Part I: Introduce yourself to your classmates with your name, location, current employment, and future goals.
Good morning class, my name is Israel, I live in Yuma, Arizona. I am divorced with three beautiful boys who are 25, 22, and 19. They are all working and have careers which I am very proud of.
At the age of 18, I joined the Marine Corps. I have been all over the world because of the Marine Corps and I am thankful for the opportunity that they gave me. They helped mold me into the man I am today. After a couple of tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, that will probably do it to you. I did twenty good years in the Marine Corps and retired at the twenty-year mark.
I am currently working at a gold mine called Western Mesquite as the Sr. Health and Safety Coordinator. I originally had a job as a haul truck operator. Did that for about ten months and asked if there was another job I could do and there was a safety job opening. Since October of 2017 I have been in the Safety Department. I have been promoted three times since becoming part of Safety. This job has taught me a lot and has opened my eyes to a brighter future.
My future goal was to only to hold a bachelor’s degree in occupational safety and health. Once I completed that degree, I decided that I would pursue my master’s degree. I should finish my master’s by October and not sure if I will pursue any more education from school yet. When it comes to my career, I would like to become the Safety Manager at a company, maybe even the one I am working at currently. We have more than one mine site within Equinox Gold, so there is that potential.
Part II: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted training and development within organizations in the past few years? How have you have seen it change at your current place of employment?
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted everyone within organizations and in their individual lives. The training and development part is just a taste of the havoc that COVID-19 impacted. People working from home, getting laid off, working less hours, having to wear face masks. Have you ever tried talking through one of those masks? Now that is a task in itself. It was a struggle all around for everyone.
Where I work, Western Mesquite, we took temps before people coming to work and also each crew that came on had to take a spit test. I am sure there is a technological word for it, but it just flew over my head at the moment. The Safety Department were the ones in charge of all of this. Along with the jobs that we already had to do; this was put in our lap for more responsibilities. For our training that we do every year that is called Annual Refresher Training use to be in person, then and it still is online now just because it makes it easier, and it is actually cost effective. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which is like OSHA but for mines, sent out a memo stating, “Exemptions to recertifications will not be granted; however, their due dates will be extended by at least the time the government is operating under the Presidents emergency declaration (Coronavirus, n.d.). The bad part about it is that the training that is given is not to our particular mine site. It gives the Safety Department extra work to get out there the changes that we have on site if some arise.
