Paul English has over 30 years of experience in EHS, working in several industries including automotive, food manufacturing, energetics and durable goods. He holds a bachelor's in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology as well as a master's in safety, Security and Emergency Management both from Eastern Kentucky University. In 2024, he obtained a PhD in Adult, Professional and Community Education from Texas State University. His dissertation, Reframing Organizational Learning for Occupation Safety: Implications of Single and Double-Looping Learning identified several key factors on how safety practitioners and organizational leaders learn regarding Work as Imagined vs. Work as Done. This in turn helps organizations operate and learn more effectively for safety, rather than attempting to work more efficiently. Other factors in his dissertation identified employee engagement, psychological safety, Learning from Incidents (LFI). His research led to three conclusions: 1) Employee engagement is the lynchpin for organizational learning for occupational safety, 2) Employee engagement is the double-loop or reflective loop needed for organizational learning, and 3) Mentoring and coaching of employees throughout an organization creates psychological safety that encourages employee engagement. He has been a member of several ASSP Chapters including South Texas, Coastal Bend, and Central Florida. He has been married for 25 years with four children spread throughout the world in different occupations from LBGTQ for the Proud Trust in Manchester, England to an RTO Operator in 1st. Squadron, 91st. Calvery Regiment based in Grafenwöhr, Germany. His youngest daughter Elizabeth is a GSP graduating from Slippery Rock University in 2024.
The Training and Communications Practice Specialty must continue to provide networking opportunities via social media groups, conference calls and in-person meetings like the annual Professional Development Conference so you can connect with top industry professionals. The Training and Communications Practice Specialty must be able to bridge other groups outside of ASSP to develop relationships with other organizations such as Steel Manufacturers Association and other trade organizations to get ASSP inclusion through local chapters and regional events.
The Training and Communications Practice Specialty must be a conduit for young safety practitioners emerging from accredited programs to be a part of the conversation regarding the future of the profession. By creating psychological safety among young professionals, it will create and mentor relationships that allow the person and the profession to grow. This growth can be measured in volunteerism at the chapter and regional level.
The Training and Communications Practice Specialty shall be the "tip of the spear" in community engagement, process and knowledge for occupational safety.