Safety runs in the Butler family genes.
For the past 40 years, Donnie Butler, an occupational safety and health specialist for the Corps of Engineers, has devoted his livelihood to the protection of others. Following in his father’s footsteps, his son Brad has joined him.
“Safety is in our blood,” Donnie said.
It wasn’t always so for Brad, who once upon a time had dreams of joining the Ski Patrol in Montana. But once he took a job in his dad’s career field, working in a foundry environment before eventually working his way to his current job as a contractor for Marshall Engineering Technicians and Trades Support Services on Redstone Arsenal, Brad began to understand more about the career that’s gotten his father out of bed every morning for the past four decades.
“I didn’t really have a clear understanding initially of what dad did,” Brad said. “I just knew he was in safety. I found myself fascinated by the chemistry side of safety. It can be life or death.”
When on the job, Brad doesn’t just preach safety, he explains why it’s important to practice it, a philosophy also employed by his father.
“The secret is to telling them why, and not just telling them, ‘You’ve got to,’” Donnie said. “No one comes on job thinking, ‘I’m not going to be safe today. I’m going to get killed today.’ They think that safety is inherent; everybody is going to safe. That’s where being in this profession you’re able to contribute to the whole job.”
Brad agreed.
“You feed them the information they need, you train them and you watch them apply that,” Brad said.
It’s a calling that flows into the Butlers’ personal lives as well. Just this year Donnie pulled over while driving down Highway 72 to alert utilities workers that they weren’t following proper safety protocol, and one worker was at risk of having the hole he was working in cave in on him.During the winter weather, Brad stopped a family at Bridge Street Town Centre from walking under an awning where ice had built up and was in danger of dropping on the mother and her children. For his actions, he received recognition from the director of safety and mission assurance for NASA.
“That’s the payoff,” Brad said. “It’s not to go out and say, ‘Wear earplugs,’ it’s those moments where you caught something, you identified a potentially life or limb situation.”
While Brad has earned the title of safety professional on his own, it’s still nice for him to know that when a situation arises his father is just a phone call away.
“It’s been great to have him as a resource,” Brad said. “From my experience, you’re going to have questions. Safety is a very broad word – there’s all different types. The best benefit is to be able to pick up that phone and call him. He’s always made himself available and I know that his advice is in my best interest. That’s a resource I can’t ever payback.”