Safety management executive discovers career path after start in geology

Erica Montefusco has traveled a long and winding road to get to her current role in safety management. Starting as a geology major at Michigan State, she transferred to the Anthropology and Archeology Department at another school and studied in the Middle East as a classically trained archeologist. After that she completed a Master’s in Geology, which had her study 2,000 years of faunal and ecological changes in the Saginaw Valley of Michigan. But when funding for her PhD studies in geology was cut, a detour into real estate helped her unearth her career in industrial safety management. 

Montefusco is the Senior Vice President of Risk & Compliance Services with PROtect, LLC, a Wichita, Kansas-headquartered company that provides safety, reliability and compliance services to businesses in a variety of industries across the United States. Her journey to her current position is the result of being in the right place – and sometimes the wrong place – at the right time. 

Mining a Path

After two years of studying for her undergraduate degree as a geology major at Michigan State University, Montefusco said a change in her family dynamics forced her to return to her hometown of Rochester Hills, Michigan to study at Oakland University.

“They didn't have a hardcore science program. So I joined the Anthropology and Archeology Department, and that led me to studies in the Middle East in Israel,” she said.

Montefusco received a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology in 1998 and returned to Michigan State with a full scholarship, earning a Master’s degree in Geology. She then started work on a PhD in geology at the South Dakota School of Mines, but funding for the program was cut and her advisor left the university. Staying in Rapid City, she went to work for a local businessman and helped build the largest real estate group in the area. Her work required attending city council meetings, where she met a group of people building the first cellulosic ethanol plant using wood from the Black Hills. 

“They offered me a job to take care of their environmental permitting. That got me into the renewable fuels industry, and I’ve basically been there ever since,” she said.

Over the next few years, Montefusco earned an MBA and worked in safety management for several companies, including Valero in Minnesota, ConAgra Foods in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in the Iowa division of Global Ethanol, which eventually sold to Omaha-based biofuel producer Green Plains. 

She spent 10 years with Green Plains as the Director of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security during its expansion from six to 19 ethanol plants and the acquisition of blending terminals, cattle operations, vinegar production, grain elevators, aquaculture, and more. “That was a pretty great run for a lot of years,” she said. “I learned a lot about mergers and acquisitions – what works and what doesn't.”

Montefusco left Green Plains in 2019 for Union Pacific Railroad, managing the company’s air compliance across 20 states. She then transitioned to PROtect in 2021 in her current position, which she said offers more variety in her job with a combination of different aspects related to client-facing services. 

At PROtect, Montefusco oversees the risk and compliance services division of the company. Her umbrella of responsibilities includes traditional environmental, health and safety, engineering services, IR services, food/feed quality services, ESG sustainability and all of the emission monitoring as well as mitigation programs, like leak detection and repair, benzene waste operations, and other services associated with larger industrial facilities.

Identify and conquer

As with any industry, change is inevitable and with change comes challenges. Montefusco said the safety management space is no different. A crucial challenge safety leaders face is the frequently changing government regulations and the need to constantly stay up to date with those modifications. 

“Keeping up with evolving safety regulations and standards can be daunting,” she said, noting it is imperative that safety leaders stay informed about the latest regulatory requirements to ensure their organization remains compliant. “This includes understanding new standards, implementing necessary changes, and providing appropriate training to employees.”

Safety leaders are also responsible for contractor safety management, ensuring that contractors and subcontractors are following the safety protocols outlined by the organization. 

“Communication, coordination, and oversight are crucial to maintaining consistent safety standards across all parties,” Montefusco said.

The rapid expansion of technology, including robotics, artificial intelligence, data sharing and other forms of online activity, has also presented new challenges to safety leaders, who must remain aware of emerging technologies and assess any potential risk and revamp safety measures when needed.

In terms of internal operations, some of the challenges safety leaders face include establishing and nurturing a strong safety culture, recognizing and addressing employee mental health and well-being in the workplace, and creating inclusivity to optimize workforce diversity.

Perhaps the most critical task for safety leaders when it comes to employees is implementing effective training and communications throughout the workplace, Montefusco notes. The challenge for safety leaders is to develop and deliver effective safety training that resonates with a diverse workforce.

“The training programs must be engaging and tailored to different learning styles,” she said. “Those programs need to be easily accessible to all employees, effectively communicated across the organization, including remote and mobile workers.”

Looking ahead

Montefusco said as safety leaders work to address any challenges with proactive leadership, ongoing education and workforce collaboration, it becomes a commitment to continuous improvement. Challenges aside, she said she and her team strive every day to find other services or scopes the company can bring to clients, including complementary services to what they are already providing.

“We didn't have traditional engineering services before I came on, but we were doing all this mechanical integrity work, PSM audits and some PHA/DHAs which were part of process safety. So why not do more process safety services and expand into a full engineering group – layers of protection analysis, equipment diagnostics, arc flash, IR work, refinery support – all of that as well?” she said. “So, we've added those services and that supported even more environmental work.”

Developing the engineering services enabled the company to bring in professional engineers who could sign off on Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rather than outsourcing, Montefusco noted. The result is more cohesiveness throughout the company, an expanded footprint in the industry and added value to the customers. 

Customer service is at the forefront of her work, she said, noting that the priorities of others supersede her plans on any given day. But she enjoys the variety and scope of her work as she addresses client and staff concerns and delves into strategic planning for the future. She even finds time for some of her favorite activities, like reading historical fiction novels and volunteering with organizations such as the Earthwatch Institute and Volunteers of America.

While she admits her journey from geology to safety was somewhat unusual, the experience has meshed with her life philosophy to maximize every experience and be open to new experiences.

“From personal travel and a background in anthropology, that has led to a lifelong interest in other cultures and just living every day to the fullest. I try to live in the moment, and make the most of those moments with people,” she said. “I want to bring value to every interaction I have. Every experience is one from which to learn, improve oneself and better understand others. I enjoy that aspect of being on the consulting side of this industry immensely.”