed.