“Now is the time to train. When the industry rebounds, those employees will be ready” said Woody Hill, vice president, safety services at Texas Mutual Insurance Co.

Lyndolyn Pervier, director of workforce continuing education at Midland College, agreed.

“If they’re trained now, they’re ahead of the game,” she said.

Hill was at MC’s Advanced Technology Center recently to present the school with a $100,000 grant for its Risk Management Institute.

“We let Midland College decide how to use it,” but the grant is for safety training courses, he said.

Since the institute began, more than 5,000 students have participated in courses, Pervier said. In 2013, 420 students participated in 50 courses; in 2014, 595 students took 68 courses, she said.

Staple courses such as H2S certification, hazardous material training, confined space and OSHA training are offered. A standard class is CPR, which can be applied to the health care industry, she said.

Safety has long been a focus for Texas Mutual, the state’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance, said Hill. He said the company has conducted a safe-driving campaign for the last two years. Texas drivers are coping with increased distractions, increased traffic and sharing the road with heavy oil field trucks, he said.

Source: Midland TX Reporter-Telegram