My Story: Charlie Taylor

In 1983, I’d been working as a licensed practical nurse for more than 11 years. Most of my experience had been in ER and critical care areas, with a two-year stint working in an inpatient alcohol and drug rehabilitation unit. All was going well until the day I came home from working in the ER, told my wife how much vacation money I’d be receiving and asked how long we could survive on it. I had suffered total burnout.

I started the search for a new job and, within five days, was hired (as it was advertised) by a small construction company coming to Colorado Springs, CO. It was Bechtel Inc., which was constructing an Air Force station 19 miles east of the city. My initial job was to provide first aid to injured workers. My supervisor, who was the site safety professional, explained to me that as a local hire, I’d be released at the end of the construction phase, or approximately 18 months. He told me that I should consider moving into a safety position, which would be a value to the company, and move around to different construction sites. I said “yes.” He picked up the phone and called his boss.

Two weeks later, my supervisor was relocated and I became the safety person. It was a 640-acre green field construction with underground utilities and a utilidor, surface roads, five major buildings, three underground storage tanks, and a plethora of construction hazards that were new to me. I was on a very fast learning curve.

That was over 40 years ago now. The years have provided environmental, safety and health jobs in nuclear power plants, the Hanford nuclear waste cleanup, building a nuclear waste disposal facility, decommissioning and demolition jobs, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, and as an industrial safety consultant with the Department of Energy.

Since starting my first job without any EHS training, I’ve been fortunate to complete my bachelor’s in environmental studies and my master’s in occupational safety and health. Pursuit of the master’s was so I could teach in colleges after my retirement. Knowing how hard it was for me in the early days of my career, I now teach OSH classes at my local community college in its OSH degree program.

Full retirement from day-to-day work is approaching and, when it does, I’ll find other opportunities to teach OSH courses in colleges and universities. My 40 years of experience has taught me a lot, and I try to pass the knowledge to my students.

Charlie Taylor
Industrial Safety Consultant – DOE SHD
Interactive Technologies Group Inc.
Contractor to the Department of Energy – Richland Office
Richland, WA