BRIDGING TWO WORLDS
BY RICHARD BASS
In my experience, the most effective health and safety professionals succeed in their roles because of a deeply rooted passion for providing the best working conditions at sites for the people around them. We want our valued employees to return home in the same, or better, condition as when they arrived at work. My personal story began as a process technician with Kuraray but I knew I wanted to contribute to industry in a different way—and that’s when my career in Health and Safety began.
I’ve participated in pursuing the mission of the Houston Business Roundtable for over a decade and currently have the privilege of serving as the Chairman of the Executive Committee. My involvement began as an audit team member in the Safety Excellence Awards. I saw the value in the process and wanted to work with the partners of HBR and learn from their best practices so I could take those back to my colleagues. Through this experience, I realized that there is so much to learn by stepping outside of my own familiar site.
HBR bridges two distinct but codependent worlds—that of the asset owners and the contractors. As my involvement in HBR grew from a member of audit teams and operating committee to an audit team lead and the leader of the executive committee, I supported the charge to effectively seek out new ways to expand HBR’s footprint in industry. Through the COVID pandemic, I served as Vice Chair to help lead HBR in challenging times. The organization grew through innovation and emerging technology in many different cases.
The Houston Business Roundtable brings a unique and unparalleled opportunity for members of the asset owner community to learn something new each year we perform audits for the Safety Excellence Awards. Personally, each time I attend an audit, I still learn of a new way to provide the safest working environments for our employees. It is invaluable to learn from colleagues who face similar challenges in sometimes only slightly different landscapes and to offer solutions that may provide a safer environment for my employees.
Safety is best accomplished through innovation and collaboration. At HBR, we are proud to provide a forum for owners to share their best practices for safety. We partner with organizations such as OSHA,WJTA, and HASC to support the highest standards of safety. Our committees are made up of individuals who are passionate about supporting health and safety in the workplace. We are thankful for the involvement and commitment of each of those individuals.
My commitment to this association involves furthering our reach not only in our Gulf Coast region, but also across the nation. We are always actively seeking out opportunities for new partnerships with companies that share similar missions. Our commitment is continually recognized by peers in our industry.
At the conclusion of the Safety Excellence Awards, there will be five organizations selected to present at a large conference of industry peers on their best practices. The reach and communication of excellence will continue to expand across industry. HBR continues to achieve milestones that support the ideologies of the original founders. Moving forward, we are excited to provide a platform to additional members in the petrochemical and construction industries. We are confident that 50 years is just the beginning for us.
