S15Ep:7 Consultant Spotlight Tom Raught

What if the biggest safety lever isn’t another rule, but a simple shift in how we manage our own states?  We sat down with one of our newest consultants, Tom Raught (a certified safety professional whose 40-year career spans hazardous waste, steel, chemical, telecom, oil and gas, and manufacturing), to unpack how safety transformed from equipment and checklists to human factors, practical habits, and real behavior change that lasts.

Host: Danny Smith
Guest: Tom Raught

Transcript

Danny Smith

Welcome again to SafeTalk with SafeStart. I'm your host, Danny Smith, and today we have our consultant spotlight once again with Tom Raught, one of our new SafeStart consultants. Tom is a certified safety professional with close to 40 years progressive experience in leading corporate safety, health, and environmental programs in manufacturing, chemical, steel, hazardous waste, oil and gas, asset management, and the telecommunications industries. He's developed numerous safety training courses and delivered hundreds of training sessions, literally reaching thousands of employees across a wide range of industries, as you've heard. He's really known for his ability to work with anyone at any level. He holds a BS in safety management from Slippery Rock University. And some of his notable career achievements include being appointed to serve on the Commission on Oil and Gas or the Natural Gas Industry Safety by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. And he also received the Chairman's Council Award for Safety Clean. So, Tom, welcome to the podcast and welcome aboard with SafeStart.

Tom Raught

Thank you, Danny. I appreciate it.

Danny Smith

So, uh I kind of read the bio there, but uh if you would just tell us a bit more about yourself and kind of your background before you came to SafeStart, and then uh what brought you to Safe Start as process and as the company itself.

Tom Raught

Sure. Well, as you said, uh I've been in safety for a really long time now, going on 40 years, which is pretty hard to hard to get my mind around, but that's the reality. It's all I've ever done in my career. Went to school for it at as you mentioned in at Slippery Rock. And at the time, Slippery Rock was one of the only universities offering a safety management program. I started there in 1983. So, when you think about it, OSHA was

really only about a dozen years old or so when I started there. So, things have changed significantly since I started studying safety and certainly since I began my career. You know, we used to look at safety as facilities and equipment and tools and inspection and policies and procedures and discipline. And you know, we didn't start talking about human factors and behavior-based safety at least until we got well into the 90s. So, I look back at how safety was then and uh the evolution of safety, really, to be a part of that is a pretty cool thing to look at how it was versus how it how it is now. And I enjoy talking to classes about that, especially the younger folks that only see the way it is now, to explain how it has evolved over the years. And even folks my age or older, you know, we can relate to what safety used to look like back when we started our careers. And it's very different now. So, once I finished up school, as you mentioned, I was fortunate to spend a lot of time in a variety of industries. Started off in hazardous waste and steel and chemical recycling and telecommunications, oil and gas and manufacturing. So really exposed to a variety of industries. And there are different cultures within each of those industries that I realized. So, but again, it wasn't until we got into the 90s that we started even talking about behavior-based safety. And I think one of the first ones, the first program that I got involved with was this uh DuPont Stop Program. And there were several things that we wouldn't do now that we did then with that program, but it was a start. It was the first time that we started looking at people and realizing that people were the ones causing the injuries and the accidents. It wasn't so much the machines. So, that that was that was step one for it. But that that was very different back then than how we look at behavior-based safety today. So, as I progressed through my career, yeah, I had all the fancy titles and progressed up into the organizations and that all had its benefits. But the one thing I realized as the titles got fancier and the higher, I went in the organizations, the further away from safety I became. For example, my last role, I worked directly for the CEO of a pretty large organization. So, most of my time was spent on budgeting and staffing and board of directors’ meetings and things of that nature and a lot less on safety. So, although it was a good experience, it wasn't great safety experience. So, when COVID hit uh in 21, that organization went through a lot of changes. The labor situation hit us really hard. And I had an opportunity to get out of the corporate world, and that's exactly what I did. And at that time, I needed some time to decompress. I was a little bit burned out, quite frankly. And I wasn't sure if it was safety or the corporate world. As it turns out, it was just the corporate world. Because about a year later I got back involved with safety,

some consulting and training and realized that that's really what I need to spend some more time on. So, I did that for two or three years with another firm that I dealt with for many years. And then uh last fall uh contacted with SafeStart and started the onboarding process with Safe Start. It's been a been a great ride so far.

