When Ashley Moore graduated with a Business Management degree in 2018, a career in construction was not even a thought for her. She started with MetroPower, Inc., an electrical contractor serving the greater Southeastern U.S., in an administrative role with no safety experience. Soon after, she became a safety coordinator, where, to this day, she has been challenged and pushed out of her comfort zone. Ashley also became an instructor for Adult CPR & First Aid in January of 2020, and became an authorized instructor capable of instructing the use of aerial lifts and rough terrain lulls.
For our latest Faces of EHS profile, we sat down with Ashley to discuss being a woman in safety, prioritizing mental health, and collaborating with transparency.
Q: How did you get your start in the field?
Purely by chance. I was job searching when the safety coordinator position became available at MetroPower. I didn’t realize the career opportunity in front of me but over time, I grew to love our company and the safety culture extemporized here. I have received a host of specialized training in data analysis, educating adults, and investigation techniques. Spending time in the field has broadened my knowledge of construction and provided insight into the challenges that our field employees face daily.
I have had the honor to spend time on several projects including Piedmont Studios, the University of Georgia, and the Warner Robins Solar Field in middle Georgia. This year to increase my knowledge of the electrical trade, I began Penn Foster’s Electrical Apprenticeship and I plan to complete the OSHA 500 program in November. People become inspired when they discover for themselves what they gain for working safely; it is my goal to help ignite that inspiration so I will continue to educate and improve however I can.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence in the industry?
Our safety director, Troy DeLee, has had a habit of asking “Who’s your best boss?” then “Who’s your worst boss?” The answer to both is always him. Troy is a master electrician turned safety director and easily one of the best in the business. No one has held me to a higher standard or pushed harder than him. We often joke that when I started, I was meek and mild but over time I have been molded to be knowledgeable, engaging, and assertive. I owe my development in both construction and safety to the drive he has had to see me succeed.
Q: What’s your best mistake and what did you learn from it?
My biggest mistake has been doubting my own value as a woman in a male-dominated field. In 2020, our parent company, PPC Partners, started an employee resource group (ERG) we call the United Women of PPC. I was asked to join our ERG to work as a committee member in strategic planning. Having the opportunity to work with women I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to otherwise, I realized I was far from alone in undervaluing my role in our industry.
Working with these women with our unique but similar experiences helped to build my own confidence professionally. UWPPC organized a mentor program two years ago. Our female mentees have the opportunity to work closely with some of the top members of our management team as their mentors. We have had glowing feedback from mentees and mentors celebrating the opportunities to become more involved and further their development.
Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite part about working in the industry? Would you change anything?
My favorite thing about working in safety is the task variety. MetroPower is an electrical contractor, but we have departments that specialize in plumbing, HVAC, service, and mining. Somedays I am in the office analyzing data, some in the field, others instructing in a classroom or strategizing with our management team for continuous improvement across the company.
Least favorite is a fear that one of our employees could get seriously hurt. We work very hard training employees to recognize hazards and prevent incidents. However, even if we do everything right, as safety professionals it’s difficult to shake this heavy burden that we could get a dreaded call one day.
Q: What are your thoughts on safety culture? How can company leaders make safety a value within their organization?
Our president asked a simple question during a meeting in 2022 that has stuck with our organization. Is safety a priority or a value?
Safety as a priority treats safety as another item on the to-do list, albeit an important item. If you think of safety as a core value, you think of it as a guiding principle behind everything you do. More than that, safety is the commonality behind every choice and action. While our priorities change depending on the situation, our core values usually do not.
If our people are our power, then keeping them safe should be valued above all else. Our leadership team does well at recognizing the employees that exemplify safety as a core value. It is one of the constants that employees and customers always remember about our company. We often have meetings, classes, and events that highlight safety initiatives met. Our people feel like they belong, and their work means something. Proud people keep raising their own bar, so our incidents have declined steadily over the last few years.
Q: What safety concerns or issues do you think need more prioritization in EHS programs?
Mental health needs more prioritization. Suicide rates are among the highest in the construction industry, specifically males between the ages of 30 to 60. What’s gut wrenching as a safety professional is that suicide is five times more likely than a job site fatality. It is a statistic that weighs heavy on my mind. Mental health is no longer something we can say is not our business, it needs to be made a value across our whole industry.
Q: What will be the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles on the EHS industry?
I think as global sustainability issues rise, EHS professionals will collaborate with transparency to determine solutions. These are not “gatekeepers” of important information. We share our best practices because we know it could mean saving a life. As technology continues to improve, data shared between companies will reach more individuals, increasing awareness and driving solutions for the health of our planet.
Q: How will new safety technologies influence the work being done by EHS professionals?
The biggest impact of technology from my side of safety is advanced data analytics tools. This technology gives us the capability of showing trends over time as well as predicting our highest risk for incidents. This allows EHS professionals to concentrate on training that will bear the heaviest influence to drive safety in the workplace.
Q: What are you most proud of?
My proudest moment here at Metro was maintaining zero incidents with over 1 million manhours worked in 2021 and accepting the EHS: America’s Safest Companies Award the following year in Cleveland on behalf of our company. Only nine companies in the construction industry were recognized. We had already received the award when we discovered a picture taken by my safety director on an iPhone, was the cover of that months EHS magazine!
Q: Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Be authentic with your employees and coworkers. There is not one of us that has never made a mistake or been safe 100% of the time. Speak from experience and ask questions. Don’t rely strictly on policy or procedure to create engagement, relate to your employees through life experience.
Ask your employees how is their life better because of safety. Ask that question often. Ask it in a safety meeting, training or while out on the job. When they find an answer that resonates, they will have found their motivation to be safe.