My Story: Patty King, CHST, CIT

I was 22 years old when I relocated from Texas to Virginia. I had four years of experience as a landscaper, but I lacked the desire to continue pursuing that as a career. With no education beyond high school and no business contacts outside of Texas, it was time to start over.

I gained employment at a local burger joint and then chose to apply to Job Corps. I applied because, let’s face it, I had no money for further education and my life was on a fast track to nowhere. I never actually thought I would be accepted into the program.

Less than a month later, I was on a bus to the Washington, D.C. Job Corps Center. I decided to join the electrical program and received on-the-job training with the in-house electricians at the Department of Labor. The experience was amazing, but it was not paying any bills. After returning from work at the Department of Labor each day, I would work the evening shift as a janitor on campus. Exactly one year later, I was accepted into an electrical apprenticeship.

I joined the apprenticeship to pursue my interest in electrical, but inadvertently found my calling in construction health and safety. I began filling my evenings with safety-related classes and, by the time I finished my electrical apprenticeship, I had already spoken with the management at my company about pursuing a career focusing on employee health and safety. My company was very supportive and gave me a trial run to manage safety at a very large, complex data center. I hit the ground running and never looked back!

Over the years, I became an OSHA authorized construction trainer and achieved my Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) and Certified Instructional Trainer (CIT) credentials from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Through communication, employee training and situational problem-solving, I am able to have a direct impact on the overall safety of a job. That, by itself, is a very rewarding feeling.

I pursued a career that I love and, eight years later, I am still living the dream. It really is true that you can do anything you set your mind to.

Patty King, CHST, CIT
Safety Manager
Dynalectric
Washington, D.C.