Practitioner Spotlight--Kylle Barrieau

Name:

Kylle Barrieau

Office:

Denver, CO

Practice Area:

Health and Safety

Area(s) of expertise:

Ergonomics, worker’s compensation, and training

About Me in 140 Characters:

Technically I'm a Texan, but I’ve lived in Colorado for most of life. My husband and I have two kids (eight and three) who keep me quite entertained. My career started at an insurance broker in their risk control department as an administrative support person. I enjoyed the safety field so much that I completed the Specialist Certificate Program offered by OSHA’s education center and was able to move into a risk control representative role before coming to Antea Group. My kids keep me busy, but I still find time to refine my culinary skills, take on art projects, and have Mario Kart wars with the family.

Favorite Thing about Being a Health and Safety Practitioner:

Safety is so multi-faceted and there is so much to learn and absorb. I love being able to take a topic and really dive into it and fall down the rabbit hole. It keeps you on your toes. And the fact that you can potentially help someone get home safe is a pretty cool feeling.

What is the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

One of the most interesting clients I’ve ever worked for was in my insurance days. The client harvested and maintained donor bone, skin, and tissue. I assisted them with some ergonomic concerns and was involved in some industrial hygiene work as well. Going into the facility the first few times was challenging as I had to distance myself from what I was seeing. It was amazing to see that a very tiny part of someone's body could make such a difference in someone’s life. (I never passed out once, but there were some tense moments. Plus, if I would have bent over at the waist I would have violated FDA regulations and caused the whole room to be “unclean.”)

What are some of your favorite tools/resources for professional development in this practice area?

I found a lot of value in my courses at the OSHA Rocky Mountain Education Center. When you spend 36 hours intently focused on one topic (like Machine Guarding or Electrical) you really start to grasp the basics, and even if you can’t remember all the fine points, you know where to go in the regulation. Plus, you can meet and connect with experts that can help you along the way. I feel safety is 50% what you know and 50% who you know. Find your experts.

What do you consider your biggest professional achievement so far?

I’ve had an account for several years that has historically been very difficult. They didn’t see us a trusted advisor but just as another vendor. By jumping through all their hoops as well as some point-of-contact changes we are finally seeing the account make strides and expand. I feel more confident about becoming that trusted advisor than I ever have before.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

My plan was to go to ITT Technical Institute. Those commercials were on all the time! I’m not sure I had really thought about what I would do when I got there.

What was your first job?

My dad is a landman in the oil and gas industry. He put me to work the summer I was 13. The company he worked for was selling a bunch of land and they needed copies of every document they had, which was practically an entire file room. Every morning I would load up boxes on a little dolly, walk down the block to Kinkos, and pretty much spend all day there. You can’t get much more boring than that, but working in downtown Denver was pretty awesome.

Is there something unique that people might not know about you? (hobbies, hidden talents, etc.)

My college degree was in publishing and my minor was 3-dimensional art. I try to maintain my creative edge by taking art classes at least once a year. My last class was Four-Shaft Weaving (think Pilgrims on a loom). People don’t see this as “art” but if you had seen some of the projects people were working on you would have been amazed. It’s also very relaxing.

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