Howard has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Letourneau University. He has also earned a Masters of Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. Howard earned a CSP designation and also holds Certification with the Board of Hazard Control Management.  Recently he has become a Certified Playground Safety Inspector.  He is the developer of the “Howard Talk’s Tech” articles on the Penn-Jersey Web site. Twenty –five have been published in Practice Specialty Newsletters.

He is married; has 2 grown children and lives in Yardley, PA

Platform Statement

I have worked as a consultant to Public Sector, (PS) Clients for 11 years, and during that time I have recognized the wide variety of tasks performed by PS Workers.  I work with 34 Municipalities and 22 Utility Authorities in NJ.

I believe that the EHS practitioner in this specialty deals with many unique exposures and that this specialty has an opportunity to provide essential information and guidance in these very challenging times.  

We need to tap into the expertise of all members and broadly disseminate this collective wisdom. In today’s world of shrinking budgets and deteriorating infrastructure it is economically imperative that the Public Sector be wise stewards of stakeholder’s financial contributions.   Applying good management principals and Best Practices can contribute to fewer incidents; more productive, safe and healthy workers. 

We have a golden opportunity to provide expertise to decision makers, and union officials. They need our input to actively direct people and projects. Historically this sector has been slow to adopt technological and managerial advancements. 

In my experience they may be as much as a decade behind what is common practice in the leading private sector employers. Translating regulations and unpacking consensus standards is our strength and is desperately needed by PS employers.  They need and in most cases want implementation guidance.

EHS activities need to move beyond providing basic PPE and On-The Job Training to truly impacting error-free performance.  Risk acceptance is very high in this group because we have done a less-than-adequate job of risk identification, assessment and hazard communication.

As leaders of this Practice Specialty I believe, we need to do all we can to close the gap. I will strive to enhance our networking skirls and seek to provide members with enhanced inter-personal skills so that we earn our needed seat at the table.