Chapter News

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: FEBRUARY 2023

Elyse Barrick, CSP, WELL AP

Senior Manager & Site Lead EHS

Biogen Gene Therapy

Elyse Barrick is the Senior Manager, EHS and site lead for Biogen’s Gene Therapy facility currently under construction in Research Triangle Park, NC. After graduating with her BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of Toledo, she started her environmental career serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua teaching community environmental programs for 3-6 grade students. Upon returning to the US, she moved to Raleigh/Durham to start her first career position as an environmental scientist for an environmental and engineering consulting firm, mostly focused water and wastewater projects for the US government.

While leaving her office building one afternoon, the EHS project manager stopped her to correct an at-risk action of walking down the stairs while texting (her friend about Taylor Swift!) and it started a career shift that led her into the full environmental, health, and safety field.  A few short weeks later, the same project manager reached out about the opportunity to provide some EHS consulting for a client in Santiago, Chile.  Over the next few years, she supported the start-up of the client’s data center facility, built out their ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 (now ISO 45001) management structure, and developing a solid understanding of South American EHS regulations.

As Elyse realized that she thoroughly enjoyed the field of Environmental, Health, and Safety, she decided to transition back to a US based role working as on-site EHS specialist for Valspar and later a Sr. EHS Specialist for BioMerieux.  While at BioMerieux, she was able to focus on manufacturing and laboratory safety, process improvements through LEAN and obtained her Certified Safety Professional designation.  Most recently, she was the Safety Program Manager at RTI International and led achievement of the WELL Health and Safety Certification as response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Currently, she is focused on the start-up of operations at Biogen’s Gene Therapy facility, with a strong focus on building a sustainable management system, biological and recombinant DNA safety programs, and regulatory compliance programs.

Outside of work, she loves being outside, traveling with her husband, and learning about all types of construction equipment with her 3-year-old son. She loves to help her colleagues achieve success by providing them a safe and productive workplace and committing to Biogen’s patients by providing them with safe and quality treatments.

JANUARY 2023

Student Engagement

Happy New Year!

As we begin 2023, I am thinking more about ways we can bolster engagement with our students, student sections, and the youngest members of the OSH community. The student community is a fundamental part of ASSP’s structure, both at the national and local level. At the Chapter’s Planning Session in August 2022, student engagement was a key part of our discussion.

The chapter is committed to working with our local student sections and faculty advisors in every way it can to bridge the gap in student engagement. Through conference sponsorship, scholarship support, student spotlighting, and guest-speaking opportunities, the chapter strives to make sure that this group is supported as much as possible. This effort, however, is not only a chapter responsibility. Everyone has a role to play, directly or indirectly, in student engagement.

There are areas that could still be improved on, such as retention, mentorship, motivation, professional development, to mention a few. Speaking of retention, data from the Safety+Health magazine indicates that we are not retaining our recent grad and young professionals enough. Some of our recent grads that I spoke with on this issue last year, told me that they find it somewhat challenging to qualify for entry-level jobs requiring 1-2 years of experience. While this may not be representative of the situation, it’s something worth mentioning. Mentorship and motivation could go a long way to create a positive experience for our students as they transition in their professional journey. Thus, I encourage us to continue to harness our roles to positively influence the next generation of safety leaders.

If this topic resonates with you, I encourage you to join us in our Technical Meeting in March, where a faculty advisor will come speak to us and answer questions relating to this topic.

Finally, I want to thank those that made last month’s end of year social. It was nice to meet in person again, after several months of virtual meetings. All things being equal, we should be returning to face to face meetings no later than March 2023.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, I sincerely appreciate everyone’s support in the last six months. Let’s keep up the good team spirit in the months ahead!

Ogaga Tebehaevu, MS, CIH, CSP

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: JANUARY 2023

Harry L. Bell

Human Resources and Safety Manager

Gold Bond Building Products      

Harry L. Bell is the Human Resources and Safety Manager at the Wilmington, NC Board Plant.  A customer-centric driven Wall-Board facility manufacturing and delivering superior quality Drywall Products and maintaining a Safety First, focus.  Harry and team have coined the slogan “You Know I Care About You Right” this encourages all individuals to practice safety first.  Harry brings 30 years of Human Resources and Safety experience to his role as Human Resources and Safety Manager at Gold Bond Building Products.  Harry has added to an already safety focus culture in Wilmington; the safety program is now second to none.  Harry was able to bring his expertise from several other industries such as Retail, Nonprofit, and Transportation. He also served as an HR Consultant within his own business.

