Shown in the group photo — front row (l-r): Lori, Ashley and Nicole; back row (l-r): Tom, Perry and Chris.
Representatives from each of LeChase’s New York regions gathered March 4 and 5 in Rochester to become certified trainers in first aid, AED (automated external defibrillator) use and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). It’s part of the Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) organization’s plan to have internal resources in place to train other LeChase employees.
“Having in-house trainers in each region will make it easier and less costly to conduct training at jobsites and offices,” explained David Batrony, associate corporate director of EH&S. Batrony said the “train the trainers” course also addressed blood borne pathogens, another important safety topic required by OSHA.
National Safety Council instructor Chris Janus conducted the two-day course. Participants included Perry Geyer, superintendent in Armonk; Laurie Janese, regional safety manager in Buffalo; Ashley Empet, regional safety manager for Corning/Binghamton; Nicole Rua, safety manager in Rochester; and Tom Sanford, regional safety manager in Syracuse. Batrony and Wayne Durand, the regional safety director in Schenectady, were already certified instructors. Brooke Hathaway, regional safety director in the Southeast Region, will be taking a similar course in North Carolina.
Nicole is already scheduled to conduct three First Aid/AED/CPR certification courses in Rochester later this month; other newly certified trainers will be scheduling similar courses in their locations.
“While our goal is to work toward having zero incidents across our operations, it’s still important to give employees the tools and training should they need to respond in an emergency,” Batrony said. “We want to empower everybody to look out not only for themselves, but also help ensure their co-workers return home safely each day.
