Georgia Tech’s Safety & Health Training Leads to Job Opportunities

Aldrich Graham picked the perfect time to earn two professional certificates from Georgia Tech’s OSHA Training Institute Education Center.
 
He was laid off the same day he completed the final course required for Georgia Tech’s Industrial Safety and Health Certificate in October 2010, but earning that comprehensive certificate helped him gain the attention of a general contractor, who hired him on the same day and boosted his salary.

Aldrich Graham receives Georgia Tech’s Industrial Safety and Health Certificate presented by Myrtle Turner, director of Georgia Tech’s OSHA Training Education Center.

 
Thanks to the flexibility of Georgia Tech’s setup, Graham was taking courses at the same time toward a second certificate, the Construction Safety and Health Certificate, which he completed in November. A month later, Risk Management Partners, a metro Atlanta firm, hired him and nearly doubled his hourly rate.
 
“Because I had earned the certificates, they knew I was trained and educated to perform the tasks that were required,” said Graham, 38. “The more certificates, I earned, the more I moved up the ladder.”
 
Georgia Tech Research Institute instructors have been sharing their safety and health research and expertise with professionals and companies annually for more than 30 years. GTRI’s OSHA Training Institute Education Center, which began in 1992, is one of 40 in the country and has awarded more than 1,300 professional certificates to students.
 
“The instructors were excellent,” Graham said. “They have the experience and they shared their experience.”
 
He enrolled in 2009, with his course fees covered by the federal Workforce Investment Act, which provided grants to help dislocated workers further their careers. The safety and health proficiency and confidence he received from Georgia Tech’s OSHA-approved training has been crucial for Graham, who works as an onsite safety manager at various U.S. military bases.
 
“I don’t just perform the task; I’m responsible for implementing and creating it. In certain situations, the book standards don’t always apply,” he says. “I have to write the plan from my standpoint here on the job. Georgia Tech’s practical education has been vital to my success.”