Rebecca Severson brings a wide breadth of experience in safety, project management, engineering, and the military to her role as Gilbane Building Company’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Director of Safety. She has been integral to implementing “Gilbane Cares,” an incident and injury-free safety philosophy built on the belief that everyone deserves to go home safely at the end of the day. Becky works collaboratively with senior and local management teams to optimize Gilbane’s safety systems. Through her leadership, she led Gilbane in adopting the Kask helmets, offering superior head protection. Successful implementation of the helmet program has encouraged multiple industry leaders to adopt the same. She has been instrumental in pursuing technology in wearable devices, the Internet of Things and Automated Intelligence ensuring optimal safety performance on our job sites. Under her guidance, Gilbane maintains an outstanding safety record and industry leadership in workplace safety.
Rebecca retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard, having served as a Medical Group Commander and a Bioenvironmental Engineer focused on occupational safety and industrial hygiene. No stranger to excellence, in 2015, from officers across the country, she was named the “Air National Guard Biomedical Specialist Field Grade Officer of the Year.” Becky was also named the 2020 ASSP Wisconsin Chapter Safety Professional of the Year.
Rebecca graduated from Milwaukee School of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and a Safety Trained Supervisor – Construction (STS-C).
I enjoy meeting new and diverse safety professionals as well as sharing and learning best practices from others. By attending the annual Safety conference, leadership conference, Regional Operating Committee meetings and Chapter meetings, ASSP has afforded me incredible networking and leadership opportunities. I have served the Wisconsin Chapter as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, President-Elect, President, Past President, Women In Safety Excellence Wisconsin Chapter Chair, and I have a strong desire to continue to serve ASSP in a greater capacity.
My Chapter leadership experiences have helped me achieve success in multiple facets throughout my career. One of my passions has been and will continue to be mentoring other safety professionals in areas of leadership, strategy, and professional development. Having the first-hand experience of multiple chapter officer positions, in the role of Region V, Area 1 Director, I will utilize my strong organizational and intrapersonal skills, keen attention to detail, and strategic mindset to maximize the membership experience within the Area’s Chapters.