Visions - Spring 2020 - 9

H E A LT H , S A F E T Y, A N D E N V I R O N M E N T

HSE: On Crisis, Coronavirus, and
Where We Want to Go from Here
A N

I N T E R V I E W

HSE

W I T H

Tom Gloyd -
Director of Health, Safety, and Environment,
SCOA/SC Americas

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Tonya Zepeda -
Manager of Health, Safety, Security
and Environment, SCOA Tubular Group

Before COVID-19: Tom Gloyd and Tonya Zepeda (pictured above) discussing HSE
in November 2019

VISIONS: These two positions sound like an enormous responsibility, even when things are "business as usual." Considering
these extraordinary times with the COVID-19 Pandemic, what
has it been like and how does it compare with your usual dayto-day challenges?
Tom Gloyd: When things are
"typical" I spend my days trying to
provide direction and support to our
group companies and our subsidiaries, as well as our corporate
employees, which usually addresses
compliance, regulatory needs and
sharing best practices. But recently, I can say that dealing with the
COVID-19 pandemic is one of most formidable challenges
that I have faced in my HSE career. COVID-19 statistics, local
and regional requirements, and available resources must be
evaluated daily so that we can make advised decisions on how
to protect our employees and their families. Our response plans
and corporate requirements must be updated frequently as
new information and technology are introduced. My strategy
is to routinely collaborate and communicate with many of our
dedicated coworkers and leaders throughout SC Americas to
ensure a safe return to work for all of our employees. I am very
proud of our response to this crisis as an organization and I am
also proud of all of our employees that are following the guidelines and contributing daily to help ensure everyone's safety.
Tonya Zepeda: My daily activities can often change based
around the risk of certain projects and business needs.
COVID-19 is currently the greatest risk to our employees so it
takes priority at the moment, meaning right now my days are
filled with monitoring the current cases, governing mandates,
CDC recommendations, and local requirements to ensure we
are implementing the best practices to protect our employees

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and their families. There have been several press conferences,
webinars, and training events that I have tuned into in order to
educate myself rigorously on the topic. I communicate regularly with our Crisis Management Team in New York to provide
updates on the Houston office, give feedback to corporate
initiatives, and provide support in developing standards for
managing the workplace during this crisis. I have been so
impressed with the phenomenal collaboration within our region
and group companies. I have been on calls with team members
from Brazil and Mexico and all over the US that I would have
never had the opportunity to speak with before. I am learning
so much from their perspectives and ideas and I have been
so pleased to serve as a resource in assisting them with their
plans. It's definitely not a one man
show as we are all working diligently to adapt to the current work
climate and leverage each other's
knowledge to come up with the
best practices and plans between
all of the subject matter experts
within SCOA. I utilize all of the
input in developing plans for the
Houston office.
My focus is to provide guidance to our leadership team in
Houston to aid them in making decisions on work schedules,
PPE, sanitization, communication and all of the measures
needed to safely manage our business through this pandemic.
In addition to supporting the leadership team, I provide regular
communications to all of our employees in Houston so they
are aware of plans and expectations. My work days are quite
long as I try to manage the COVID-19 urgent issues as well as
continue my ongoing daily business activities, but I am glad to
be able to support the company in this tremendous effort.
continued next page
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas

9
Visions - Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Spring 2020
