DID YOU KNOW?

Minorities are highly underrepresented in the trades. Only 6.3% of construction workers are Black and 32.6% are Hispanic.

In the skilled trades overall, women comprise less than 10% of workers, even though they comprise half of the national workforce. Only 11% of people who completed an apprenticeship in 2020 were women.

Sources: Contractormag.com, U.S. Department of Labor

SHERREE BYNUM

Safety Specialist, Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority

Hometown: Little Rock

Age: 38

Years with LRWRA: 4 years

BLUEPRINT: How did you come to work here?

SHERREE BYNUM: I was always interested in science; my mom taught science for 46 years. I remember touring one of the [LRWRA] plants when we were in junior high, and I came away thinking, “This is not the place for me.” Years later an opportunity presented itself and after doing some research it looked like it was going to be a good fit for me. It’s just interesting how life circles back.

BP: What is your education?

SB: I graduated from Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School and I have a Bachelor of Science in health science.

BP: What do you do in your role as safety manager?

SB: We do monthly safety trainings with our employees. Prior to COVID, we were meeting in a group session and we’re looking to restart that in 2023. Employees can also go online at their discretion and complete it.

BP: Do you get out of the office and go into the field to meet with employees in person?

SB: Typically at least two or three times a week I’m out at the plants, our treatment facilities, and then I get to go out and visit our crews that work around the city of Little Rock doing repairs onto our pipelines.

I go out and make sure they have safety protocols set up correctly, follow proper procedures and also make sure they have everything they need. Sometimes it’s just catching up, having the opportunity to talk to them, hear their concerns or questions about things.

BP: What do you like best about your job?

SB: There are so many things; it’s family oriented, it’s not such a big work environment. You can get in some jobs and you have thousands of employees, but here I get the opportunity to really get to know the people I work with. I think that is a plus in working here.

The work varies from day to day, it just really kind of depends on what’s going on. I can sometimes schedule myself for different things and it will not go that way depending on what they may have going on out in the field. We always have projects going on and they may call and say, “Sherree can you come out? We’re at this location.” I’ll go out and assist if there’s questions on safety issues they may have run into. We’re always available to assist.