Total Safety Consulting, LLC (TSC) has been the pioneer of turnkey safety solutions for more than two decades. But did you know that we are also a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) by several public agencies such as the City of New York, the State of NY, The Port Authority of NY/NJ and the NYC School Construction Authority? And many of our key leadership roles are held by women! We mention this because of Women in Construction Week, being held from March 1st -7th. As the construction industry continues to grow, women have showed greater interest in the field, with more and more women joining the workforce in multiple roles both on and off construction sites. Here’s a glimpse of a few of the women who play a role within the Total Safety Consulting family of companies and how we envision women playing an even greater role in the construction industry in the future.
Dynamic TSC Women in Leadership Roles
Liz Bifulco – Liz Bifulco is a Managing Member for TSC along with Jim Bifulco. The vision, persistence, and managerial experience across her years of experience led to Liz co-creating the concept of TSC and executing on that vision when it was founded in 1996. At the time, there was a critical need for a company that provided safety management services. Working with Jim to identifying this void, they created a business plan and personally devoted countless hours and financial resources to this new business endeavor. Liz is deeply immersed in the business. She is a Licensed Site Safety Manager has completed the NYC 40-hour site safety manager’s course, the OSHA 30-hour Construction Outreach training, as well as other safety and health training programs in order to increase her expertise in the safety professional field. For TSC, she controls all business and project management decisions of the company and provides oversight for a myriad of functions including financial policy decisions, planning and collections efforts pertaining to account receivables; contract negotiations; new business efforts for bid preparation, proposal submissions and oversees and manages the day-to-day operations of TSC.
Saeideh Paredes – Saeideh Paredes is our General Manager of SSU and works with our partners in ensuring that each site we work with is equipped with the PPE required for their workers. Saeideh has credited Liz Bifulco with having a positive example of women in construction, ensuring that successful leadership within a male-dominated field doesn’t have to necessarily come from a male leader. The full SSU team is also made up of plenty of women in leadership roles, with at least 7 women in key roles from accounting to business development. Saeideh’s industry knowledge and technical expertise has proven that she and all women in the construction industry can continue to grow and achieve great success in the industry.
Lara McNicol – Lara McNicol serves as the Assistant Director, where she designs the curriculum for worker education. McNicol plays a key role in every aspect of the learning process at TSCTA. She assists in designing the curriculum, advises instructors on the adult learning process and helps develop classroom settings. She analyzes students’ performance on exams and studies student feedback on evaluations to measure if the course met its learning objectives. Listening to students’ questions and concerns validates their experience. Lara demonstrates that the construction industry is not only an industry where women can learn but can also teach and mentor the next generation of industry professionals.
Katherine Depablos – Katherine Depablos serves as the Business Development Manager for our TSC Southeast, LLC (TSCSE) branch located in Hialeah, FL. Katherine relocated to Florida after being promoted to roles of increasing responsibility at TSC Training Academy and SSU. Katherine is responsible for winning new business in the region, as well as maintaining relationships with current clients. Katherine has initiated new marketing strategies and has garnered the power of social media to focus on all the unique TSCSE services from providing professional staff, to fabrication and installation, to site safety manager services, to safety training courses. Katherine is a leading example of women in our industry who serve on the business side of operations, creating new and lasting client relationships that are built with trust and honest communication.
Building an Open and Inclusive Corporate Culture
The team at Total Safety Consulting is strengthened by its diverse makeup, with women playing key roles in every department at our company. With roles in plans and logistics, special projects, finance, operations, as well as client service and marketing, the women of TSC have laid the foundation where TSC has built its successes upon. As our industry continues to grow (along with us at TSC), we hope that more women continue to break the mold and enter construction as a viable career path.
For more information on TSC and how we wish to promote further initiatives for women to enter the industry, please contact us today!