Danny Smith

Excellent. Great to have you with us. You know, it's interesting. You mentioned how there's been that huge transition where we all started out and right we're fairly close in age, I think, and probably been around safety. I started in manufacturing management before I moved into safety, but certainly, you know, we're we kind of grew up in the same type of mentality, I think, from the management perspective of safety. That transition from moving from you know the rules, policies, regulations over into, hey, let's look at the human side of this too. I found that a fascinating transition that we've seen as an industry. And I think one of the big things for me is that I love about SafeStart is it just provides us an opportunity to look at that human side, but without blaming folks. Uh, what else do you do you find that's unique about SafeStart? And what do you really love about the process itself?

Tom Raught

You know, there are, excuse me, there are several issues, starting with the fact that it's not just a workplace safety program. And I love that we start off with that, that this is a program and a process for the highway and for home, and something we can transition to the home, take home to our families, which really separates it from a lot of other programs that are out there. So that's one thing. And I also love how we introduce the value of family right up front in our introductions. We make the connection between family and safety to help them understand that family's the greatest motivator. I we've been around safety a long time. It's hard to motivate people around safety sometimes. When you introduce and implement family into that equation, it's a game changer. And now it becomes more safety, it becomes more of a value, becomes more of a want-to instead of a have to. So, I think we set the stage really well up front with the way we introduce the program. But if there's one thing that I would say I like the most, it would be the fact that we give solutions. And the other behavior-based programs I've been involved with in the awareness training, we talked about behaviors and attitudes and decisions and habits and all those same types of things. Where we fell short was, we didn't provide solutions. And through the certs, Safe Start does a fantastic job, in my view, of closing that loop and providing the solutions. And I think that's the thing that stands out to me the most. You know, I think Larry Wilson was way ahead of the curve back in the day when he identified the state, the error risk pattern, including the CERTs. And I really think that's what separates SafeStart from the other programs that I've been around.

Danny Smith

Yeah, you mentioned how we set the stage with the idea of using these concepts in a 24-7 manner, sharing them with our friends and family members, and how that just it motivates folks. It really gets the personal buy-in, if you will. Tell me about something that uh where Safe Start has impacted

you personally or is there a specific habit or skill or something that you say that you've really kind of gleaned from this that you're using, not just person professionally, but also personally.

Tom Raught

You know, there is.  First of all, I'm a firm believer that to be an effective instructor in anything, you have to believe in a process. You have to be passionate about it. So, as I started to teach some of these units, I started thinking about some of the issues that I have and some of the things that I need to improve on. And one of those was uh tailgating. Uh something that I try to do pretty well most of the time until I find myself, of course, in in one of the states where I'm rushing or I'm frustrated or I'm complacent. And then the good habits kind of go out the window. So, I've decided to work on that habit of my own. In fact, I've started a CERT card. I've already checked off a bunch of the boxes and I'm working through that process, and I can already see a difference. It truly makes a difference. Now, so far it's a little bit mechanical. I'm it's a more of a conscious thing that I'm going through right now, but it's not really a habit just yet. But I know eventually it'll be subconscious and it'll be a habit, just like putting a seatbelt on or anything else. And I know it's going to prove it's going to be better for me and my family. And the interesting thing is my family's seeing me do this, and I didn't say anything about it, but they started questioning what's that card you're writing on? What are you doing there? And I so I explained the process to them, and they're very open-minded about it. So, the information that we provide in Unit Four about how to share the program is spot on. Yeah, uh it really has generated some interest uh amongst my family members, and it's going to make a big difference for me. I can already tell.

Danny Smith

I love that approach too that we take with this. It's you know, don't tell them what they need to be working on. Tell them tell them what you're working on, right? And just demonstrate, you know, and like you said, you don't have to tell them. They'll just they'll ask the question, you know, hey, what's going on here? What are you doing? What's that card? I love that.

Tom Raught

Like my kids are used to me. My kids are used to me telling them what they need to work on. So certainly, to hear me say what I'm working on is a nice approach.

Danny Smith

Do you find that as you're as you've been developing that habit, do you find your frustration level has gone down some while you're driving as well?

