ATSSA Signal November/December 2017

12 American Traffic Safety Services Association TRAINING ATSSA has continually offered quality training for roadway workers for nearly 50 years and in that time, there have been major strides in regard to enforcing regulations and upholding conformity, which ultimately keep roadway workers and the motoring public safe. Instructor Mitch Blum, who has been working with ATSSA since the early 2000s, said this is a major benefit for the industry, which often is not as uniform as it should be. “ATSSA’s training courses have provided great tools and opportunities for people in the roadway safety industry to learn and stay informed on safety standards,” Blum said. “I wish that not only would the people who are setting up traffic control devices attend my class, but that the owners of these facilities would attend so we’re all on the same page and so the mass public, whatever state they’re driving in, will encounter a similar work zone and drive safely around roadway workers out there.” Blum is a certified safety professional, certified hazardous materials safety manager, and consultant at MB Environmental Consulting, a company he founded in 1999 that serves as a safety, health, and environmental firm. Currently, he teaches ATSSA training courses in Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Born in Long Meadow, Massachusetts, Blum attended the University of Massachusetts and served in the U.S. Navy before starting a career in the safety industry. Blum said he originally started out in business back in 1986 before he left to serve in the U.S. Navy and then returned to study environmental science. He then started working in the bridge painting industry back in 1995 as a safety officer on company projects. “My responsibilities included ensuring that fall protection, scaffold, lead and other Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-related standards were being enforced,” Blum said. “As I was working out there, I observed that we were always on the highways or roadways and we were exposed to traffic. Being a safety guy by trade, there was really nothing by OSHA that served as a guide to deal with traffic so I started pursuing traffic safety because traffic is an eminent danger to us versus some of the other issues.” Blum said none of the contracts he dealt with had verbiage relating to traffic safety either. As he was researching for standards and guidelines, he said he came across ATSSA in 2002. “I did a little research on the association and liked what I saw in the traffic safety courses,” Blum said. “For me, the courses that I teach are safety courses. Yes, they’re training courses to become a certified traffic control supervisor, traffic control technician or a flagger but at the end of the day it’s about the worker and public safety.” Blum said as a “safety guy,” traffic is a big issue. When he became a certified instructor with ATSSA in 2002, he said he wanted to incorporate traffic safety into his “arsenal for keeping people safe.” In his years spent delving into traffic safety, Blum said he has noticed a higher demand for training and course attendance because people are becoming more aware of traffic control and safety standards. “Around 2013 is when I started noticing more of a shift to follow regulations and standards and I also see it more in contract language these days,” Blum said. “More and more companies are saying ATSSA is the way to go.” Not only has attendance increased over the years, but Blum said he has seen more people in his training courses with stronger drives to learn the information. “People are getting a lot out of training because they didn’t know the federal or their own state’s standards,” Blum said. “Now they are able to take lessons back to their employers. We train them to meet the standards and codes they need to follow.”   Keeping the order ATSSA instructor shares why teaching standards is so important to ensuring traffic safety