Austin Kiddoo attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Safety and Health. After interning at Orbital Technologies Corporation, he took a position working third shift within the City of Madison Police Department as a parking enforcement officer while searching for safety positions. He then landed a safety coordinator position with Latitude Corporation, a metal fabrication manufacturer in the manufacturing and aerospace industries, and spent almost seven years there, moving throughout different positions.
In August 2018, he started working for Sani-Matic, Inc. as the EHS & Facility Manager. Sani-Matic is a Wisconsin-based manufacturer that serves the food, beverage, personal care, nutraceutical, and biopharmaceutical industries, and offers a full line of automated cleaning systems and supporting sanitary components.
For our latest Faces of EHS profile, we sat down with Austin to discuss his biggest influences in safety, the importance of housekeeping in the work environment, and why valuing employees over profits is integral to safety culture.
Q: How did you get your start in the field?
After graduating high school, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. When I first started college, I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist, but after taking some of the courses I realized it wasn’t going to work out due to my geographical location (Wisconsin). I then considered criminal justice. Early into my sophomore year, I took a basic safety course and was hooked from then on to go into the safety field. My last semester of college, I accepted an internship with Orbital Technologies Corporation as a Safety & Quality Intern. One of the coolest things I experienced during my time there was providing confined space safety training to a NASA astronaut.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence in the industry?
There are couple of quotes that hit home for me:
– “You meet people for a reason. Sometimes it’s because they’re meant to change your life, and sometimes it’s because you’re meant to change theirs.”
– “There is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some people come into your life to test you, some to teach you, some to use you, and some to bring out the very best in you.”
I have been fortunate to have met some great influences/people during my career in the manufacturing industry that have helped shape and guide me. Some of these people are former bosses, predecessors, and my current boss.
Clay Burkhalter provided me the opportunity to get involved in safety and quality. He helped me understand the ins and outs of developing safety programs, auditing techniques, and understanding quality management systems.
Todd Mallon gave me the opportunity to start my career in safety and to dig deeper and push to find the right solution.
David Olson provided me with feedback to all my questions early on in my safety manufacturing experience and showed me the ropes in my first manufacturing plant.
Rolly Portz was a mentor and provided advice in my journey as an EHS & Facility Manager. Showing me specifically how things worked from a facility/maintenance side of things.
Dave Schwoerer was a mentor and provided insight into the crazy world of safety. I look up to Safety Dave as he has a wide range of OSHA stories, knowledge, training, and people skills.
Adam Porter gave me the opportunity to manage, lead, and to continue to grow as an EHS & Facility Manager. His honesty has made me push harder to achieve my personal goals and maintain and exceed company goals. Adam continually encourages me to keep learning and supported me as I studied for my ASP & CSP certifications.
Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite part about working in the industry? Would you change anything?
My least favorite thing about working in the manufacturing industry is that it has its many ups and downs. In the manufacturing industry, lots of times its market/economy driven, which can have a huge impact on employee morale, behavior-based safety, and productivity. I have seen lots of turnover and many different management styles throughout my career.
There are times as a safety professional where you must put on different hats and help and volunteer. I love getting my hands dirty and working out in the field and building relationships with employees. I love learning about different people’s struggles while on the job, which makes my job more interesting and allows me to help make their jobs better. Safety professionals have a unique role in management and leadership. As a safety professional, many times you help by allowing others to be heard and help build relationships and work collaboratively. I want others to be safety leaders, meaning that they feel comfortable addressing hazards, providing input, speaking up, and helping drive a positive safety culture.
If I could change one thing, it would have to be COVID-19. It had a huge impact on all of us, some for the good and some for the bad. COVID put a whole new perspective on life and safety. It reminded us that personal hygiene is important, but also led to other issues such as supply chain issues, mental/health issues, etc.
Q: What are your thoughts on safety culture? How can company leaders make safety a value within their organization?
At Sani-Matic, focus on safety is a core value. Sani-Matic encourages all employees to be vigilant about safety. This means that everyone should know and practice the safety procedures for their job, watch out for the safety of their teammates as well, for we’re all part of the Sani-Matic family. Never take shortcuts that compromise your safety or that of your teammates.
Everyone’s interest must be vocal, visible, and continuous from the top-down as well as from the bottom-up. It takes everyone! Many times, the only way to have a great company culture is to value your employees more than the profits and loss of business. There aren’t many companies who do this because most leadership are held accountable to profit and loss more than culture itself, which is unfortunate. Let’s change the focus from profit and loss to caring about your employees. Make employees the number one priority of your business and the profits and culture will follow.
Company leaders set the tone for safety and its culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated. As leaders, it is important to understand what safety and day-to-day challenges there are for all employees; try switching places or work side-by-side for a couple of days to better understand these obstacles and to try to improve or eliminate these obstacles. It is everyone’s goal to go home safely to their families; no one has the desire to be hurt!
Q: What safety concerns or issues do you think need more prioritization in EHS programs?
Housekeeping: Having a tidy and organized work area and place of work helps eliminate potential hazards. If you see a hazard report it or even better fix the issue right away as it may be forgotten about and lead to a near miss or more serious injury. Be relentless about improvement!
New hires: It is crucial to provide adequate training for all aspects of the job. Get new hires involved right away. Encourage them to join the safety committee team, safety walkthroughs and audits as they can provide fresh new perspectives and eyes on something you may have missed.
Q: What are you most proud of?
I have accomplished a lot of goals over the past five years and my entire career so far that I’m very proud of. The most rewarding personal accomplishment was becoming an Associate Safety Professional (ASP) and then a Certified Safety Professional (CSP). I was able to achieve this in just over a year. A lot of time and effort went into studying while balancing my workload at work and having a family of three boys (at the time, now four!). While studying for the exams, it made me realize how much more there is to learn and what improvements could still be made. Safety is always changing!
When I first started at Sani-Matic, I had the privilege to be part of Project Clean. Project Clean was the construction project for our current location in Sun Prairie, WI. Going from two facilities down to a brand-new building was fun in that I got to help with bringing in new and old machinery, help with layout and design aspects, and while overseeing safety in the workplace. I had never been part of a new construction project before, seeing a facility from the ground up and to be part of the decommissioning process of our two older facilities.
Q: Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Get out in the field, get your hands dirty, and ask questions. If you don’t understand something, ask questions and be curious. Many times, there are others who are thinking the same thing and or are afraid to ask. Learn the ins and outs of employees’ jobs and keep things fun. Keeping things fun is important, remember the world has bigger problems than the daily challenges that make up your work. Don’t take things personally or take yourself too seriously. Laughter is a must every day.