Safety, Training, Tradesmanship Industrial Theory

In this episode of Industrial Theory, host Kerry Siggins welcomes Dick Hannah, the VP of Learning and Innovation at the Health and Safety Council (HASC). Formerly known as the Houston Safety Council, Dick shares the organization’s new, expanded direction following their rebrand as the HASC. Through hard work and dedication, he has created a learning community of contractors and refinery owner/operators that stretches beyond the Houston area and throughout the country. Building safe workplaces is the vision and goal of the HASC and to create the best possible training that is both worthwhile and effective.



Kerry and Dick discuss the importance of learner integrity, and the pitfall of having a “check the box” approach to training that doesn’t result in actual memory and adoption of safety practices. The goal is for the learner to retain the new knowledge they acquired by engaging them after the fact. And, by making sure the training is effective, the methods learned in training come to life in the field.



The goal of the HASC is to inspire and facilitate field worker career progression while also addressing learner challenges; such as language barriers. These efforts to build safe workplaces takes into consideration that the learners they are working with are unique; they prefer to get their hands dirty as opposed to sitting in front of a computer.

Guest: Dick Hannah, VP of Learning and Innovation at the Health and Safety Council