Harry holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Elizabeth City State University, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development from Bowie State University, Bowie, Maryland.  Harry is proud of his HBCU heritage.

He has two children: one resides in Wilmington, NC, and works as a Nuclear Specialist with the Wilmington General Electric Plant.  His other daughter resides in Charlotte, NC, and serves as a Physical Therapist.  Since being at GBB, Harry has re-energized his safety perspective, which has forced him to take a deeper dive into Safety from a servant leadership platform.

He enjoys all types of competitive sports during his free time as well as family time as he is deeply invested in his family values.

DECEMBER 2022

Appreciate your support!

It is December, the last month of the year! I would like to thank everyone for their support in making this year a successful one for the chapter so far. Through your sustained commitment, the chapter held two strategic sessions, four technical meetings, a joint technical meeting, and participated in regional meetings, and conferences, just to mention a few.

It is also worth mentioning that the chapter increased its membership strength to 455 as of November 2022. All of these did not happen by chance, but by the contribution of everyone. The Executive Committee (EC) is honored that you have entrusted us to direct the strategic path of the chapter for the first half of the year, even as we look forward to making it a better year ahead.

One of the things we are working on is returning to in-person meetings. In the member survey administered in early September, 67% of respondents inquired about the chapter’s return to in-person meetings. I would be remiss if I didn’t inform you that this is a major goal for next year. In fact, we are giving this a shot already with the end-of-year social coming up on December 16th. We hope that this event will transition the chapter into in-person meetings starting January 2023. Please consider registering for the event if you haven’t already done so. Details are available on our website:  https://nc.assp.org/events/december-social/

On the other side of things, I would like to remind you all of some important approaching deadlines. Are you a student – full-time or part-time? Please consider applying for the Foundation Academic Scholarship which is due by February 15, 2023. Also, nominations for the Chapter and Regional SPY Awards are due by February 1. While it may seem like there is enough time, it goes by so fast. It would be great to have our members recognized in either or both areas.

Finally, I believe nothing is more rewarding than having a well-spent and memorable time together with loved ones. Regardless of the nature of your job, please make time with your families this holiday season. Family is everything! Thank you for all you do and have a nice holiday!

Ogaga Tebehaevu, MS, CIH, CSP

NOVEMBER 2022

Checking off on our Goals

It is hard to believe that we are less than two months to the end of the year. How time flies! According to Luke Rowley, founder of Goal Engineering, this is a good time of the year for people to evaluate the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the year. A safety professional told me a few days ago that he was able to achieve his major professional goal of the year, which is passing the CSP exams. 

To all our members who may have achieved their goals for the current year, be it completing an academic program, passing a board exam, learning a new skill, implementing an innovative workplace solution, or whatever, we want to congratulate you on your success! On the other hand, for those that are yet to achieve theirs, we encourage you to keep pushing. If you failed for some reason, do not be discouraged by failure. To FAIL, as they say, is First Attempt In Learning! Instead, convert the experience from such as learning opportunities to become better and stronger.

As your local Chapter, we are equally evaluating our strategic goals in ensuring we are meeting the needs of our members. It is one of our goals this year to ensure that the Chapter communications get to our members quickly and easily. The Chapter’s Website and Social Media platforms – Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn have been very helpful in making this possible. Be sure to check these out if you have not. Thanks to Bryce and Eric, our Social Media Chair and Website Coordinator respectively, for their continued support in this area.

Another goal that we are in the process of achieving this year, is the Chapter Member Survey. Thanks to all those that participated in the survey. Your inputs will be incorporated into the Chapter’s operations for the subsequent year. More updates to come on this in future communications.

On the other side of things, we have some upcoming events this month and next. Please take a moment to join us for this month’s Technical Meeting coming up on Thursday, November 10 at noon.  Our speaker is Dr. Diana Schwerha, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Liberty University. Dr. Schwerha will be speaking on “Integrating Safety with Process Improvement Strategies and Techniques.” See the Chapter’s website and social media platforms for more information including how to register.

We are also excited to inform you that there will be an End-of-Year social next month (December 2022). Venue, date, and time will be communicated to you soon! We hope you will consider joining us.

Finally, as we look forward to Thanksgiving this month, I want to use this opportunity to thank you all for all you do within your respective capacities in making sure that our employees return home safely to their families each day. You are all appreciated!

Ogaga Tebehaevu, MS, CIH, CSP