(WACO, Texas) – Students graduating from Texas State Technical College’s Occupational Safety and Environmental Compliance (OSEC) program depart with a certificate of completion or associate degree and are armed with portfolios to show prospective employers.
“It is always good to go into an interview with something to talk about,” said Martin Knudsen, an instructor in TSTC’s OSEC program. “They hit the ground running. The employer can be assured the candidate is who they are looking for.”
The program’s Safety Training Presentation Techniques class requires students to compile procedural reports that they have written during their time at TSTC. Some of the reports can cover emergency evacuations, forklift safety, hazard communication, and respiratory protection.
Shawn Avelar, a corporate safety manager for Washington state-based power industry staffing company NAES, is a member of TSTC’s OSEC program industry advisory committee. He said entities ranging from hospitals to school districts are taking safety compliance more seriously. He said new graduates need to prove that they can write and understand safety programs, as well as explain them to others.
“There is a very aging workforce in the safety field,” Avelar said. “We are seeing a lot of seasoned safety professionals retiring. They are at the age where they are moving on. There is a high demand for safety people who are well educated and versed in safety. If they are bilingual, they are in very high demand.”
Geneva Gross, a senior environmental health and safety specialist at pharmaceutical company AbbVie in Waco and also a member of TSTC’s OSEC program industry advisory committee, often is involved in the interview process for TSTC students seeking internships. She said while the training that students have had is looked at, being able to talk about processes in construction safety and lockout/tagout is even more important.
Having a work portfolio has helped a recent TSTC graduate.
Taylor Wellborn, of Iredell, graduated in 2022 from the OSEC program at TSTC’s Waco campus. He is writing safety programs on a freelance basis for local businesses. He said he was surprised by the need for formal safety recommendations in his hometown.
“I can still be at home and still be where I need to be and be able to work freely and help other people, as well as educate them on how to use fire extinguishers and how to escape from fire in certain situations,” Wellborn said.
Some TSTC students in the OSEC program are doing internships this semester at the college as they prepare to graduate in early May.
Joseph Miller, of Angleton, said the hardest work he has done in the program has been writing a water and field sample program due to research on how to secure permits for work to proceed. This report is part of what he will include in his work portfolio.
Miller said he will be the first in his family to graduate from college when he receives his Associate of Applied Science degree in Occupational Safety and Environmental Compliance.
“I feel a bit of pressure immediately after college (to go to work),” he said. “I want to find a job that I enjoy very much.”
Sannitta Johnson, of Groesbeck, is also doing an internship at TSTC and is scheduled to graduate this semester with the program’s associate degree. A certified nursing assistant for 16 years, she said she wanted to go in a different direction in her career.
Johnson said understanding the industrial side of the program has been easier to understand than environmental topics. Though at times she has gotten discouraged, she said the program’s instructors have not let her give up on herself.
“I have been nervous about finding a job, but I did get my resume together,” Johnson said. “I am starting to work on my portfolio as well. My goal is to get a job, and I want to go on to work on a bachelor’s degree.”
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
