Russell Carr, Author at OSHA and EHS Compliance Texas

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.

Why Hire A Safety Consultant?

Your organization has a lot on its plate, particularly in terms of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance. You have to keep up with local, state, and OSHA regulations, all while dealing with ever-changing rules, best practices, and standards. But you don’t have to do it alone. A safety consultant can help you navigate the regulatory minefield and your place within it. What’s more, they’ll get it done faster (and cheaper) then you could if you assign someone the task [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-06-02T14:16:13-05:00June 2nd, 2020|OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Safety Training, Texas OSHA Compliance|Comments Off

OSHA & CDC Combine COVID-19 Guidance Efforts

As the country begins the process of re-opening the economy, the federal government, through CDC and OSHA, is ramping up efforts to help private and public sector employers better understand how to manage workplace COVID-19 exposures, infections and risks. Both agencies issued updated and joint Coronavirus guidance and recommendations last week here. These efforts are being driven by several factors including a realization that the pandemic isn’t ending any time soon, just how contagious COVID-19 can be, as well as [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-06-29T17:12:00-05:00May 22nd, 2020|COVID-19 & Coronavirus, Safety Training|Comments Off

Is Your Company Safe From COVID-19?

As we begin the process of re-opening the economy, employers from all industries are really struggling to understand how to make their workplaces safe for employees and customers during this COVID pandemic. The TV, internet and social media are filled with stories about how even major companies like Amazon, Tyson foods and others are facing huge problems like infection outbreaks, employee walkouts, retaliation claims from employees who speak out, and how some companies are being forced to shut [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-06-29T17:12:31-05:00May 19th, 2020|COVID-19 & Coronavirus|Comments Off

TCEQ Issues $664,395 In Fines for Environmental Compliance Violations

Many small Texas manufacturers struggle to manage environmental and hazardous materials compliance, which can result in major TCEQ fines and penalties. Every week TCEQ fines small manufacturers for a wide variety of environmental violations including Hazardous Waste Management, Stormwater and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), air emissions including NSR and PBR, as well as Spill Prevention Pollution Plans (SPCC). It can be overwhelming for a small business and our environmental consulting services in Texas can help. Call Us At 512-457-0374 [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-04-28T10:11:45-05:00April 28th, 2020|Good To Know|Comments Off

OSHA Enforcement Policy During COVID-19, Coronavirus Pandemic

On Thursday of last week (4/16/2020), OSHA issued a Memo called “Discretion in Enforcement when Considering an Employer's Good Faith Efforts During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic” The memo is obviously intended to help clarify OSHA’s enforcement stance, but also to remind employers that they cannot put their safety programs on hold during the pandemic. Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know: OSHA is not pausing enforcement during the pandemic. They will continue to conduct inspections, [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-06-29T17:13:04-05:00April 20th, 2020|COVID-19 & Coronavirus, OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Texas OSHA Compliance|Comments Off

OSHA Updates Respiratory Protection Enforcement

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has updated enforcement guidance regarding their Respiratory Protection Standard. The standard requires that when employers require use of an FFR respirator, such as the N95, employers must provide fit testing for any employee required to to wear the respirator PRIOR to starting use of the respirator. Given the limited/lack of availability of common respirators, including the N95, OSHA is now recommending that employers attempt to find substitute approved respirators, and if successful, they are [...]

By Russell Carr|2020-04-27T14:50:46-05:00April 17th, 2020|Good To Know, OSHA Texas Laws & Regulations, Texas OSHA Compliance|Comments Off

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