CCS’s new Safety Coordinator Ben Carlson worked for an insurance company for 27 years first conducting accident investigations and then loss prevention safety consulting. He has also been an occupational safety officer at the University of Oregon.
Besides making sure CCS safety programs are up to date, part of Ben’s job is looking for ways to increase safety awareness and motivate each person to follow best practices to reduce injury exposure. “Sooner or later shortcuts only lead to people getting hurt.” said Ben. “My goal is to have everyone go home at the end of the day in at least the same condition they arrived, injury free. I’ve had so many good experiences and outcomes in helping people consistently find safer ways to do their jobs that it has continued to motivate me to stay in the safety field for all these years,” he said.
“Besides my sweet wife of almost 36 years and spending time with our adult children, my off-the-job passion is photography. I do landscape, still life, and light-painting photography,” said Ben.
Ben’s photography bridges into the safety arena as well. “I’ve had the opportunity to photograph mock railroad chemical spill training exercises for the fire department and rescue emergency services for Lane County and other nearby counties. Other highlights of my photography include documenting fire department training building burns, a mock airplane crash at an airport, and the removal of very old crystalized chemicals from two laboratories at the University of Oregon (followed by detonation of the chemicals). I also photographed mock emergency evacuation drills for the 2012 Olympic Trials with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters.” More of Ben’s photography can be seen on his website bencarlsonphotography.com