Workplace accidents cost American companies some $60 billion every year. But, unlike the trajectory of most workplace costs, accident expenses are actually going down. The reason is better training and more proactive safety measures that come from the public and private sectors.

Kathy Trahan is president and CEO of the Alliance Safety Council, a 60-year-old agency that trains workers to meet federal OSHA regulations. Under Kathy’s leadership over the past 15 years, this nonprofit organization has grown from an agency of 11 employees and a $5,000 deficit in its bank account to an $18 million organization with 110 employees and four sites. It’s done this by monetizing its online training programs and selling them to companies and other safety councils around the country using a pay per view model. The council’s technology department has grown so big, in fact, it recently bought a new building here on Siegen Lane to house its progammers and their growing operation. 

Jaime Glas is helping make the industrial workplace safer through her company Haute Work. They make designer, flame-resistance clothing for women. Jaime is an engineer by training and didn’t set out to be a fashion designer. But as a college intern on her first job site—a Chevron refinery in Bakersfield, California—Jaime put on a fire-resistent jump suit and thought to herself, “We can do better than this.” Jaime launched the company in late 2016. Today, instead of bulky coveralls designed by and for men, Haute Work offers streamlined, standalone jumpsuits in four styles that highlight women’s body types with an assortment of lengths and cuts. 

Photos at Mansurs on the Boulevard by Karry Hosford.