He started working in the lumber business in 1978, at 25 years old, as a yard associate and truck helper for Diamond Lumber. He worked his way up to dispatcher at Lakeland Lumber and branch manager at Continental Lumber. It didn't take long for him to recognize the importance of workplace safety.
"Early in my career there was no formal training required for forklifts and other things. I had some minor forklift incidents and I also had a job site accident delivering sheetrock to a house under construction," he recalls. After a couple more stops at Beacon Sales and Home Depot, John wound up at Sanford & Hawley in Unionville, Connecticut, where he's remained for the past 26 years. His tenure there is fitting, given the company's own longevity: a fourth generation (with the fifth making their way up) company with 137 years of history in the same location - and a few others they've added along the way.
Climbing the ladder from dispatcher to branch manager to human resources director, he saw an opportunity to protect the safety of the company's employees and the health of its finances. "When I became the HR director and moved away from the front line sales and service functions, I decided the best way to add value to the company was to improve the bottom line by reducing injuries, which had an impact on our insurance premiums and helped lower some of our expenses;' he says. Sanford & Hawley worked closely with the OSHA branches in Connecticut and Massachusetts and entered into the Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) at all four locations, maintaining that status for the past 16 years. As HR director, John is also responsible for a monthly newsletter which always contains -you guessed it -a brief message about safety. That took the place of the safety messages that were previously stuffed into employees' paycheck envelopes and printed on their pay stubs.
John is also an advocate for workplace safety throughout the industry, serving on the safety committee for the Home Builders and Remodelers association of Central Connecticut. He helped establish a safety manual for the contractor membership that can be personalized for their own use, as well as a daily job site check list for contractors. He won the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association National Industry Leader in Safety Award in 2007 and the National Association of Home Builders Safety Professional of the Year in 2010.
Outside of work, John is family man, runner and tinkerer.
While still in college at the University of Tampa he married his girlfriend, and their son was born six weeks after graduation. They were married for 29 years until she passed from illness. John later remarried to "a fabulous woman" and gained two stepchildren. They have four grandchildren, as well. In 2007, John took up running "for the health benefits" after having a pituitary tumor removed from the base of his brain. He ran three half marathons in 2009 and 2010. "I continue to run today and find it a nice quiet way to solve the world's problems in my solitude;' he says. He also enjoys fixing things, particularly taking on projects for his older sister, "because I work for food;' he jokes.
Looking back at his career, in which he recently transitioned from human resources director to safety director, John says, "I have learned over the course of my life to be observant and to behave in a fashion unlike some of the people I have encountered in my career whose middle name was 'one way'! The safety professionals I have met at Connecticut OSHA, Federal OSHA, Acadia Insurance and more have given me principles in guiding my safety quest:"
His advice for the next generation in the industry is characteristic of his singular focus on safety. "Learn all you can, particularly the basics in the industry as it will be invaluable throughout your career -and work safely;" he says. "Be safe and pay attention to what you are doing. Distractions can hurt you:"