Tom Raught

I absolutely do, yes. And as we talk a lot in training, most of the rushing is self-imposed. Sure. I rarely am I on a tight schedule where I need to be rushing, which causes frustration. And so, yeah, absolutely. I it's more relaxed and you just feel better about the driving process. Absolutely.

Danny Smith

What's one of the most exciting things that you've seen uh that you when you've been on site teaching folks about SafeStart? Uh and just what’s one of the big things that you've seen there that you really would notice there?

Tom Raught

You know, I wouldn't say there's any one thing in particular that stands out. Just watching the aha moment as you're going through the training and uh and seeing that that them understand making that connection with their families, understanding the process, acknowledging where their issues are and what they need to work on is really gratifying. Uh so I wouldn’t say anything, you know, no crazy events yet. You know, Jack Jackson's been my mentor. So, spending the time on the road with Jack has been fantastic, and uh learned a tremendous amount, even though I've trained and done a lot of presentations throughout my career. Jack is a master at presenting, and I've really learned a lot from here and him. And it's been exciting and a lot of fun to spend. Now, we did get some really bad weather up in Buffalo and a lot of bitter cold and bad snow. And I was fortunate that I was able to drive because it was only about a three-hour drive for me. But unfortunately for Jack, he had to fly and he got stranded, uh, spent the weekend in Charlotte and didn't get home until late Sunday night and left again Monday. So, you know, but that's that that happens with travel. That's right. I've traveled my whole career, and I've experienced similar type things. And I'm sure I'll have my own version of trains, planes, and automobiles before it's all over. But Jack had a rough one that weekend.

Danny Smith

Absolutely. You know, and that's the thing, it's as aggravating as that can be. We can still use those skills that we talk about to try to avoid exhibiting that frustration to others, I'll put it that way. So, that's that certainly helps me a lot with that too. It's like, okay, you know, hey, it's part of travel, it's going to happen, right? So just buckle up and here we go.

It really is. And uh when we were in Atlanta and I was first going through the workshop, one of the things Jack taught us was, hey, the travel problems are going to happen, they're out of your control. So, all weekend I was reminding him, hey, practice what you preach.

Tom Raught

There you go. Exactly. Yeah, I was I was talking to Jack that week as well, that weekend as well. And it was like, at one point, I think I even suggested like, where are you heading the next weekend? You might or the next week, rather, you may want to just go ahead and go there instead of trying to even make it home. But I think they were snowed in as well. So that was out of the question.

So, you know, I'm at a point in my career, Danny, where uh I'm fortunate I have a lot of options. I could go back into corporate or do any number of things around safety. I'm only going to do something that I believe in at this point, and that I think is going to make a difference in people's lives, and that's what I enjoy. I don't need any more of the corporate stuff.

I really want to make a difference in people's lives, and I feel so good about teaching this process to people, knowing that the difference it can make. So, think that's my greatest takeaway from the whole process so far.

Danny Smith

Absolutely. I love that. And I kind of feel the same way myself. I can't imagine at this point, this stage of my career, in this stage of my life, uh, I can't imagine doing anything different. It's like you said, I love those moments when you see people that's just have those realizations, those aha moments. And when those I like to call it those light bulb moments too, where the light bulb goes off over their head and you just see them. Oh, uh this makes sense to me. I I love that because it just shows you that you're making that connection and frankly that you're making a difference. And I love that. So, anything else as we're starting to wrap up here that you'd like to say, or no.

Tom Raught

I think we've covered a lot of ground, and um, I'm happy on happy to be on board and look forward to uh continuing the process. And there's a lot more to it than I realized when I first made contact. I wasn’t aware of all the different uh programs and the different things we offer, but I think that also separates SafeStart is the sustainability and the steering committee and the leadership aspect of it. Without that.  I've seen programs die on the vine. And I think SafeStart does a tremendous job of helping companies uh be set up for success because of that sustainability and that leadership involvement. And that's so critical.

Absolutely. It gives you that structure to succeed, right? So very good.

Danny Smith

Absolutely. Well, Tom, thanks so much for your time today and thanks for everyone for joining us as well uh for SafeTalk with SafeStart. I'm Danny Smith. Thanks for joining us again and have a great day.