About Russell Carr

How A Sales Guy Transformed Into An Environmental, Health & Safety Expert & Advocate For Small Businesses I've spent my entire 30+ year career working within the manufacturing and “industrial services” sectors. The first 15 years of my career focused on sales of hazardous materials related products and services to the manufacturing sector, then for the last 16+ years transitioned into entrepreneurship, founding 3 small industrial services related contracting businesses. As you’ll see below, running these companies eventually lead me to found yet a 4th business, but more on that in a minute…. Here’s a brief description of the first 3 companies: Berg Environmental Services, Inc.: hazardous waste disposal & transportation services, founded in August of 2003 3rd party wind energy operations & maintenance services provider to utility scale wind farms throughout the US, founded in September 2007 3rd party oil & gas exploration & production services provider, founded in August of 2011 Each of these companies operated in extremely dangerous working conditions and exposed my employees to a wide range of serious health & safety hazards on a daily basis. To complicate matters, 2 of the companies also exposed the environment to significant potential harm. In other words, I learned very early the critical importance of managing environmental, health and safety issues so as to ensure the safety of our employees and the environment, as well as minimizing related risks. But I also learned how incredibly difficult and challenging this endeavor can be due to the wide range of complicated and continually changing environmental, health and safety rules and regulations that impacted the companies. To summarize the challenges: First I had to determine which regulations applied to each company, then I had to build compliance programs to meet those regulations, and finally I had to ensure that the programs were being managed and followed by our staff on a daily basis. All while trying to run and grow 3 profitable businesses…. It was overwhelming and I always struggled to keep up. To make matters worse, throughout this time I also witnessed the devastating price that companies, management and ownership can pay for failing to manage EHS compliance. This included seeing one of my hazardous waste management clients get sent to jail over environmental issues, another client’s management team threatened with jail time, a direct competitor get fined $378,000 by OSHA fine after an employee was nearly killed, and many others face major fines and penalties. Full disclosure, one of my companies got fined by OSHA at one point, & another was cited by TCEQ, so I know how it feels. In summary, I learned first hand how incredibly difficult it is for small companies to manage EHS compliance due to a common lack of the critical expertise, time and resources that are needed to keep up, and how this situation then ends up exposing them to these potentially catastrophic risks that can literally destroy lives and businesses. This later inspired me to found my 4th company, Berg Compliance Solutions in 2012, which is dedicated to helping other small businesses, and business owners, to manage EHS compliance and risk. Education BA, Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, December, 1990. Summary of Professional Experience & Qualifications: 30+ years serving the manufacturing & industrial services sectors 30+ years of sales and marketing experience 16+ years as small business owner & entrepreneur: Founded and operated 4 small businesses since 2003. Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance & Program Related: 19 plus years of hazardous waste management including EPA, TCEQ & RCRA regulations 8 years of DOT/FMCSA compliance experience, including hazardous materials transportation 8 years of combined experience implementing and managing OSHA health and safety compliance programs for 2 high risk energy services businesses Successfully implemented and gained ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Service) Certification for wind energy maintenance business. Regulatory Enforcement Related Experience: Served as expert witness in criminal environmental compliance enforcement cases Superfund-CERCLA OSHA enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in following industries: industrial services, manufacturing & construction. TCEQ enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in manufacturing.

How To Pass a Manufacturing OSHA Inspection

6 Vital Steps to Pass Your Manufacturing OSHA Inspection “Be Prepared” isn’t just a long-time Boy Scout motto — it’s a core attitude that every small manufacturing firm should keep in mind when facing their dreaded OSHA inspection. After all, OSHA violations, citations, and fines are no stroll in the woods. Penalties begin at $16,131 per violation and can top out at ten times that number for willful or repeated violations. But with thoughtful preparation and an understanding of [...]

By |2024-03-12T15:54:08-05:00March 12th, 2024|Good To Know|Comments Off on How To Pass a Manufacturing OSHA Inspection

The 5 Steps to Building a Manufacturing Safety Committee

5 Steps to Building a Rock-Solid Manufacturing Safety Committee Many manufacturing leaders want to hire a single safety manager to supervise their facility’s OSHA and EPA compliance. One-and-done sounds nice, until you consider the fundamental truth: safety compliance can’t be the job of a single individual. It requires buy-in and implementation across every person at your plant. That’s where developing a rock-solid manufacturing safety committee comes in. This dedicated group can do what a single safety manager cannot—create a [...]

By |2024-02-21T11:47:04-05:00February 21st, 2024|Good To Know|Comments Off on The 5 Steps to Building a Manufacturing Safety Committee

Berg Compliance Solutions Launches New Company to Help Small Texas Steel Fabricators Manage OSHA, TCEQ & EPA Compliance & Risk

Based on Berg’s many years of experience helping small manufacturers of all kinds, the company recognized that the steel fabrication sector in particular faces some of the most serious environmental, health & safety compliance challenges & risks in all of manufacturing, yet are often least equipped to deal with them. This realization lead Berg to found Texas Steel Fabrication Safety Consulting with the mission of helping sector companies implement industry specific compliance programs to help protect their employees, the environment [...]

By |2024-02-08T11:13:39-05:00February 7th, 2024|Good To Know|Comments Off on Berg Compliance Solutions Launches New Company to Help Small Texas Steel Fabricators Manage OSHA, TCEQ & EPA Compliance & Risk

Berg Compliance Solutions Launches New Company to Help Small Texas General Contractors Manage OSHA Health & Safety Compliance & Risk

Berg Compliance Solutions Launches New Company to Help Small Texas General Contractors Manage OSHA Health & Safety Compliance & Risk Based on Berg’s many years of experience helping small Texas construction companies, the company has recognized that small general contractors in particular face some of the most serious health & safety compliance challenges & risks in the construction industry, yet are often least equipped to manage them. This realization has lead Berg to found Texas General Contractor Safety Consulting, with [...]

By |2024-02-08T10:52:33-05:00February 7th, 2024|Good To Know|Comments Off on Berg Compliance Solutions Launches New Company to Help Small Texas General Contractors Manage OSHA Health & Safety Compliance & Risk

How to Build a Manufacturing Safety Program

Three Secrets to Building an Effective Manufacturing Safety Program Safety is one of the first lessons we learn as kids—don’t touch the hot burners on the stove, don’t run with scissors, and don’t push your sister too hard on the swings. But developing a comprehensive safety program for your manufacturing plant isn’t so simple—and the stakes are much higher. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatal workplace injuries rose 5.7% in 2022. Injury and illness cases were also [...]

By |2024-01-14T13:10:43-05:00January 14th, 2024|OSHA Health & Safety, OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Safety Training, Texas OSHA Compliance|Comments Off on How to Build a Manufacturing Safety Program

How Much Could a Failed OSHA Inspection Cost Your Company?

Are you worried about the possibility of OSHA showing up at your front door for a surprise inspection and you're not exactly sure how to prepare for that possibility? If that sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place! If you're not prepared for the possibility of an inspection, this can cost your company literally $tens or even $hundreds of thousands dollars. Those fines can stack up quickly so you may want to be prepared and prevent [...]

By |2023-12-08T16:57:42-05:00December 8th, 2023|OSHA Health & Safety, OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Safety Training, Texas OSHA Compliance|Comments Off on How Much Could a Failed OSHA Inspection Cost Your Company?